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Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri Clark Clifford
Papers, Political File p. 6 "The independent and progressive voter will hold the balance of power in 1948; he will not actively support President Truman unless a great effort is made. p. 7 "The truth is that the old 'party organization' control is gone forever. Better education, the rise of the mass pressure group, the economic depression of the 30's, the growth of government functions -- all these have contributed Tammany, Hague, Kelley and the rest of the straight party leaders, while still important, are no longer omnipotent, no longer able to determine the issues. For practical political purposes, they are moribund; they cannot be relied on to do the job alone. "They have been supplanted in large measure by the pressure groups." Farmers, labor, 'liberals,' the negro, the Jew, the Catholic, the Italian, the Alien. p. 18 "The conflict between the President and the Congress will increase during the 1948 session." p. 20 "Everwhere the professionals are in profound collapse." Need to harmonize, coordinate p. 25" A crucial -- but easy -- step forward to November 1948 is to create in the public mind a vote-getting picture of President Truman." Analyzes public opinion. "It is said inevitably, and always without analysis, that the President is the chief of the State, the Symbol of Government. What the theorists as well as the politicians do not observe is that the public ~ its impression of its President mostly from the actions he takes when performing as Chief of State -- as the Head of Government. The masses of the people rarely if ever think of him in his role of Government administrator, or as the responsible policy maker on our national economic problems. "They really form their lasting impressions from watching his incidental ~estures -- when he appears as the representative of all the American people." Trip to Canada probably more important, but trip to Mexico more memorable. "In the future such gestures should be more numerous and should be planned deliberately; that is the way the public should remember its President." Trip to Rio, recalled because "he went orchid hunting and was changed from a pollywog into a shellback. He is at his best when an Ambassador of Good Will... p. 21 "The public has a tremendous interest in its Chief Executive and is invariably hungry for news about him. It does not want those stereotyped gestures, so done to death in cast years that they are routine. No one really cares any more about a round-the-world flyer, or the little girl with the first poppy of the Disabled Veterans, or the Eagle Scout from Idaho [Such gestures have] reached the stage of diminishing returns." [TRUMAN LIBRARY, CLIFFORD MEMO, CONT] "The kind of gestures desired are those which, taken altogether and repeated again and again, will form a carefully drawn picture of the President as a broad-gauged citizen with tremendously varied interests. If well done, there will be countless variations on this theme. This does not mean he should do anything which puts him in a false or unnatural light. These artificialities contain within themselves too much political danger (viz, Calvin Coolidge wearing his Indian bonnet or Senator Taft catching his fish)." Should meet with Einstein, Henry Ford p..28 "The press must print news of the President -- so he controls his public~by his own whim. One or two non-political personages a week should be the target The technique of a summons to the White House has the added virtue, besides publicity, of building good will..." Worth the time "because of the American's inordinate curiosity -- he will watch that lunch with a new interest, even a sense of personal participation, if the other participant is someone other than a Government administrator or Congressman." p. 29 "Since he is President, he cannot be politically active until well after the July Convention. The people are--inconsistent and capricious but there is no argument that they feel deeply on this -- He must be President of the people and not merely the leader of a party, until the very last minute. Therefore, he must act as a President almost up to Election day. Lincoln set the pattern by remaining 'judiciously aloof' (to use his own phrase) in Illinois while his henchmen carried on the political war for him. Dewey, Taft, Stassen and Wallace are free as birds to attack him but once he stoops to answer them on their level, he has done himself severe damage. Only Wilson broke this rule of being President of the people -- in 1918 by asking for a Democratic Congress -- and the people punished him for it by returning a Repulican one. "So a President who is also a candidate must resort to subterfuge -- for he cannot sit silent. He must be in the limelight. He must do the kind of thing suggested above to stay in the limelight and he must also resort to the kind of trip which Roosevelt made famous in the 1940 campaign -- the 'inspection tour.' No matter how much the oDPosition and the press pointed out the political overtones of those trips, the people paid little attention because what they saw was the Head of State performinR his duties. "These few comments on 'The Portrait of President' are meant to be no more than illustrative of the careful thou~ht which must be devoted to presenting a well-rounded broad-gauged and versatile candidate to the American people. [TRUMAN LIBRARY, CLIFFORD MEMO, CONT] "The kind of gestures desired are those which, taken altogether and repeated again and again, will form a carefully drawn picture of the President as a broad-gauged citizen with tremendously varied interests. If well done, there will be countless variations on this theme. This does not mean he should do anything which puts him in a false or unnatural light. These artificialities contain within themselves too much political danger (viz, Calvin Coolidge wearing his Indian bonnet or Senator Taft catching his fish)." Should meet with Einstein, Henry Ford p.28 "The press must print news of the President -- so he controls his public~by his own whim. One or two non-political personages a week should be the target The techniqu~ of a summons to the White House has the added virtue, besides publicity, of building good will..." Worth the time "because of the American's inordinate curiosity -- he will watch that lunch with a new interest, even a sense of personal participation, if the other participant is someone other than a Government administrator or Congressman." p. 29 "Since he is President, he cannot politically until well after the July Convention. The people are inconsistent and capricious but there is no argument that they feel deeply on this -- He must be President of all the people and not merely the leader of a party, until the very last minute. Therefore, he must act as a President almost up to Election day. Lincoln set the pattern by remaining 'judiciously aloof' (to use his own phrase) in Illinois while his henchmen carried on the political war for him. Dewey, Taft, Stassen and Wallace are free as birds to attack him but once he stoops to answer them on their level, he has done himself severe damage. only Wilson broke this rule of being President of all the people -- in 1918 by asking for a Democratic Congress -- and the people punished him for it by returning a Repulican one. "So a President who is also a candidate must resort to subterfuge -- for he cannot sit silent. He must be in the limelight, He must do the kind of thing suggested above to stay in the limelight and he must also resort to the kind of trip which Roosevelt made famous in the 1940 campaign -- the 'inspection tour.' No matter how much the of Position and the press pointed out the political overtones of those trips, the people paid little attention because what they saw was the Head of State performing his duties. "These few comments on 'The Portrait of President' are meant it be no more than illustrative of the careful thought which must be devoted to presenting a well-rounded broad-gauged and versatile candidate to the American people. |