Baker for President
Title
Baker for President
Creator
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974
Identifier
WWP16715
Date
1932 June 29
Description
In this article, Walter Lippman declares that Newton D. Baker is the right man to be nominated by the Democratic party to run for president as he will win support from various regions and even across party lines.
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Language
English
Text
(Reprinted from the Cleveland Plain Dealer of June 29, 1932)
by Walter Lippmann
Although there are some who profess they fear a deadlock like that of 1924 the position today is fundamentally different. In Madison Square Garden the Democratic party was irreconcilably divided into two factions, one of which was passionately attached to McAdoo and the other to Smith. Both sides felt that they were fighting for principles that were sacred and could not be compromised. There is no such conflict in Chicago today. Smith is not here to win the nomination for himself, and Roosevelts supporters are in the main people who like him, who sympathize with his intentions, who thought he was probably the most available candidate, but are in no sense fanatically devoted to him.
The convention is able, therefore, to turn from Roosevelt and Smith to someone else without hopeless embarrassment and disappointment. The way out of the danger of a deadlock is open. It is not only open but it is attractive. For all through these various delegations there is an astonishingly strong though quiet conviction that the party can unite on a man who is stronger than any of the leading contenders. That man is Newton D. Baker of Ohio. My impression is that he is the real first choice of more responsible Democrats than any other man, and that he is an acceptable second choice to almost everyone. Although there is not a single delegate instructed to vote for him, he is the man who, once pre-convention pledges have been fulfilled, could most easily be nominated.
The strength of Baker derives from an almost universal confidence in his ability and in his character. He is profoundly trusted. As to other men it is necessary to guess whether they have the qualities of mind and heart needed in a world crisis. But Baker has been tested in a world crisis. He has piloted a ship in a great storm. It is not necessary to ask whether he can organize men for action. He has organized more men for action than any other living American. It is not necessary to ask whether he has the mind to grasp quickly the truth hidden in great complex problems. Every year the testimony has grown more compelling as to the effectiveness with which he improvised a great army and maintained its independence against all the entanglements of a war conducted by a coalition on foreign soil. No one has to ask himself whether Baker has the power to make decisions amidst danger and confusion. No one has to ask whether he is brave. No one can doubt that he has a calm judgment, and that in the fevers of a crisis he has shown himself to be cool, serene, patient and resolute.
I have heard it said here by a man who is a leading supporter of Governor Roosevelt that Mr. Baker owed it to his party and to his country to come forward months ago and seek the nomination. There are some who cannot believe that any man who has the presidency within his reach should sit still and do nothing to obtain it. They wonder whether it is possible that any man in this day and age does not seek to promote his own advancement. The truth, as I know it to be, can best be stated by saying that Newton Baker is congenitally incapable of working for his own glory. This quality of his nature was confirmed by the ordeal of the war where he saw at first hand not only the glories of the presidency but its awful responsibilities. Difficult as it is to believe that there are such men in public life, the truth is that he is an authentic example of a man who does not seek the office.
His great and varied abilities combined with his extraordinary purity of motive have made a deep impression upon all kinds of Democrats in this convention. Whether they can and will get free of their commitments in order to nominate him, I do not know. But this much I do know: if they unite on him, they can do so not in the spirit of weary compromise but with the conviction that they are choosing their most experienced, their most eloquent, their most widely trusted man.
Moreover they can unite upon him and for once the best possible choice will also be the most expedient. The best man is the best bet. For Baker has great strength throughout the South. He has great strength in states as far apart as Oklahoma and New Jersey. He is a commanding figure in the Middle West where in all probability the election will be decided. More than anyone else he can unite the party for no other man has in like degree the confidence of all its elements. He can hold all the Democrats. No other man can attract so many independent Republicans. Finally no other man is equipped as he is equipped by eloquence and thorough conviction, by prolonged experience in public affairs, to show the others how and to what degree the Republican party can justly be held to account for present conditions, and why the time has come to displace it with another party and with other policies.Newton D. Baker is the man of the hour. If he is nominated here at Chicago there will be an instant response of hope and confidence from one end of the country to the other, and the delegates will disperse to their homes with a feeling that they have risen to a great occasion.
(Copyright New York Tribune, Inc.)
by Walter Lippmann
Although there are some who profess they fear a deadlock like that of 1924 the position today is fundamentally different. In Madison Square Garden the Democratic party was irreconcilably divided into two factions, one of which was passionately attached to McAdoo and the other to Smith. Both sides felt that they were fighting for principles that were sacred and could not be compromised. There is no such conflict in Chicago today. Smith is not here to win the nomination for himself, and Roosevelts supporters are in the main people who like him, who sympathize with his intentions, who thought he was probably the most available candidate, but are in no sense fanatically devoted to him.
The convention is able, therefore, to turn from Roosevelt and Smith to someone else without hopeless embarrassment and disappointment. The way out of the danger of a deadlock is open. It is not only open but it is attractive. For all through these various delegations there is an astonishingly strong though quiet conviction that the party can unite on a man who is stronger than any of the leading contenders. That man is Newton D. Baker of Ohio. My impression is that he is the real first choice of more responsible Democrats than any other man, and that he is an acceptable second choice to almost everyone. Although there is not a single delegate instructed to vote for him, he is the man who, once pre-convention pledges have been fulfilled, could most easily be nominated.
The strength of Baker derives from an almost universal confidence in his ability and in his character. He is profoundly trusted. As to other men it is necessary to guess whether they have the qualities of mind and heart needed in a world crisis. But Baker has been tested in a world crisis. He has piloted a ship in a great storm. It is not necessary to ask whether he can organize men for action. He has organized more men for action than any other living American. It is not necessary to ask whether he has the mind to grasp quickly the truth hidden in great complex problems. Every year the testimony has grown more compelling as to the effectiveness with which he improvised a great army and maintained its independence against all the entanglements of a war conducted by a coalition on foreign soil. No one has to ask himself whether Baker has the power to make decisions amidst danger and confusion. No one has to ask whether he is brave. No one can doubt that he has a calm judgment, and that in the fevers of a crisis he has shown himself to be cool, serene, patient and resolute.
I have heard it said here by a man who is a leading supporter of Governor Roosevelt that Mr. Baker owed it to his party and to his country to come forward months ago and seek the nomination. There are some who cannot believe that any man who has the presidency within his reach should sit still and do nothing to obtain it. They wonder whether it is possible that any man in this day and age does not seek to promote his own advancement. The truth, as I know it to be, can best be stated by saying that Newton Baker is congenitally incapable of working for his own glory. This quality of his nature was confirmed by the ordeal of the war where he saw at first hand not only the glories of the presidency but its awful responsibilities. Difficult as it is to believe that there are such men in public life, the truth is that he is an authentic example of a man who does not seek the office.
His great and varied abilities combined with his extraordinary purity of motive have made a deep impression upon all kinds of Democrats in this convention. Whether they can and will get free of their commitments in order to nominate him, I do not know. But this much I do know: if they unite on him, they can do so not in the spirit of weary compromise but with the conviction that they are choosing their most experienced, their most eloquent, their most widely trusted man.
Moreover they can unite upon him and for once the best possible choice will also be the most expedient. The best man is the best bet. For Baker has great strength throughout the South. He has great strength in states as far apart as Oklahoma and New Jersey. He is a commanding figure in the Middle West where in all probability the election will be decided. More than anyone else he can unite the party for no other man has in like degree the confidence of all its elements. He can hold all the Democrats. No other man can attract so many independent Republicans. Finally no other man is equipped as he is equipped by eloquence and thorough conviction, by prolonged experience in public affairs, to show the others how and to what degree the Republican party can justly be held to account for present conditions, and why the time has come to displace it with another party and with other policies.Newton D. Baker is the man of the hour. If he is nominated here at Chicago there will be an instant response of hope and confidence from one end of the country to the other, and the delegates will disperse to their homes with a feeling that they have risen to a great occasion.
(Copyright New York Tribune, Inc.)
Files
Collection
Citation
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974, “Baker for President,” 1932 June 29, WWP16715, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.