Evening star., 1954-11-07
Defect Of Young F.D.R.
Shows Loss Of Magic
Writer Sees Decline in Power
Of Lute Presidents Nume
By Fronk r. Kent

Vt Lore freSloent 5 NQme
By Fronk R. Kent
Since the election, the pollsters, prog.
nosticators and travelling correspond
ents who, two weeks before, were pro.
claiming Democratic sweep, but who
In the last 10 days were really fright
ened by the force Of the Presidents
personal appeal to the people, are now
explaining, In their unctuous way, that
they knew 1t all the time and never
were In doubt ct all. That Is not true,
Of course. but there is no percentage
in disputing them.
What cannot be disputed, however,
is that the aggressive labor bosses
Of the CIO and the AFL. who put q
great deal Of money and phony oratory
into the Democratic campaign. were
way OF In their forecasts Of q Demo-
cratic landslide" Perhaps that might,
have materialized had it not been for
the strong presentation Of the Re
publican case in the final phase Of the
campaign. As 1t was, despite the
cockiness Of Chairman Mitchell and
his friend. Adlai Stevenson. the best
they can claim is the normal shrink
age Of the party In power in an OFF,
year election. Because Of the slender
margins by which the Eisenhower ad-
ministration held both House and
Senate, this has resulted in loss Of
House control and such q precarious
Senate situation that there Is sure
to be an awkward state Of affairs
there.
But, no matter how partisanly con-
strued, it is not complete disaster.
1t was not landslide or a reputation.
The way in which General Ike has
taken what nevertheless must have been
disappointing result is the way those
who know the man knew he would
take it-without bitterness or bad
humor. Nor has he shown either in his
press conferences or in private con-
versation the least touch of pettiness,
any disposition to retreat from the
fight for his program or any loss Of
heart as to the prospects Of putting 1t
through. On the contrary, he reiter-
ates his intention Of comforting both
with Democratic and Republican
leaders In Congress Undoubtedly, he
viii get some support from the better
grade Democrats who recognize his deep
sincerity and inherent patriotism Nor
is he going to resign, as some Of the
British newspapers have absurdly
urged. And he is not going to purchase
Democratic support by promising that
he will not be a candidate in 1856,
hof hoC
sources in this country.
That would be letting his own party
down and he isn't apt to do that. One
Of the newly elected Democratic Sem
ators likely to support Gen. Eisen-
hover in pinch is Strom Thur
mond Of South Carolina, who voted
for Ike In 1852 and established an
amazing precedent by winning as
"write-in" candidate last Tuesday.
Of fact there are various consoling
things about the election to Repub-
licans and conservative Democrats as
the final figures became known on
Thursday. One Of these clearly was
the defeat of Representative Franklin
D. Roosevelt, jr., as candidate for At
torney General on the Democratic
ticket in New York. 1t will be recalled
that young Roosevelt only consented to
accept the attorney generalship nofni-
nation on the Hartman ticket because
he would thus have a place Of his own
on the ballot in which, his ardent
friends of the CIO explained, he could
show popular strength far greater
than that Of Mr.. Hartman, thus plac-
ing himself well ahead Of Mr.. Hartman
as an aspirant for the presidency in
1856.
They did not expect Mr.. Hartman
to win the governorship, but they did
expect Mr.. Roosevelt to show so much
greater popularity that in the next two
years he would be the outstanding DEM
ocrat when the convention met. Consid-
ering his handsome appearance, his
highly touted campaign tactics and the
magic" of his name, there seemed
slight doubt about it and Mr. Roosevelt's
journalistic friends long before the
election had begun to write along
these lines. Some of them continued
right up to election day. But, sad to
say, when the votes were counted Mr..
Hartman barely squeaked through
and Mr.. Roosevelt just did not make the
grade at all though certainly he tried
oh, my, how he tried. Now, he is not
only not Attorney General Of New York,
but he isn't a member Of Congress.
What he is, of course, is q busted
balloon. He Strutted all over the State,
making the most Of his name and ap-
pearance and getting nowhere at all.
His brother was elected to Con-
gress from gerrymandered Cali
fornia district so Democratic that he
couldn't lose. There he will stick. At
least this election has banished the
myth that all you have to do In this
country to gain high political Office
is to be named Roosevelt.