Roanoke Rapids daily herald. (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1948-1949, 1948-09-29
Truman SIuqs;
Dewey Speaks
Very Softly
SOKOLSKY
By GEORGE E. SOKOLSKY


The campaign speeches of Tru
man and Dewey offer a start
ling contrast in personalities.
Truman slugs; Dewey philoso
phizes. truman hits his oppo
nents; Dewey speaks as though
there were hardly any opposition
Truman seeks to conquer by div
iding; Dewey breaches national
unity.
This difference in attitude is
not merely well con-
sidered pitching of the campaign
on a certain level on the assump
ton that that is the road to sue
cess; it is rather a response to
basic difference in the folitical
affiliations and personal charac
tiers of the men.
Truman is a Democrat. He
Joined the organization young
and stayed with it. Whatever
he has achieved in life is pro
duct of this association. Fs rec
ognized Pendergast as his boss
and in spite of everything stuck
to him until the old man died
after a Jail sentence. He went
to his funeral. This personal
loyalty to men transcends his
belief in ideas.
AS a Senator, he voted regu
larly. His leader was Franklin
D. Roosevelt and he did as he
was told. Chairman of an in
vestigating committee, he did
good job but he failed to EN-
barrass the Administration with
such unpleasantnesses as were
subsequently unfolded. AS
Vice-President, he minded his
own business, making no attempt
to play any role at all, not even
that of his predecessors, Jack
Garner and Henry Wallace.
Catapulted into the presidency
pected that the gang would &C
cept the leadership to which his
office entitled him. He tried
to play with some Republicans
but found that unpleasant be-
cause = is unorthodox accord
ing to his way of thinking. He
tried to operate a bipartisan
foreign policy but it irked him
and he told the Republicans only
as little as was necessary to
prevent an eruption. Naturally
conservative, he got rid of
most of the New Dealers, but
when Henry Wallace got on his
tail, he reluctantly took them
back.
He is Incapable, as Jesse Jones
made SO clear, of understanding
and dealing with issues and prin
ciples, because he is only accus-
toned to making deals with NON
He does not grasp the revolt
in the South; the Dixiecrats are
just lot of sore-heads who will
not let him play the game as
he thinks it best for 1913.
Dewey, on the other hank,
hardly concerns himself with
party organization as such. He
started as Young Republican
in New York and opposed the
Old Guard. Apublic prosecutor
he looked for crooks in his own
party as well as among the op
position. Having discovered that
political affiliations a poor test
for virtue, he retained deserving
Democrats in office both as Dis
trict Attorney and as Governor.
For instance, he selected Frank
Hogan, a Democrat, as his sue
cessor as District Attorney and
then got for him a Republican
endorsement. Similarly, he has
been steadily criticized by or
ganization Republicans for not
throwing out every Democrat he
found in Albany when he became
Governor. He retained as Comm
lssioner of Correction John A.
Lyons; Frederick A. Moran as
Commissioner of Correction
John A. Lyons; Frederick A.
Moran as Chairman of the Board
of Parole and DR.. Edward S.
Godfrey, Jr., as Commissioner
of Health, all three appointed
by Governor Lehman as Demo
Gratis.
l do not claim for Dewey that
he is not partisan, nor even
that he has the bipartisan at
titude of Governor Warren of
California. merely contrast
him with Harry Truman who
is strict party man, while
Dewey thinks in the broader
terms of public administration.
AS matter of fact, Dewey's
entire political career has been
in the administrative field and
so much to getting along with
people as he has to dealing with
problems. No one will ever call
him a good fellow" Even
those known as the Dewey team
are not what would be regarded
as cronies.
-