FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944

24: FDR Strikes Back

272 The Democratic strategists had decided that, since Roosevelt was going to New York City, they would schedule a motorcade for him, all through the town, so that the maximum number of people could get a look at the President in person, watching him wave and smile. It was exactly the opposite of the way Tom Dewey campaigned; he did not care to be exposed to the public in that way, and he liked to do his communicating over the radio. Republicans in the past had complained about “Roosevelt weather”; itseemedthatitwasalwayssunnyandbalmywhenFDRappearedbefore thepublic,andthisfineweatheraddedtohisaura.ForOctober21inNew York City, however, the weather was bad. It was going to be rainy, cold, windy and dreary all day, the tail end of a hurricane that had gone up the coast. Such a day, however, turned out to be “Roosevelt weather” after all; it was just what his campaign needed. The plans for the day, set up principally by Mayor LaGuardia, included a tour of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, fifty-one miles in all. There were three stops in Brooklyn, at the Army base, New York Navy Yard, and a campaign rally for Senator Wagner at Ebbets Field, the home of the Dodgers; then followed a visit to a unit of the Waves at Hunter College in the Bronx, a tour through Harlem, and then to Times Square and the garment district in Manhattan. LaGuardia estimated ahead of time that some two million persons would see the President. 2 4 FDR Strikes Back FDR Strikes Back 273 Bob Hannegan denied that the tour was set up to prove FDR’s good health but conceded it might serve that purpose. “After the people have seen him they can make up their own minds as to his vigor and health,” the chairman said a couple of days before.1 The tour began at the Army base in Brooklyn at 9:16 a.m. with the rain pouring down. From there the motorcade went to the Navy Yard, where the President was joined for the rest of the trip by his wife and Fala. Roosevelt donned his old blue-black navy cape and battered campaign hat and, after twenty minutes at the yard, the twenty-one-car procession made its way through downtown Brooklyn, where thousands lined the sidewalks to see him and shout encouragement. Approximately ten thousand were in Ebbets Field for the Wagner rally and the presidential visit, which a Republican-leaning paper called “a frantic effort to save the New Deal Senator’s seat.” FDR’s car was driven up a ramp onto a raised platform in right field, where Roosevelt doffed his cape and hat and stood for his speech. He told the crowd he had come for two reasons. “I have a confession to make,” he said. “I’ve never been to Ebbets Field before. But I rooted for the Dodgers and I hope to come back here to see them play.” The crowd roared its appreciation . His chief reason, however, was “to pay a little tribute to my old friend, Bob Wagner,” who “deserves well of mankind.” He did so in a laudatory five-minute talk, to great cheering, and departed the ballpark at 11:05 a.m.2 From Ebbets Field, FDR went to the nearby Coast Guard garage and changed to a dry suit of clothes. Then, the tour of Brooklyn continued , before large and welcoming crowds. As the motorcade crossed into Queens, the Brooklyn officials and politicos were dropped off and replaced by their Queens counterparts, until the motorcade reached the Triborough Bridge, where Bronx officials came on board. The turnout in Queens, where Dewey was said to be more popular, was thinner than in theotherpartsof thecity.“IntheBronx,”ontheotherhand,onereporter wrote, “flag-waving and cheering throngs were the rule on virtually the entire route.” In Harlem the sidewalks were filled to overflowing and the reception for Mr. Roosevelt was warm. At 110th Street and Broadway, a band of youths played music for the motorcade. The crowds were immense 274 FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 down Broadway into a hectic Times Square, and the procession then went at a slower pace down Seventh Avenue, where it was greeted by sound trucks provided by the American Labor and Liberal parties. The acclaim at this point, it was reported, “was of the ear-splitting variety— cheers, piercing whistles, a shower of tons of multicolored confetti.” At Twenty...