Evening star., 1950-09-30
The Political Min
Effort to Discredit
Byrnes Seen Shaping
Was Miserable FuiIure'
Charge Matter Of Timing?
The Political Min
By Gould Lincoln

Charge Natter OF Timing?
By Gould Lincoln
Former Secretary of State James r.
Byrnes. soon to be governor of South
Carolina, is firmly convinced that he
did not become a miserable failure"
in the eyes of President Truman until
June 18, 1949-a year and half after
he hao left the State Department. That
was the date on which Mr.. Byrnes de-
livered a scathing attack upon the Tru-
man domestic program in an address
at Washington and Lee University. Mr..
Byrnes has made this plain to friends
in commenting on Jonathan Daniels
new Truman book, in which Mr.. Daniels
quoted the President as having said:
HE (Byrnes) failed miserably as
Secretary of State and ran out on me
when the going was very rough and
when I needed him worst" Mr.. Dan
iels gave no date for this presidential
comment on Mr.. Byrnes. However, his
succeeding sentences seem to bear out
Mr.. Ryrnes belief that the miserable
failure" characterization of ByrneS fol-
lowed the Lexington CVa.) speech. They
were: His (Byrnes) bad heart has now
left him when he has found that he
made bad guess. So he and old Baruch
have joined the McCormicks, Hearsts and
Scripps- -Howards to discredit me. They
will not succeed"
Today it looks very much as though
Mr.. Truman, with the aid of Mr.. Daniels,
has set out deliberately to discredit Mr..
Byrnes, whose Democratic nomination
for governor is tantamount to election.
Mr.. Byrnes as Governor of South Caro-
1ivNo hn toy1f jyH
Democr attic councils.
Cordial Letters Recalled.
The recollection of Mr. Byrnes is that
following his retirement as Secretary
of State-whcn the President wrote him
in high praise Of his work as head Of
that Department-he received a number
of cordial letters from Mr.. Truman, and
in one Of them the President asked his
advice about hard boiled foreign re-
latiors speech Mr.. Truman was to de-
liver.
Further, Mr. Byrnes disagrees en-
tirely with the Daniels book THE Man Of
Independence regarding Mr.. Truman's
treatment of Byrnes on the presidential
yacht Williamsburg, December 20, 1945.
Immediately after Mr.. Byrnes' return
from the Moscow conference. In his
book, Mr.. Daniels says; Certainly there
was stern talk when Byrnes came up
into the Presidents lounge" and he
quoted Mr.. Truman as saying some
time later; "Byrnes got the real riot
act after Moscow. I told him our policy
was not appeasement and not one-way
street."
The former Secretary Of State insists
that his welcome by the President on
the Williamsburg was both cordial and
enthusiastic; that he patted him on the
back and said he liked Mr.. Byrnes' radio
speech delivered at the time.
The letter which Mr.. Byrnes received
from the President in June, 1949, to
which Mr.. Truman had added a post
script: Now understand how Caesar
felt toward Brutus.' came about in the
following way. Mr.. Byrnes had written d
letter to Washington columnist, deny
ing there had been a sharp quarrel be-
tween the President and Mr.. Byrnes He
sent copy of that letter to the President.
The President had dictated letter in re-
ply to Mr.. Byrnes. agreeing. He failed to
mail it Immediately. In the interim
Mr.. Byrnes made his speech at Washing
ton and Lee University-and Mr.. Tru-
man then added his postscript about
Brutus and Caesar. To that postscript
Mr.. Eyrnes has explained that he did
not regard himself as Brutus and Il
hoped he would stop thinking of him
self as Caesar because he certainly was
no Caesar
Marked Real Break.
The Byrnes speech at Washington and
Lee University was a humdinger, in
which he commented: "If some Of the
new programs seriously proposed should
be adopted, there is danger that the
Observation-Disclosures farmer. worker.
manufacturer, lawyer or doctor-will
soon be an economic slave pulling an
oar IN the galley of state" 1t marked
a real break-and a final one-between
Mr.. Byrnes, who had been member of the
House. Senator, Associate Justice Of
the Supreme Court, assistant President
and mobilizer in the Roosevelt admins
stration and Secretary of State in that
of President Truman, and the Truman
Fair Deal program.
When Mr.. ByrneS announced he in
tended to run for governor of South
Carolina early this year, President Tru-
man was asked for comment at press
conference. The Presidents only COM
ment was that Mr.. Byrnes was a free
agent and could do as he damned
pleased.
The bitter break between the two men
who had once been friends has been
sensauionally emphasized by Mr.. Daniels
book. The President has declined all
comment on the book and its contents
but he has not denied any Of the
remarks about Mr.. Byrnes attributed to
him by Mr.. Daniels. To Mr.. Byrnes
the slur that he was miserable fail
ure". coming from man occupying the
presto ency of the United States-par-
ticuiarly after Mr.. Byrnes' long service
in important of6ces-is naturally a
harsh and bitter draught.