FDR - Jean Edward Smith [289]
The President has never had and has not today any desire or purpose to continue in the office of President, to be a candidate for that office, or to be nominated by the convention for that office. He wishes in all conviction and sincerity to make it clear that all of the delegates at this convention are free to vote for any candidate.
That is the message which I bear to you tonight from the President.16
The vast crowd in Chicago Stadium was speechless for a moment. What did Roosevelt mean? The statement said neither yes nor no. Five, ten, fifteen seconds, and then bedlam broke loose.17 From loudspeakers all over convention hall a powerful voice boomed out “We want Roosevelt,” “We want Roosevelt,” over and over. Delegates joined in, the galleries emptied onto the floor, state standards crowded into the aisles, the Chicago police band marched in playing “Happy Days Are Here Again,” the city firemen tooted “Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones,” and this time there was no power failure as the giant electric organ joined the celebration. It was pure pandemonium, and through it all that deep penetrating voice could be heard above the noise that filled the arena: “We want Roosevelt,” “Everybody wants Roosevelt,” “The world needs Roosevelt.” In a tiny office in the stadium basement, his mouth inches away from a microphone, belting out the message, sat Chicago’s leather-lunged superintendent of sewers, fifty-four-year-old Thomas D. Garry, who would gain convention immortality as “the voice from the sewers.”18
The balloting Wednesday was pro forma. Roosevelt swept the field with 946 votes, Farley received 72, Garner 61, Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland 9, and Cordell Hull, whose name had not been placed in nomination, 5. Shortly after midnight, the roll call complete, Farley moved to make the vote unanimous.
Equally pro forma was FDR’s call to Hull that night offering him the vice presidential nomination.19 When Hull again declined—he had turned Roosevelt down three times in the two past weeks—the president called Hopkins and said he wanted Wallace to be the nominee—Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, a choice that jolted party leaders no less than TR’s selection by the Republican convention in 1900.20* Roosevelt wanted Wallace because he was concerned about carrying the farm belt against a transplanted Hoosier like Willkie; he wanted a liberal to carry on the New Deal tradition should that be necessary; and he wanted someone whose antifascist credentials were impeccable. Wallace had done an outstanding job at Agriculture, his revolutionary work as a scientist to develop hybrid corn was transforming the face of American farming, and unlike the crusty, embittered Garner, Roosevelt found him likable and loyal. On the negative side, Wallace had never run for elective office. He was regarded by many as a mystic fascinated by the occult, a crackpot quality that professional politicos found difficult to comprehend.21 And his loyalty to the Democratic party appeared uncertain. His father had been secretary of agriculture under Harding and Coolidge, and Wallace had not registered as a Democrat until the 1936 election. “Just because the Republicans have nominated an apostate Democrat,” shouted one leader, “let us not for God’s sake nominate an apostate Republican.”22
Other candidates were off and running. Hopkins urged FDR to take Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Speaker Bankhead believed FDR had promised the post to him. Paul McNutt wanted it, and so did the RFC’s Jesse Jones. Wallace had no tangible base of support. He would have to be forced down the throat of a convention already aggrieved and bitter. Jimmy Byrnes (who also wanted the job) suggested Jones or Alben Barkley; Farley suggested anyone but Wallace—preferably Jones, Bankhead, or McNutt in that order. Eleanor concurred.