FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944

27: The Man from Missouri

298 Harry Truman knew from the start that his would be the main job of speaking for the Democratic ticket, and he handled the task with competence . His emphasis was always on the record of Franklin Roosevelt, the successful course of the war, and the necessity of experienced hands toputinplacethepeacetofollow.HetauntedThomasDeweyontheRepublican isolationists who were still powerful figures in the challenger’s party,althoughlateinthecampaignthismessageinadvertentlyinvolved Trumaninintra-partyunpleasantness.Onthewhole,HarryTrumandid his job well, considering that Franklin Roosevelt’s involvement in the struggle was relatively minimal until close to the end. Truman, after being formally notified of his nomination at the ceremony in his native town of Lamar on August 31, went to Michigan on Labor Day, September 4, for a union picnic in Pontiac, a parade down Woodward Avenue in Detroit, a CIO rally of fifteen thousand in Cadillac Square, and a banquet given in his honor by the Detroit and Wayne County Federation of Labor. He reminded his listeners about “the greatest friend labor ever had—Franklin D. Roosevelt” and he told them: “Remember that and re-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States.”1 It looked to political observers as the campaign got under way that Harry S. Truman of Missouri—who he was, what he could do, how his antecedents affected his performance—might become a major factor in the race. One writer said: 2 7 The Man from Missouri The Man from Missouri 299 Now comes a campaign where the hind half of a ticket is a storm center, exciting almost as much debate as the standard bearer himself. Not John W. Bricker— there’s no question about him—but Harry S. Truman. Is he fugelman or robot? Paladin or peewee? With these questions on every tongue, the competence of Mr. Roosevelt’s current running mate is the nearest thing the country has to a burning issue.2 Some Democratic leaders advocated a lie-low strategy for Truman, fearing that an active campaign would make his Pendergast-machine background and his nomination for vice president by the big-city bosses a major issue, to the detriment of President Roosevelt. For a while it looked as if that was the strategy being adopted, until Truman’s October schedule was disclosed. “The consequences” of the decision to put Trumanoutfrontfull -time,ArthurKrockwrote,“shouldbeinteresting,and they may be influential on the November choice of the nation.”3 In the meantime, though, the Democratic National Committee distributed a biographical sketch headed “Man From Missouri” to editors acrossthe country. On pages 9–10 ofthis tract was a quote from Maurice Milligan, the U.S. Attorney who had prosecuted Tom Pendergast (and whose reappointment Truman had voted against): In the long series of investigations conducted by my office involving vote frauds and other matters of corruption in Kansas City, the finger of suspicion was never at any time pointed in the direction of Senator Harry S. Truman.4 For September, Truman’s schedule was far lighter than John Bricker ’s. He did give a couple of speeches in Kansas City the 26th and 27th of September, but on the whole he was pretty much removed from the public eye until early in October. The Chicago Tribune even ran an editorial on September 25 complaining about “The Silent Candidacy of Mr. Truman.” It said that, while “ordinarily, the efforts of a Vice Presidential candidate are part of a campaign to oblivion,” Senator Truman stood a much better chance of becoming President before 1948 than did Bricker, giventhestateofFranklinRoosevelt’shealth.So—Truman“oughttotell the people more about himself, and explain, if he can, how his connectionswiththecrookedPendergastpoliticalmachineandcorruptKansas Citymunicipalgangfit himforthePresidency.” Rooseveltweknow,said the Tribune; “Sen. Truman, however, is a newcomer. We ought to know more about him, and the best way to learn is from his own lips.”5 300 FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944 The senator’s talk in Kansas City on September 26, to an AFL group, drew some attention when he said, “I’m a Jackson County organization Democrat and proud of it. That is the way I got to be a county judge, a senator, and the candidate for Vice President.” He added, “A statesman is only a dead politician. I never want to be a statesman.”6 Truman gave a radio speech from Washington over the Blue Network on October 2, and held a press conference about his plans on October 4. He said, “The trouble with me is that...