Congress Hotel Deal

A national political convention in the U. S. is a vast vegetative process by which man in the mass distills out of himself that which he calls Leadership, the quality of the result depending upon many preceding months of social and economic weather, upon the current fertility or poverty of the soil that is the mass mind.

Banked tightly in their rows and boxes in the teeming hothouse of Chicago Stadium last week, flooded with artificial light, seething and waving in a slow chaos of mob emotions, the Democracy presented a spectacle not unlike the steaming jungle of man's origin. Predominant were the lowest of political vegetables--the common or garden delegates with no thought or power but to vote as instructed by the folks at home or the bosses in the hothouse. Planted among them were some of society's finest flowers--Byrds from Virginia, Maryland's Ritchie, New York's Davis. Like Irish potatoes and more noxious growths were the city delegations--Tammany's full-blown ward heelers, micks from Brooklyn and Boston, hybrids from Chicago under the leadership of Mayor Anton J. Cermak, lusty bumpkins from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, and drooping gone-to-seed specimens from the country roadsides of all the States. Beside each delegation, like sticks showing what had been planted there, stood the state guidons. On the platform above the massed delegates, in a little orchard of flags and microphones, was the fruit of previous years of party vegetation, the National Committee. In a separate enclosure, the Press hovered over the scene, its individuals buzzing busily to carry news pollen or angrily to sting the Democracy with satire and ridicule.

Groaning Stalk. A tall, tough stalk growing in this Democratic garden was James Aloysius Farley, Convention manager for Franklin Delano Roosevelt of New York. Yet even he looked wilted and broken when he clumped into his Congress Hotel suite last Friday morning after an all-night session at the Stadium. In those dragging hours a sullen minority had blocked, if not beaten, his candidate's nomination. Manager Farley dropped into a chair and groaned.

For four years Jim Farley had been building the Governor of New York up for the Presidency. Since February he had traveled indefatigably back & forth across the country corralling convention delegates. He had put his candidate into primaries where he could win without wounds, steered him clear of contests with Favorite Sons. He had arrived in Chicago with a clear majority of delegates. He had captured all the convention machinery. He had confidently predicted victory for Governor Roosevelt on the first ballot. Yet since dawn that morning three ballots had come & gone at the Stadium and the Roosevelt nomination was unharvested. Jim Farley's plans had been stalled by the stubborn enmity of Alfred Emanuel Smith and a half-dozen Favorite Sons.

When not playing Presidential politics, Mr. Farley is chairman of the New York State Boxing Commission. In him is something of the blatant tenacity of the prize ring. Yet as he sat alone at the Congress Hotel he was defeated by forces beyond his control. The Smith faction, captained by Jersey City's hardboiled Frank Hague and backed by Tammany Hall, was relentlessly bitter in its opposition. Mayor Hague had attacked Governor Roosevelt as the "weakest man" to nominate. The California and Texas forces of Speaker Garner, led by lean, leathery William Gibbs McAdoo, had lined up with the Brown Derby on every convention vote so far. The minor candidates had stood their ground for a break that never came. The loss of one Roosevelt State on the next roll-call would mean disaster.

Deal, During that dismal afternoon Louis McHenry Howe, the New York Governor's personal secretary and political eyes-&-ears, was waiting in Room 1502, centre of the Roosevelt spider web, when a little group of McAdoo friends marched in.* They had worked for the onetime Treasury Secretary in 1924 and were now ready to help out the onetime Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Speaker Garner, they reported, was ready to drop his candidacy for first place on the ticket, provided he was given second place. Under the influence of Publisher William Randolph Hearst, flattered with the notion of making a President, Mr. McAdoo was ready to swing Texas and California to Roosevelt and thus bury the hatchet--in Al Smith's back. At this news Mr. Howe's wrinkled face wrinkled even more. Reaching for the telephone, he called Governor Roosevelt in Albany to confirm the deal. The Governor would be delighted to have Speaker Garner on the ticket with him. Convinced of Governor Roosevelt's good faith, the McAdoo visitors withdrew to execute the details of State caucuses. Mr. Howe informed Jim Farley, two flights up, of their candidate's prospective victory. Mr. Farley, who chews gum when happy, chewed gum happily. All that remained now was to notify Missouri, Illinois and Ohio to drop their favorite sons and get on the bandwagon.

The deal that effected the Roosevelt-Garner nomination came as the climax to a four-day convention struggle. At the outset after the keynote speech (TIME, July 4) Manager Farley established his clear Roosevelt majority of 100 votes or more by winning delegation contests from Louisiana and Minnesota and electing Senator Thomas James Walsh permanent chairman over Jouett Shouse. But those same ballots nailed down the anti-Roosevelt States--California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia--as a minority strong enough to veto any nomination.

1000% for the Rules. Before the Convention began, it took a telegram from Governor Roosevelt to halt his partisans from abrogating the venerable party rule requiring a two-thirds majority to nominate. Even then a Roosevelt minority of the Rules Committee wanted a nomination by a simple majority if six ballots produced a deadlock. Manager Farley, fuzzy with fatigue, bustled around to head off this demand. The Rules Committee was hastily assembled in the lunchroom in the Stadium basement. There Manager Farley boomed: "Look here, just so there won't be any misunderstanding, I want to tell you what our position is. We're for the rules as they now stand 1000%--the two-thirds rule all the way through."

The Convention adopted the 1928 rules with a whoop, the only concession to the little hands that tried to snatch the Roosevelt leadership being a proposal that the 1936 Convention consider changing the requirements to nominate. This complete retreat saved Manager Farley from what would have otherwise been a bad beating on the floor.

Smith's Moment. Alfred Emanuel Smith, darling of the galleries, took no direct part in Convention proceedings until the Platform Committee reported for Repeal of the 18th Amendment. Then for a brief ten minutes he held the rostrum spotlight and microphones, fighting for a cause already won. It was his big moment--but it had nothing to do with his real purpose of blocking a Roosevelt nomination.

A minority plank calling for Resubmission had been offered by Dry Senator Hull of Tennessee who had argued that Repeal sentiment had been manifest only in the last few days and that even the party nominee four years ago had been satisfied with Resubmission. Leaving the Tammany weed patch on the floor, Delegate-at-Large Smith climbed up the back stairs to the speakers' platform to answer the Hull argument. His plastered-down hair was greyer, his face more wrinkled, his waistline plumper than four years ago. He took the public's cheers sidewise. His Adam's apple bobbed up & down, as if with emotion at the thunderous ovation. Discerning ears could tell that the uproar was not for Smith the Wet, Smith the Candidate, or even Smith the Democrat, but for Smith the Man.

Four Years. "Of course," Mr. Smith began, in a rasping voice that stabbed the microphone, "the fact that Senator Hull found out only in the last three days that there was sentiment in the country for Repeal is--just too bad. . . . Since when has it become any violation of fundamental Democratic party creed to declare emphatically in favor of the rights of the States? The Senator quoted from my acceptance speech. That was four years ago. Did the Senator agree with me four years ago? He did NOT. And because I happened to be four years ahead of my time just look what happened to me! . . .

"If there's anything in the world today the American public dislikes, it's a dodger. The time has passed when you can be Wet among Wets and Dry among Drys. . . .

"I promised myself to listen in on the raddio* on the Republican Convention. I couldn't stand anything beyond the speech of the temporary chairman. . . . The Administration in Washington finds itself in the awkward position of attempting to straddle the question. . . ."

934-to-213. It was after midnight before all speeches were finished. Patrick J. Haltigan, reading clerk of the House of Representatives, moved to the microphone and began the momentous roll call. Roosevelt delegates had been publicly freed to vote their convictions. Managers Farley and Hague, united on this issue, kept hands off.

Dry Roosevelt States joined Wet Smith States in demanding Repeal--South Carolina and New York, Michigan and Massachusetts. The tide against Prohibition swept delegation after delegation away from its old moorings. At every Dry vote the galleries groaned--Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia. The party went soaking, sopping, dripping Wet by a vote of 934-to-213.

"The Man Who. . . ." The convention next spent ten lusty hours putting eight candidates in nomination for the Presidency. Nominators stinted no oratorical superlative to glorify their candidates. Well might the country marvel at such an agglomeration of political paragons presented by the Democracy. Excerpts :

John E. Mack: He comes to this convention with the greatest number of States behind him in the history of the Democratic Party. . . . He has that rare gift for making and holding friends. . . . His priceless gift of sympathetic understanding. . . . His splendid record . . . his ability to get things done. . . . He fills the crying need for a practical American. . . . Country born and country loving, this man's whole political life is an open book. . . . FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT.

Senator Tom Connolly: Reared in humble surroundings, he has risen to a place of power. . . . His grasp is not surpassed by any man. . . . He is still of the plain people . . . has never lost the common touch. . . . He knows America as no other public figure. . . . His mind and patriotism live in every section of the Republic. . . . He is a sturdy, stouthearted, clear-headed American . . . the Field Marshal of the Armies of Democracy. . . . JOHN NANCE GARNER.

Governor Joseph Buell Ely: Shall we admit that education and prosperity have softened our muscles, drained our vitality and left us only speculating, doubting, equivocating and polite gentlemen? Thank God, no! There is a man who sits among us who is a modern Andrew Jackson. . . . The savior of his nation, this positive, virile, straight-speaking, plain-thinking statesman. . . . ALFRED E. SMITH.

Clocked Clamor. After each nominating speech pledged delegations demonstrated for their candidate--went shouting, shoving, sweating around the aisles while the Press clocked their competitive enthusiasms. Duration of demonstrations:

Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 min.

Ritchie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 min.

Roosevelt . . . . . . . . . . . 43 min.

Garner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 min.

Byrd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 min.

Traylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 min.

Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 min.

Reed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 min.

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 min.

Vote No. 1, Just as dawn was paling the Stadium's high windows, Reading Clerk Patrick J. Haltigan, whose whacking big voice is matched only by that of John Crockett in the Senate, stepped to the microphone. "Alabama?" he cried.

It was the moment for which millions of radio listeners, to whom he had become the convention's stentor, had stayed up all night. The time was 4:45 a. m. C. D. S. T.

"Twenty-four votes for Roosevelt," answered William Woodward Brandon who had voted his delegation so long and so loyally for Oscar W. Underwood in 1924.

As the first ballot on the nomination started, Manager Farley twitched with excitement. He had predicted victory on the initial roll call. Would he get it? When New York was reached, Boss Curry of Tammany Hall dramatically announced that the delegation would have to be polled individually. Result: Smith, 65; Roosevelt, 28. Mayor Walker, arriving late, publicly cast his vote for Smith. The Stadium buzzed. Obviously the Mayor of New York would not toady to the Governor of New York regardless of the Seabury charges (TIME, June 13) which might cost him his job.

Final vote: Roosevelt, 666; Smith, 201; Garner, 90; others scattering.

Votes Nos. 2 & 3. The sun was well up when the second ballot started without any important shifts. On the third ballot Roosevelt rose to 682, Smith fell to 190. The convention deadlocked. After a continuous twelve-hour session which had emptied the galleries and sprawled delegates out with bleary fatigue an adjournment was taken until evening.

Shifter Hearst. It was during this interval that Manager Farley secured the withdrawal of Speaker Garner and induced Mr. McAdoo to lead the swing to Roosevelt. A prime agent in the shift was Publisher William Randolph Hearst, listening to the convention from his California home. Mr. Hearst was largely responsible for the Garner candidacy. When it fizzled, Mr. Hearst was informed that, if the deadlock persisted, a break to Newton Diehl Baker would follow. Because he regarded Mr. Baker as a dangerous Internationalist, a friend of the "power trust," and "the least fit of any candidate" for the nomination--also perhaps because the bloods of Mr. Hearst and Al Smith never did mix--Mr. Hearst urged Messrs. Garner & McAdoo to toss their votes to Roosevelt.

The night session of the convention was a perfunctory ratification of the Congress Hotel Deal. During the fourth ballot Mr. McAdoo arose to announce:

"California came here to nominate a President. When any man comes into this convention with popular will behind him to the extent of almost 700 votes. . . ."

Suddenly the rabble in the galleries sensed what was coming. They hooted, hissed, booed. Mr. McAdoo knew that mob cry of old. It was the same one that Tammany hoodlums gave him at Madison Square Garden in 1924. His dark face flushed darker with rage. Governor Roosevelt had been called a demagog by Mr. Smith because he appealed to the "forgotten man." But the forgotten men in the Stadium gallery were heart, soul, throat and hands for Al Smith.

"This convention wants to know," shrilled Mr. McAdoo above the din, "if this is the kind of hospitality Chicago accords its guests. I intend to say what I propose to say here tonight without regard to what the galleries or anybody else thinks. . . . California casts 44 votes for Franklin D. Roosevelt."

Vote No. 4. This McAdoodling brought other States running hen-like to the winner--Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Virginia. The Roosevelt vote mounted to 945. Manager Farley was almost delirious. "What did I tell you! What did I tell you!" he kept babbling.

But Nominee Roosevelt was not the unanimous choice of the convention. A grim loyalty to Alfred Emanuel Smith in the New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey delegations prevented that. To a bitter, impractical end the Brown Derby irreconcilables cast their 190 votes for their own candidate. In his hotel room Mr. Smith snapped off his radio, began packing up to leave town. Defeat went hard with him.

"Put It There." Next day Manager Farley executed his end of the "deal" when he secured Speaker Garner's nomination of the Vice Presidency by acclamation. Then from the Stadium he sped to the Chicago airport where Nominee Roosevelt was arriving from Albany. When the plane settled to the ground, Jim Farley, his broad red face redder than ever with excitement, jostled through the packed crowd to be the first to greet the Governor. Mr. Roosevelt, all smiles, put his left hand on Farley's shoulder to steady his own shaky legs, and stuck out his right hand saying:

"Jim, old pal--put it right there--you did great work!"

* Their names were withheld by Mr. Howe as "another story.''

* PurposeIy so pronounced. The galleries guffawed.

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