The Sidney herald., 1956-08-02

41AaAA06CA D2ACA dIC
fully instructed the bandmaster
what to do. After Senator Bev-
eridge had finished his grafton
and the applause had sufficient
ly subsidized, the band was TO
strike up a spirited air, "But for
Gods sake don't play Marching
Through Georgia
Senator Beverage outdid him.
self. His speech was one of the
most stirring of the whole cam
paign. There was prolonged and
thunderous applause.
Then the band played March
ing Through Georgia"
As a reporter covering the fed
eral court In Helena, / became
acquainted with Burt Wheeler In
1915 when he was u. S. district
attorney. During the war hys-
terra he was uniustly accused
by some Of the superpatriots on
being soft with so-called pro-
Germans. Wheeler resigned. /
don't recall the reasons he gave,
but I have always felt 1t was
to take the heat off his ever
loyal friend and sponsor, Tom
Walsh.
Dixon, induced to come out of
political retirement, got the Re-
publican nomination for govern
or, defeating Wheeler, who had
won the Democratic nomination.
But Joe Dixon's victory in 1920
was a political blessing for Burt
Wheeler, for in 1922 he was
elected to the senate, remaining
through 1946.
Campaign contacts such as /
had with Joe Dixon and Burt
Wheeler in their heyday gave
me an exceptional opportunity to
learn about the mechanics of
campaigning from masters. Per-
haps the bitterest and most in
tensely fought governorship cam
paign in Montana's history was
in 1924 when Dixon, seeking e
election, was defeated by Judge
John E. Erickson of Kalispell. /
reported most of Dixon's big
town rallies in that campaign.
1t probably couldn't be done
today, but in 1924 Joe Dixon,
night after night, held his au-
dience three hours and they were
asking for more. His knowledge
of political platform psychology
was indeed superb. Seemingly he
knew and could effectively use
every trick in the bag. Political
practitioners of today could have
learned much from Joe Dixon.
AS I had occasion to observe
several years later there was a
close similarity between the
manner of Franklin D. Roosevelt
and that of Joe Dixon in con-
versing with people.
One of my richest experiences
with political figures was in 1894
when l covered the last 10 days
of Senator Wheeler's general
election campaign. Wheeler, who
in 1928 had beaten off Dixon's
attempt to unseat him, was really
at his best in the 1884 campaign.
His opponent that year was u. S.
District Judge George M. Bour-
quin, who had recently retired
and had been persuaded by the
Republicans to tackle Burt
Wheeler.
Bourquin allegedly referred to
the Fort Peck project, then in
the building, Is a duck pond, and
Wheeler made the most of it. In
contrast to Dixon's conversation
al, calm and unoratorical deliv-
Wheeler was an agitated
gymnast. At one point, when he
got warmed up in his speech, he
would pull off his coat and real
Iy tear in. In 1888, the late Jerry
O'Connell, in an unsuccessful bid
TO keep his congressional post,
adopted the Wheeler coat act but
ne fell short of the Wheeler eff
feet.
Burt Wheeler, practicing law
n Washington, D. c., is out of
active politics now, but / think
If him as one of the greatest
sladiators ever to enter the Mon
ANA political arena and to make
N impact on national affairs.
.ocksure young politicos of to-
lay who think they know all the
answers could learn from Burt
Wheeler more than they sus-
oect there is to know about poll
les.