Evening star., 1953-07-31

gree have begged down because
it holds basic tensions in such
good balance that neither side
quite dares to reopen this law
for revision.
Born in Cincinnati.
The life which was to contain
so much controversy and sc
many contradictions, so many
carefully reasoned proposals anc
so many peremptory challenges
to the main currents of the age
began on September 8, 1889 ir
Cincinnati, Ohio. In the shadow
cast by the vast and genial bulk
of William Howard Taft, his frs
child went to public schools ir
Cincinnati and continued hi.
education in Manila when the
father became Governor Gen.
eral Of the Philippines.
From 1904 to 1907 he went tC
his uncle's stylish Taft School ir
Watertown, Conn, and from 1907
to 1910 attended Yale. During
his years in college his father
became President, and it was ir
the course of a White House
adolescence that he met his fu-
ture wife, Martha Bowers
daughter of his fathers Attorney
General.
At this time. too, he acquired
the passionate longing to be
President which he never lost.
Years later in the Senate he be-
gan many an argument with
the phrase. when my father
was in the White House :" He
never got over the power and
the glory Of those heady young
days.
Top Student Mt Colleges.
In 1910 he was graduated from
Yale. a member Of Phi Beta
Kappa and top student in his
class. Three years later, after
winning similar honors at Har-
ward Law School and serving as
editor of the Harvard Law Re-
view, he went on to pass the
Ohio bar examination with the
highest honors in the State.
A year later he and Martha
Bowers were married. Four sons
came of the union, and to date
nine grandchildren. Their nick
name for their grandfather
"Gop"-was a tribute to the
newspapers ubiquitous use of
"Mr. G. o. p"
Barred from direct participa-
ton in World War I by poor eye
sight, the future Senator served
in 1917 and 1918 as assistant
counsel of Herbert Hoover's Food
Administration, going overseas
the next year as counsel for the
American Relief Administration
in Europe.
Building a Career.
Back home after the war, he
began patiently building his
political career in typical first
things-f1rst fashion, ringing
doorbells as a precinct worker,
moving gradually into positions
of party responsibility on the
local level. BY 1921 he was ready
to try for public Office.
His campaign for the Ohio
House of Representatives that
year was successful. He served
in that body until 1926, becoming
Speaker in his final term. During
this time, and until he left for
Washington in 1899. he conduct
ed a highly profitable law prac-
tice in Cincinnati.
From the House of Represent
ativeS to the State Senate was
the logical next step, and in
1881 he made it, serving until
1888, when he retired for five
years to devote himself full time
to the law. Then in 1888 he en-
tered the national arena as a
successful candidate for United
States Senator. It was the first
of three victorious campaigns.
The second, in 1914. saw the
Senator winning reelection by
a scant 17,740-vote margin. The
third, in 1850, saw him sweeping
back in with a triumphant ma
jority Of 431,184. In that year
he carried "a out of 88 counties
over the bitter opposition of or
ganized labor, and received one
of the greatest votes ever given
an Ohio candidate.
Filled a Vacuum.
From his first days in the Sen
ate, the Senator began to build
the foundations for the leader
ship which was later to bring
him national fame. When he
arrived on Capitol Hill the Re-
publicanS, though gradually re-
gaining their morale and s1umer-
ical strength, were still fairly
well devastated by President
Roosevelt's overwhelming re-
election in 1886 and his continu-
ing popularity with the country
It was a situation made for
some one willing to stand up and
voice intelligent opposition N a
firm and positive tone of voice.
This the Senator from Ohio
never hesitated to do. AMI in
evitably more timorous Repub-
licans began to rally around the
man who came right out with
the things most of them we're
thinking but didn't quite dare to
say. It did not make him pop
ular with the administration. but
it gave him a strong hold on the
affections of his own party. In
evitably his views carried in
creasing weight with his COL
leagues.
Tries for White House.
AS early as 1886 there began
the long. fruitless attempt to re-
sumo residence in the White
House. Although at the mo-
ment out of public Office. he
went as Ohio's favorite son to