Henderson Daily Dispatch

No Chance Of Nye's Being Nominated

By CHARLES P. STEWART Central Press Columnist

Washington, Jan. 23. - Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota took an entirely unnecessary precaution the other day when in declaring his preference for Senator Arthur S. Vandenberg of Michigan as the Republicans' 1940 presidential nominee, he added that, so far as he himself is concerned, isn't a candidate.

He's perfectly safe; the G. O. P. won't name him-- not at the head of its ticket, anyway.

Not that Nye wouldn't make a good president. His geography is what's the matter with him; not his quality.

North Dakota hasn't enough convention votes to wad a shotgun and it already is dependably Republican.

There's no need for the party to make a bid for its wee little handful of ballots by picking Gerald as its national standard bearer.

It's true that he's been presidentially mentioned but not vociferously and

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No Chance of Nye's
Being Nominated
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not by any really practical politician
he always has been a first rate liberal and moderate leftists greatly approve of him. An author of our original neutrality law (now considerably altered) he's extremely popular with ultra-pacifistic folk. But these groups, even combined, don't dominate national conventions against craftier managers, who want to win primarily, and are guided accordingly. They may deem it expedient to agree to a liberal or a pacifist or both when the G. O. P. picks its leader, but not a liberal or a pacifist from a state like North Dakota. It would be too much like handing the prize to Rhode Island.
Vice presidentially, Nye has been suggested quite a bit. However, he isn't seriously even a vice presidential possibility. After a party convention has selected its nominee for first place it usually seeks to plug up some doubtful hole with a vice presidential offer. North Dakota is such doubtful hole. It isn't doubtful at all.
Infant Statesmanship.
Nevertheless, it's greatly to Senator Nye's credit that he's talked about the last bit. It implies that he's very well thought of personally, regardless of his geographical availability.
Gerald, since his advent in Washington, has labored persistently under the handicap of being classed as an infant senator.
Originally he was appointed to the upper congressional chamber to fill a vacancy at the age of 33. There have been younger senators, but not more than two or three. Now he's 48.
But it always has been assumed that he's in the infant category. That stigma clings to him today, and will continue to do so if he lives to be 100.
For instance, who ever heard today's Senator Robert M. La Follette referred to otherwise than as "Young Bob?"--a mere kindergarten product.
Senator Rush D. Holt is in the same group. Nobody rates him as anybody but a high school lad, and nobody ever will, senatorially speaking. It's related that Henry Clay similarly was discounted, but that's so far back that it's forgotten.
A representative can get in young and work up. Not a senator. If he's young to begin with, his fellow senators everlastingly patronize him as a junior. For the presidency a candidate mustn't be too old. A senator shouldn't be too young, if he's to be influential. John N. Garner is pretty old for the White House. Nye isn't too old, but he was too young. And of course his geography's wrong also.
He was born in Wisconsin. He ought to have gone to New York, to become a presidential eligible, but he made the infantile mistake of locating in North Dakota.
Champion Investigator.
Nye has been the best investigator that the senate ever had.
He's been chairman of half a dozen important inquisitions on Capitol Hill. His last one was into war profiteering and led to our present neutrality law, though it was somewhat tinkered with at the last congressional special session. Even as it stands, though, Gerald was the inspiration of it.
He doesn't investigate as a lawyer does. He investigates like a newspaperman. He is one. He goes after facts, without much regard for technical rules of evidence. This infuriates the investigatees. It gets results, however.
There never was a more consistent liberal in congress.
He's an able senator, but at two score years and eight he hasn't lived down the fact that he was only 33 when he first arrived in Washington.