Evening star., 1951-04-19
Death Of vandenbelg
Casts Shadow on john
Meeting 4 Of Congress;
By T. A., O'Leory

today.
The man who did more thar
any other to keep politics out O
foreign policy since the end o
World War II died in his sleep a
Grand Rapids after q long battll
to recover from a major operation
18 months ago. The Senatora
son. Arthur H.. Vandenberg, jr.
also revealed for the first tim,
this his 67-year-old father hae
been under treatment for q. nninol
heart ailment for rs years.
His death increases the nov
slender Democratic margin of con.
troll in the Senate because Mich
igan has a Democratic Governor
G. Mennen Williams, who will ap-
point a successor. AZ & !
Four men were being mentioned
in Michigan today as possible ap.
pointees. They are former State
Attorney General Stephen Roth
former Senator Prentiss M. Brown
Prof. John P. Dawson of the Uni.
versity of Michigan Law Schoe
and Noel P. Fox, chairman Of the
State Labor Mediation Board.
I Senate to Pay Tribute.
Senator Ferguson, Republican
of Michigan was scheduled to an
nounce formally the death of. his
colleague when the Senate met al
noon. ..
Other Senators will wait unit
the Senate returns from the House
chamber before eulogizing Senator
Vandenberg.
In accordance with time hon
ored custom, the Senate then will
adjourn as a further mark 'ei
respect. IN A.
A dynamic, forceful- figure be.
fore his health began to fail
Senator Vandenberg played a lead
ing role in the drafting Of thi
United Nations Charter, the Mar.
shall Plan of economic aid fol
Western Europe and the Nortt
Atlantic treaty.
], His death leaves a void in the
leadership of the internationa
wing of the Republican Party.
Senator Vandenberg's devotion
to the cause he believed in-all
out cooperation among the free
nations to check communism
may have fastened his death. A
statement issued last nigh by his
son revealed for the first time
that nearly year elapsed after
the discovery of a tumor in his
left lung before it was removed.
His doctors had advised against
the delay, his son said, but the
Senator insisted on, seeing the
North Atlantic: Treaty. through
the Senate and the Ipter-Ameri-
can Treaty through Congress
without regard sto his personal
welfare"
Disregarded His Health.
It was during a routine check-ur
on the heart ailment in the fall
of 1948 that the lung tumor was
discovered. It was removed in
October, 1949.
After his last. operation in the
spring oS 1850. Senator vanden-
berg returned briefly to the Sen
ate. but he was not strong enough
to remain. He was taken by plane
to Grand Rapids and. spent some
time in Butterworth Hospital
there. In January Of this year he
left the hospital ands for a time
believed he would be able to re-
turn to the Senate. He had q
relapse late in February and failed
TO rally from 1t.
With him when he died were
his three children, Arthur, jr.:;
Mrs. John Bailey and Mrs. Eliza
beth Pfeofer. DR.. A. B. Smith, q
close friend, also was at his bed
side. The Senator's wife, Mrs
Hazel Vandenberg. died here last
June. .t
]. Senator Vandenberg will be bur-
led beside his parents and his first
wife in the family plot in Oak Hill
Cemetery at Grand Rapids. His
second wife is buried at Fort
Wayne, Ind.
President Truman will be. rep
resented at the, funeral by Secre-
tary of State Aehesen, Secretary
Of Commerce Sawyer and w
Ayerell Hartman, special assistant
to the President. It will not be
possible for the President to. at
tend the services.
Absence Was Felt Keenly.
: Senator Vandenberg,s absence
from the Senate during the so
called great sdebate" this year
over sending more troops to West
ern Europe gave striking evidence
of the importarltvrole be played in
developing bipartisan foreign
policy. ''''"s
Without his strong voice and
ability to reconcile differences on
his own side of the aisle, the
Republicans split into several
camps on the question of how fan
the President should be asked to
go in consulting Congress on+troop
commitments. - "A
The 1850 congressional elections
including the overwhelming vic
tory of Ohio's Republican Senator
Taft, strengthenedS the wing of
Senate Republicans who fear the
United States may be required to
carry too much of the mutual
defense load. -
There has been less division
among Republicans over what
United States policy in Asia should
be, but Senator Vanderiberg's ILL
ness kept him from taking part
in shaping his party's policy to-
ward the war in Korea and how
it should be fought.
!. Roth May Get Strong Support.
No decision on the appointment
Of Senator Vandenberg's successor
il eynected until after the funeral