Evening star., 1948-04-16
BY Roy A. Roberts
North American Newspaper Alliance

nominee of the Democratic Party
next November; the other Is that
Dwight D. Eisenhower will not be
drafted by anybody.
The current movement to brush
President Truman from the leader
ship of his party next November
comes from two sources. First, the
CITY bosses who are concerned prl-
marty in carrying their tickets
State and local-are about OF one
mind that President Truman will be
a load of coal to carry and not the
asset President Roosevelt was 1or
many years.
Few people who follow closely the
tangled skeins of American polltlcs
realize the significant change that
has come about as far as city
machines are concerned. The So
called city bosses used to be con-
servative in the old days. They
looked to industrial and financial
leadership for their cues.
Lacks FDR's Touch.
They discovered that FDR could
deliver the mass votes OF the city
not only for the presidency but for
the local tickets-their' chief con-
cern. That is why one saw for years
the Hon. Frank Hague of New Jer-
sew. the Hon. Ed Flynn of the Bronx,
the Hon. Ed Kelly of Chicago de-
livering their votes for FDR ana
the New Deal. 1t was the easy way
to win elections.
Unfortunately, the present occu-
pant of the White House does not
possess the same magic touch FDR
had. President Truman has rot
only espoused every, cause his peren-
nial predecessor in the White House
did, he has gone further-much fur-
thcr, in actuality.
Mr.. Truman's voice, however, lacKs
the dulcet tones that WOO the voter.
The city bosses have found this out,
and that is why they are talking
about a candidate ether than Harry
Truman. And they have had at
least two secret confabs about per-
suading him to retire.
Truman Is Misjudged.
But they do not know President
Truman. Of course he Is going TO
run. OF course he is going to
insist on the party nomination.
They have entirely misjudged the
man. The pressure they bring to
eliminate him from the picture
will have just one result-that IS,
to make him more stubborn than
ever in insisting on his renomlna-
ton.
Whatever else may be said about
President Truman. he is not a
ouitter. Present-day world events
NAV have dWarfted his stature. He
Is not the greatest man on earth
and he would be the first to ADMIT
it, He can make all kinds of mis-
takes and does, generally listening
to the last person who advises MN
But essentially, at heart, Presl-
dent Truman is a patriot. For IN
stance. he was advised when he
made his great reversal on the
partition of Palestine that 1t might
damn him politically. The facts,
however, were put before him as
thev affected the National interest
And he said it had to be regarolesS
of political consequences.
Stories Don't Make Sense.
What the city bosses overlook is
that if they dump President 1Tu-
man they still have to run on MS
record of the last three and a hal1
wears Moreover, some OF the IAN
tastic stories being circulated on
the President such as his planning
To take the floor at the Democrat
convention to nominate Gen. Elsen-
hover as his successor-slfilply
don't make sense That would mean
a confession he had not measured
up to the JOB. L
More. it would mean an abso-
lutte lapse in American foreign pol
lev for six month at least, at a
moment most critical in the world $
history. It would be little short OF
abdication. 1t would mean as 1ar
as the rest of the world was con-
cerned that the United States hao
no President, only a stop gap.
OF course. no man is going to 90
n and certainly not Harry Truman,
who may be failure but does mo-
lack patriotism or innards. He hst
stuck through desperate situations
before.
New Dealers Dropped.
The secondhand the most vocal
elemtn demanding Mr.. Irumans re-
placement are the New Dealers ana
labor. They are typified by the
Roosevelt boys and the other OF
that ilk who are Justify demanding
that Mr.. Truman make way for
someone else. The plain facts are
that Harry Truman has accepted
the New Deal philosophy OF the late
FDR, but he hasn't taken all the
New Deal personnel. Mr.. Truman
was uncomfortable having them
about all the time. They resented II.
One by one they have been drop.
ped by the wayside. They feel
their loss of Importance. They want
to get back in the White House
inner circles, and so they are spear
heading the vocal drive to Mr.. Tru-
man to retire. OF course, he won't.
Anyone who knows the fundamental
Missouri Democrat knows they only
quit when they are carried to the
cemetery-not at the behest OF
mouthy demands from self-seekers.
One thing of major Importance
this dual drive on the party OF the
city bosses and the extreme left
wingers is accomplishing is to make
the defeat of Mr.. Truman next
November much more certain. The
revolt from the South is genuine,
deep-seated and sincere. 1t strikes
at vitals down South. The rest is
entirely politics. Mr.. Truman hap
pens to have got all three on his
back. But he won't quit.