The Old Dazzler

The morning after the President had taken the terrible shellacking in New York --one of the worst defeats of his 32 years of politicking--reporters gathered at the White House for the semiweekly press conference with hope but without expectation. They did not realize that they were about to witness one of Franklin Roosevelt's most dazzling examples of press relations virtuosity.

For months on end the President had said little and that little sometimes snappishly. What would he want to say now, when Big Jim Farley had soundly, roundly trounced him in the struggle to nominate the Democratic candidate for the New York Governorship (see p. 20)?

But the Old Master, always smooth and smart in a tough spot, was ready for them. News, hey? He'd give them news. Apparently he had rummaged through his desk for every scrap that came to hand. Smiling, urbane, completely at ease in the hot morning, he greeted the reporters much as a managing editor handing out the day's assignment budget. Frontpage, feature stories, straight news, inspirational chats, financial items:

PRESIDENT WARNS AXIS ON ATROCITIES.

This was an old number but the Chief freshened it up. He had hoped barbaric actions against civil populations would decrease, but they were growing. Now, said he, invaders in Europe and Asia "should have this warning that the time will come when they shall have to stand in courts of law in the very countries which they are now oppressing and answer for their acts."

FDR ORDERS OFFICIALS TO STOP PUBLIC CLASHES

The Editor handed the already wilting newshawks copies of his new order that Government agencies cease bickering and airing their disagreements. (He had covered this before, but now he made it stronger.) The man in the street is confused, he said: "Officials divert to quarrels with each other the time and energy they ought to be devoting to fighting the enemy."

WILLKIE IS ROOSEVELT'S ENVOY.

The newshawks all knew that Wendell Willkie was going to Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Russia because he wanted to go. A reporter's question gave the President a chance to put the emphasis the other way, that Mr. Willkie will act as the President's man. "Mr. President, can you say what you desire him to do in these countries?" The President could: Mr. Willkie will simply go abroad and tell "the truth" about the U.S. war effort--by which the President explained he meant that production was booming and strikes were negligible (see p. 84).

ROOSEVELT NOT BLUE ON WAR EFFORT.

A question about manufacturing conditions provided material for a breezy item. Was the President satisfied? No, and I never will be, said Franklin Roosevelt. Was the President "blue" about the situation? No, said the President, he was not blue.

INFLATION OUTLOOK CHEERS PRESIDENT.

For business pages the Chief had the general remark that good progress was being made toward means to avert inflation, and newshawks put this together with previous dope stories that New York's Judge Rosenman had already submitted a tentative plan built around the formation of an Economic Stabilization Authority. To it might be named Leon Henderson, William H. Davis, Marriner Eccles, Henry Morgenthau, Jesse Jones, Claude Wickard and a chairman appointed by the President.

FDR PARRIES COMMENT ON BENNETT.

For the last Franklin Roosevelt saved his quip of the day, the question of John J. Bennett's nomination in New York. The Chief picked up a newspaper, read therefrom Columnist Mark Sullivan's remarks about a press conference with Under Secretary of War Bob Patterson: "Mr. Patterson said merely that he had no worthwhile comment. If Mr. Patterson has no copyright on those four short words, 'no worth-while comment,' they could be advantageously used by some other Washington officials who face press conferences."

The sweating reporters now had enough to keep them busy all morning. They streamed out. The President had given an almost dazzling performance, like a juggler tossing colored balls in the air to take the audience's eyes off a necessary change of scenery in the rear of the stage.

He had not only changed the subject--he had given the newsmen all kinds of new subjects to fill their wires and flood the news columns. None of the stories, it turned out later, was very hot--but the Chief knew that nothing is as dead as yesterday's newspapers, and that if he could only keep everyone's mind busy for the next 24 hours, nearly everyone would forget about the New Deal's out-&-out defeat in New York.

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