Evening star., 1952-07-27

SLlll q truman lnClmaCe, Donald
Dawson. a presidential assistant:
Joseph (JiggS) Donohue, Mr..
Truman's appointee as District of
Columbia Commissioner, were all
. or the scene.
Tried to Make Arvey q Dewey.
Meanwhile, other White House
loyalists were steering the conven-
tion through the shoals of plat
form and credentials. A party
split between North and South
might sink the Democratic ship
and pull Governor Stevenson out
of what looked like losing race.
The fight, particularly over
Virginia, gave the Kefauver peo-
pile new ammunition. Illinois had
voted to seat Virginia-it rallied
the ardent Northern liberals.
The Kefauver people tried to
use Mr.. Arvey as the power be-
: hind Gov. Stevenson just as the
Taft people tried to sink Gen.
Eisenhower by terming him front
for Gov. Dewey.
i With the convention in a jittery
mood. the White House got q
safety man in case Gov. Steven
son failed: Vice President Barkley.
That was the reason Mr.. Bark
ley was given his speaking date
Wednesday night and was placed
in nomination Thursday by John
McCormack. House majority
leader and Truman loyalist.
Mr.. Barkley was designed to
catch and hold votes that might
be reluctant to go to Gov. Steven
son but at the same time not
eager for Senator Kefauver or the
others. Then, if Gov. Stevenson
didn't make the grade, Mr.. Bark
ley was there to fall back on.
AS it turned out, Mr.. Barkley
was never needed.
Stevenson victory was just a
step away when the convention
adjourned at l:55 Friday morn
ing. The victory Of the conserva-
tives over the Northern liberals
had shown the voting pattern.
Stop Stevenson Effort Fails.
But there was still the tricky
task of getting through the final
hurdles: The roll calls where many
Well-planned campaign has gone
awry before.
Senator Kefauver had made
several efforts to line up support
from Mr.. Hartman. The two,
with Gael Sullivan, Senator Ke-
fauver's campaign manager. and
Franklin Roosevelt. jr., a Harri-
man backer. met Tuesday night
in the Blackstone Hotel room of
Paul Fitzpatrick, New York dele
cation chairman.
There was some talk but nothing
happened.
Actually there was no way for
them to get together.
MI. Hartman had confided to
his advisers earlier that he would
never support Senator Kefauver.
He did not feel the Tennessee
Senator had the experience and
background for the job.
| After the convention broke up
4 Friday, morning there was one
last effort to stop Gov. Stevenson.
walter Reuther, president of the
United Auto Workers, CIO, met
with Senator Humphrey of Min
Inesota, Senator Douglas of Illi-
noiS, the Rooseyelts, Mr.. Harri-
imam and Senator Kefauyer in the
Lincoln Room of the Congress
Hotel.
i There was talk of uniting be-
!. hind Senator Douglas to stop Gov.
Stevenson. but Senator Douglas
turned it down. He denies there
was an offer.0 They discussed
throwing their support to Mr..
Hartman but Senator Kefauver
protested that he had most of
the votes and that they should
back him.
When the meeting broke up
without agreement, the stop
Stevenson movement was dead.
Rendezvous Arranged.
! Senator Humphrey, Gov. Will
liams of Michigan and Senator
Blair Moody all talked with Gov.
Stevenson Friday morning to
pledge their support after they
had given Senator Kefauver a
trial run.
/ Friday morning. William Blair,
Gov. Stevenson's aide. called
Mr.. Harriman's Blackstone Hotel
suite, then turned the phone over
to Gov. Stevenson.
The Governor asked Mr.. Harri-
man to come unobtrusively to the
home of his sister. Mrs. Elizabeth
Ives, on the 18th floor of 1440 Lake
Shore drive. He gave Mr.. Harri-
man directions on. how to arrive
by the back way. Gov. Stevenson
himself tried to sneak out to the
rendezvous, but newSmen spotted
him.
During the 45-minute breakfast,
Gov. Stevenson explained to Mr..
Hartman what had happened and
how he was going to be nominated.
Mr.. Hartman left, however,
determined to give it try.
| Meanwhile, the Stevenson peo-
pie were working on Northern
delegations, holding out the pos
sibility of a Southern domination
of the nomination. The CIO sent
out word to vote for Gov. Steven
son, but by now the labor crowd
was impotent.
South Stuck to Russell.
Too many were committed to
Senator Kefauver and many were
ardent hackers of the coonskin
kid. Most of them stuck to favorite
sons, or other candidates until the
|, Stevenson bandwagon already was
trolling.
!, The South, meanwhile, stuck
with Senator Russell. The Kefau-
yer vote stood pat. The Hartman