Show guv DR still gri grips ps P public u alic fancy after 6 years in limelight unpredictable now asin 1933 president may run for third term if success seems likely by JOSEPH W labine six years ago come marcha franklin roosevelt kissed the holy bible and promised to defend the united states constitution ution those six years have been the most unpredictable topsy years in modern american history because an unpredictable man has been president once surrounded by an aura of quiet dignity the white house has emerged a nerve center of the nation the focal point of more eyes and ears than ever before watched a chief executive in his house of glass six years of roosevelt have jarred america from its inertia whatever else you may say about the new deal und end made people think about their government in terms of economics instead of politics they have made the mos most t co conservative republican realize that a growing democracy must be a changing democracy though not necessarily with so many changes as mr roosevelt has offered a matter for debate but bu t the most amazing feature Is that six years have not dulled americas interest in this toy called the new deal whether pro or con arguments are still as heated still filled with as much fresh fighting fodder as in the days of alphabet soup and the blue eagle the answer lie lies not in the people but in the man a president whose impulsiveness sl si veness whose quicksilver mind and aptness at sensing the public trend has kept foe and friend frien to a six year dither a mystery man franklin roosevelt has shattered more precedents than all hl his s predecessors put together and in some cases it was a fine idea since the day he flew dramatically from fro m albany to chicago and accepted the presidential nomination he has been administering cion constant stant psychological ch rabbit punches to the national vertebrae yet after six years of the most withering publicity any man ever experienced he remains an enigma whose personal habits and mental processes are misunderstood by the millions cimons who follow him there have been sample suspicions ons a as when the supreme court enlargement plan tell fell like a stench X I 1 j fa I 1 al 01 T 5 MOST TRAVELED surpassing all other presidents even en taft mr roosevelt watches tat ches the public pulse on his jaunts across the country here is his special train grain at pueblo colo last summer bomb or when the white house tried to purge undesirable democrats in last years election more recent has been the series of 0 judicial appointments in direct defiance 0 of f a frowning independent seventy sixth congress at the time it seemed impossible that these unpopular moves should have originated with a master psychologist ch it if suc such h the president is but they did a and nd still the average roosevelt Hoo sevelt devotee does not know what gen hugh S johnson has dis covered about the president he fie is tays says the outspoken Iron pants a i strict opportunist n who will try anything if he be thinks he can get away with it loves the spectacular this impulsiveness goes with mr Roosevel ts flair for or showmanship and the spectacular he if probably the most convincing orator ever to occupy the white house and it if he sees sees an aud audience lence lis la with him jhom iny anything thing might happen As A witness the maryland purge speech last autumn autum when he departed from carefully worded man to make public endorsement of rep david J lewis for the sena morlat post then as now held by milard tydings there ix Is evidence however that the supreme court reorganization fiasco asto baynot may not have been an impulsive stubborn gesture though congress balked like an unbroken horse over this unheard of proposal it ft was stirred to passage of a measure permitting retirement of jus aces at full pay subsequently via deaths and retirement mr roosevelt has hai been able to fill tour four bacan cles with lf liberal beral justices lustines lust ices generally speaking the th white house of mr Roosevel ts day knows what its doing thanks to ne new W methods of gauging public sentiment he americas most widely traveled president tor for nothing these excursions provide a choice meth method od of getting reactions I 1 N 15 U lka 1 4 MOST personable the quick witted president shares a joke with vice president garner gamer at the jackson day dinner in washington shortly after congress convened nor is mr Roosevel ts unprecedented use odthe of the radio to no avail from sheaves of telegraphic responses he learns how the wind is blowing questions visitors each day he reads 10 to 15 newspapers from scattered sections of the country his incoming mail totals letters a day compared with president hoovers A steady stream of callers files daily through the white doorway that has become the no I 1 interview and picture spot in washington II if six years have changed the nature of the presidency they have also changed domestic life in the white house itself no less energetic and unpredictable than her husband Is mrs roosevelt who has done considerable precedent shattering t er I 1 ng in her own right often away from home she was recently found to be more popular than her husband mrs roosevelt leaves many ordinary duties in the hands of miss margaret cehand the t of A F ae MOST president Roosevel ts raio radio voice among the best beat in the land is not heard so frequently as during the first term here he addresses the xa bation ti 0 n for human needs over a nationwide nation wide radio hookup missy who doubles in brasias brass bras sas as the presidents secretary guardian an and d sometimes hostess although the 1939 version executive mansion still has its rigidly formal diplomatic banquets a sample evening guest list is more apt to include a cabinet member a novelist a labor leader and two or three miscellaneous cel laneous visitors then to too 0 the president is a hobbyist baist it takes a heap of shelf space to hold his ship iho models dels and his stamp collection provides a fraternal tie with alth another group popularity still stands the essence of this discussion Is that president roosevelt still maintains his personal popularity even evea though most people think ht his a new deal has gone through the wringer via court rebuffs and congressional perverseness whether this has happened is debatable most of his bis advocated principles have actually been adopted still to come provided congress is willing are more measures along these liberal lines plus amendments and corrections to existing legislation the president maintains we were something uke like 30 years behind when he took office in 1933 most of that time has been caught up but weve still AM a few years to go answering critics who maintain he has forced reforms too abruptly mr roosevelt points out that lloyd G george e orge did an even more radical job in england 25 years ago halfway through his second term the president has yet to settle the issue of a third term but keen observers think he be really wants it As before he will probably jump if the chances look good and another precedent c adent will go smash the core of this problem is that he wants the new deal program preserved above all else if another man can do it fine if not it must be roosevelt satellites lack support for obvious reasons this points to a third term first new deal and roosevelt are inseparable in the public mind second last autumns purge failure showed what the presidents Vs magnetic personality can do tor for himself it cannot do tor for others but you cant make predictions F D R is unpredictable 0 western newspaper union |