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Chapter 10 - Politico
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Chapter 10 Politico ord of the expedition’s deliverance from the Antarctic pack ice reached the States by radio within hours, and while Byrd stopped briefly in Tahiti and then in Panama to write a formal report to the National Geographic Society , his friends and backers in the States prepared a series of lavish receptions.There would be the ticker-tape parade down Broadway, of course. Railey had approached mutual friends of the explorer and Franklin Roosevelt to see if the New York governor could host a reception. FDR expressed delight, and wouldn’t it be splendid if the navy brought his good friend Dick and the entire expedition up the Hudson to Albany in a destroyer? The Navy Department was more than willing to oblige its most famous sailor and one of its most illustrious assistant secretaries.1 And so the festivities began in a steadily mounting crescendo. Byrd’s icebattered ships sailed into New York Harbor on Thursday morning, June 19, 1930. Mayor Walker and the usual dignitaries sailed out to meet the vessels and escort them to the pier. There Byrd leaped ashore to greet Marie with a manly handshake and for young Dick a restrained hug. Whatever passion and intimacies might exist between husband and wife would have to await suitable moments behind closed doors. Then came the motorcade driving slowly through a blizzard of ticker tape to city hall, the radio microphones awaiting the explorer’s first words, the banquets and the awards, and all the rest. Next day it was on to Washington, D.C., and an afternoon reception for the entire expedition in the Rose Garden of the White House with President Hoover, followed by another formal dinner for everyone that evening and a presentation by the president to Byrd of the National Geographic Society Special Medal of Honor. With his men looking on, Byrd spoke proudly but with modest demeanor of 284 the expedition’s achievements. It had carried the American flag a thousand miles farther south than ever before. The science had been brilliant. Such triumphs satisfied the mind. But what satisfied the heart, the youthful-looking explorer emphasized , was “that we left not a single man on the ice; that everyone is here tonight .” Somewhat surprisingly, however, it was the increasingly taciturn president, laboring under the first burdens of a gathering economic depression, who was most eloquent. The Byrd expedition had enriched humanity by expanding knowledge, Hoover said, which was a priceless boon for mankind, for whereas money was made and spent, “knowledge remains always with the race.” The spectacular discoveries and science had all been due to Byrd’s “painstaking preparation,” his “foreknowledge of the special problems to be solved,” and his “thoughtful plans to meet them,” together with an infinite patience in execution. The gentleman explorer had demonstrated the traits of the born commander: “boldness at the right time, comradeship, those heroic qualities that endear the captain to his men.” They had placed him at the forefront of national accomplishment. Little wonder that he was “beloved by the American people.” But it was the “human values” Byrd had brought to his enterprise that most touched the public heart and fired its mind. “Every hidden spot of the earth’s surface remains a challenge to man’s will and ingenuity until it has been conquered. Every conquest of such a difficult goal adds permanently to mankind’s sense of power and security. Great explorers, therefore, do not merely add to the sum of human knowledge, but also they add immensely to the sum of human inspiration.”2 Early on June 24, Byrd and his men boarded the destroyer USS Bainbridge, which lay alongside the Hudson River pier at Ninety-seventh Street in upper Manhattan , for the trip to Albany. At four thirty that afternoon, they stepped off the warship to be greeted by FDR, who proceeded to orchestrate another round of “impressive and colorful ceremonies” at the state capitol. The next morning, Byrd and his men returned to the city by train. Two weeks later, back in his office at the Biltmore Hotel, Byrd wrote “dear Franklin” that “we are all still tingling with that great reception we got in Albany. Every one of my shipmates thought you were the greatest fellow they ever met. I have been bragging about you to them for two years and I am mighty glad that they got together with you.”3 Only Dean Smith felt out of place. Governor and Mrs. Roosevelt...