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University Daily, Kansan Friday, Oct. 23, 1964
Maligned, but Great
He was once the most maligned and ridiculed man in America. He is now, twenty years later, being given the honor and respect due only to a dead president of the United States.
His name is Herbert Clark Hoover. He enjoyed one of the most meteoric rises in American politics imaginable. Then, just four years later, he suffered a political downfall almost unparalleled in American politics. In 1928, he won the election by a plurality of six million votes and in 1932, he lost by seven million votes.
HE HAD THE distinction of having towns named after him all over the United States . . . thousands of them. The make-shift shanty towns of the depression era were called Hoover towns.
The country needed a scapegoat for all the despair and pain that engulfed the nation as the depression set in. And they found it, in the person of Herbert Hoover. The full blame of the depression was placed on him, even though the rumblings of economic disaster had started long before he took office.
Studies in retrospect have somewhat cleansed Hoover of the guilt that haunted him for so long. As secretary of commerce under Calvin Coolidge, he warned the administration that prices were inflated far above the actual value. Immediately following his election, he asked several newspapers to conduct a campaign to brake the rise of speculation and, hopefully, to return prices to normalcy. For four years, he battled the depression, with what some called outmoded and primitive measures. The United States did not give him a chance after that.
FOR YEARS AFTER his term, he was known only as the man who preceded Roosevelt. Shortly after Roosevelt took office, a book was written, "Our Unknown Ex-President."
Then, characteristically unpredictable, the American people returned the affection that
Hoover had so openly given them during his public career. The name of the book was changed to "The Herbert Hoover Story." He was called upon by both President Truman and President Eisenhower to conduct governmental reorganizational research. He became the chairman of the Boy's Club of America. He was given 85 honorary degrees and 468 awards. Thirty-four public schools were named after him. And now the whole nation mourns the man who was hated for so long.
Hoover never conceded that his administration could not have dealt with the depression, if given a chance. In the 1950's, he said:
"I am so immodest as to believe that had we been continued in office, we would have quickly overcome the depression and approached economic and social problems from the viewpoint correcting marginal abuses, not of inflicting a collectivist economy on the country. We would have better preserved the personal liberty to which the nation was dedicated."
RAISED IN A Quaker family, Hoover carried his religious beliefs into the White House, to the detriment of the administration, according to some of his critics. His principles of hard work and frugality were inconsistent with the spirit of his time, a fact which did not help to make him more popular. A multi-millionaire himself, Hoover made frugality a policy in his economic program, again a policy which did not endear him to some big spenders.
Regardless of his role in the depression, largely debunct now, almost all will concede that America has lost a great man and a kind man.
The town that once shunned him as a native son, is now the site of the Herbert Hoover library and his grave.
- Leta Cathcart
The Wealth of Candidates
There have been increasing indications in recent years that American politics as an institution is coming under the domination of the wealthy class.
The March 2 issue of the Nation carried an article by Ian Sclanders, correspondent for Canada's Maclean's magazine, entitled "Politics: The Rich Man's Game." To support his theme that "it is the conviction of experienced Washington politicians that, barring the unforseen, the American voters are unlikely to elect another President who is not at least a millionaire," Sclanders presents a number of financial figures connected with recent elections.
PRENOMINATION expenses for candidates for major offices will often run close to $1 million, according to Sclanders. He said John F. Kennedy reportedly laid out $912,000 in his campaign before the Democrats nominated him.
After the primary elections, the national parties begin footing the bills. In 1960, national headquarters activities cost each party about $10 million. The Democrats ended up $3,800,000 in the hole, and the Republicans $700,-000, it is reported.
The two main candidates for the American presidency in 1964 are both in the millionaire class. But the amount a man is worth in terms of dollar signs is a flimsy excuse for an election issue. If the financial status of the candidates should have any bearing on the campaigns of Barry Goldwater and Lyndon
Johnson, it should be not as a question of "how much" but of where and how" the candidates obtained their fortunes.
Little has been said or insinuated about the $1,700,000 (current market value) fortune of Goldwater and his wife. This figure was revealed in the Aug. 14 issue of Time magazine and later confirmed by the Valley National Bank of Phoenix.
THE GOLDWATER wealth consists mainly of stocks, including 7,555 shares of Associated Dry Goods worth $445,700. The major sources of wealth were the 1962 sale of Goldwater Department Store to Associated Dry Goods, and Mrs. Goldwater's inheritance of more than $1 million.
On the other hand, President Johnson's fortune has been the subject of several barbs from his political opponents. The New York accounting firm of Haskins and Sells released the financial assets of LBJ and his family, as of July 31, at $3,484,098 in terms of original purchase value. The net increase in the family's capital from 1954 to the present was estimated at $2,746,368. The Texas Broadcasting Corporation (radio-TV station KTBC in Austin) was listed as the major financial asset. Mrs. Johnson bought the station in 1943 for $24,850.
Republican National Chairman Dean Burch called the $3 1/2 million estimate "incredibly low," and said "it is peculiar that the bulk of his fortune was made in areas subject to federal control." GOP Vice-Presidential candidate William E. Miller said the issue raised a question about the "integrity of a man on the public payroll for 30 years" who had accumulated "more than $10 million, mostly through" broadcasting, an operation subject to federal supervision.
Suspicious. Insinuations. But where are the facts? Burch says "it is peculiar." Miller says "it raises a question." But neither came out with a concrete accusation that Johnson bribed Federal Communications Commission officials or conducted any other illegal or below-the-board business in building his small radio station into an electronics empire.
Incidentally, the Johnson family television monopoly in Austin will shortly come to an end. A group of businessmen supporting Goldwater have received final approval from the FFC to erect a new TV transmitter about a mile from the Johnson station.
IF THE SUSPICIONS are to carry weight as important election issues, why hasn't anyone underhandedly suggested that maybe Goldwater was a gold-digger—marrying his wife for her inheritance?
The decision of which candidate should receive your ballot in November should be based on an evaluation of concrete facts and substantial issues not on what someone is trying to read between the lines.
— Russ Corbitt
"Me Too—If There's One Thing I Can't Stand It's The Whistle-Stop Call Of The Lady Bird”
Conflict in Man Well Portrayed
The pain, despair, pathos and faith of man are embodied in Sir Thomas More's dramatic conflict between his Church and his King, in the University Theatre production, "A Man for All Seasons."
Thomas Rea, as Sir Thomas More, portrays the English statesman who was executed because Henry VIII wanted a son. Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first wife, was unable to provide him with an heir. This, and other ecclesiastical technicalities, provided Henry with an excuse to divorce Katherine and marry Anne Boleyn. Thomas More, devoutly attached to the principles of the Catholic faith, could not condone the flaunting of the Church precept on divorce. Even more repulsive to him was Henry's separation from the Catholic Church and his establishment of the Church of England. And for his courage, he lost his head.
THE GRAVITY OF More's dilemma is somewhat relieved by the earthy sophistication of Dennis Dalen, as the Common Man. Throughout the play, the Common Man portrayed man-servant, boatman, juror, innkeeper and jailor. His concern for himself and his ability to ride the winds of his fortune prompted More's remark, "Oh, sweet Jesus! These plain, simple men!"
The difficulty of portraying the characters of the play was enhanced by the lack of scenery. The complexity of the problem sharply contrasted with the simplicity of the scene, as Thomas Rea and his supporting cast effectively transferred the emotion and thought to the audience.
VINCENT ANGOTTI, AS Cromwell, and Joe Kaough, as Rich, were brilliant villains. Cromwell, as More's main adversary, forces him into the duality of loyalty that cost him his life. Rich, as the man who changes allegiance with every political breeze, is, ironically, the only man to survive the political scrabbles of Henry's reign.
Dealing with a complex and difficult emotion, the actors did an excellent job. "A Man for All Seasons," was an excellent opener for the University Theatre season.
— Jim Langford
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