Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1951-03-16
ConnaHy' S
I Tongue Is
Sharpest
BY Arthur Edison
fFor Hal Boyle)

&F0F 6di boylS1
WASHINGTON tAP) - The
senator sits there, peering over
the glasses roosting on the tip
of his nose. His black string tie
is slightly askew, his hand fondles
a gavel.
Senator Tom Connally (D-Tex)
the man with the sharpest tongue
on capitol hill, is holding court
AS chairman of the senate for
eign relations committee, Connally
has the big job of getting the
senate to go along with the adj
ministration's foreign policies.
He presided over the joint
hearing held by his committee and
the senate Armed Services Com
mittee to listen to testimony on
what course this country should
follow in sending troops abroad.
This was the great hearing
which followed and accompanied
the great debate.
From it the senate got plenty
of big league advice, from both
the pro and con leagues.
1t heard the nations only living
ex-president, Herbert Hoover.
1t heard from the man who
twice tried to win the presidency,
Thomas z. Dewey.
It heard military big shots, like
Generals Dwight Eisenhower and
Omar Bradley.
And it heard Senator Taft fR-
Ohio), college president Harold
Stassen and assorted political
leaders,
If the 73-year-old Connally was
impressed at this array of talent,
he certainly didn't show it.
The news stories on these hear
ings dealt mostly with the testi-
mony of the eminent witnesses,
but the tall Texan with the quer-
ulous voice managed to leave his
mark every time.
One thing about Tom Connally:
His barbed tongue is impartial.
For instance, he was hard on
photographers. group difficult
to be hard with.
When Dewey was testifying,
Connally snapped: Get through
with your photography. don't
want you sticking your machines
in the face of the governor. Get
your pictures and get out"
Sometimes it was difficult to
tell at whom he was hitting.
When Hoover finished his testi-
mony, spectators applauded.
After the cheering died, Conal-
ly asked, anybody else want to
cheer? 2"
Mere applause.
So Connally said: Since this is
meeting devoted to noise, /
thought it was just as we'll to let
you blow off If you wanted to-"
But mostly Connally is hard on
fellow senators.
He commented to Gen. j. Law
ton Collins, II suppose you have
nuts in. the Army just as we do
in the senate
Would you care to specify ?"
Senator Lodge (R-Mass) asked.
Connally didn't But he said
he'd withdraw the naughty word
If anyone was offended. Put that
way, only a self-admitted nut
could come forward, none did.
Connally once called General
Bradley Senator Bradley" He
covered this error by remarking
he wished Bradley was senator.
I'D be glad to place him in
the place of some of those we
have here he said. But this was
only pleasantly" he said. I'm
fond of all the senators some
of them when they are present
and some when they are absent. =
we love our chairman" said
Senator II. Alexander Smith tR-
MI.
That's just reciprocity" Con-
nally replied. that's part of the
! bipartisan foreign policy"
Connally often tangled with SEN
ator Wherry (R-Neb.). Once
Wherry complained that Connally
was trying to intimidate him and
cut him off.
I'm not trying to suppress any
thing lConnally snorted. But
bombast and gasconade.
("Gasconade," says the diction-
ary, ''is boast or boasting.~
My favorite Connally crack was
made some years ago. He tossed
it at Senator Bridges Urn. H.,
but / like it because 1t occasionally
can be used on any senator, or
on any one of us.
Connally said to Bridges:
IF the senator from New
Hampshire would approach these
matters with an open mind in
stead of an open mouth :.
Senatorial laughter drowned
the rest of the sentence. The re-
cord doesn't show whether SEN
ator Bridges joined in.