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Domestic News
October 21, 1936
The Key West Citizen
Key West, Monroe County, Florida
What is this article about?
Byron Price notes the conspicuous absence of many prominent political figures, including John N. Garner, Herbert Hoover, and others, from the 1936 U.S. presidential campaign, attributing it to health, disagreements, or strategic silence, leaving voters without their usual guidance ahead of the November 3 election.
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MISSING FROM '36 CAMPAIGN
MANY SHOWN TO BE CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FROM ACTIVITIES NOW BEING CARRIED ON
By BYRON PRICE
Chief of Bureau, The Associated Press Washington
The poet who pondered so yearningly the whereabouts of the snows of yesteryear would find in this campaign strong inspiration for his plaintive muse.
Where are the political giants of other times? What of those names, known to fame which so lately adorned the headlines daily, and nightly rode the ether waves? Where are they hidden away?
Some few of the great figures of the campaign might be recognizable, it is true, to the returning native, after a short visit to Mars. The voice of President Roosevelt would ring familiarly. Memory would stir to the exhortations of Al Smith and Frank Lowden.
But through long weeks of campaigning the returned traveller would have looked in vain for many others who have played the role of stars but recently. His impression, far beyond that of ordinary campaign years, would be that the numerous company of his old favorites had passed over almost en bloc to the port of missing men.
Among Those Missing
Those who have been conspicuously absent from the hustings through the heat and burden of the day include outstanding figures of both parties, and represent almost every known shade of political thought.
Consider some of the most prominent:
The vice president of the United States, John N. Garner.
The only living ex-President Herbert Hoover
The only living ex-vice president, Charles G. Dawes.
A former Presidential nominee, John W. Davis.
The dean of the senate, William E. Borah.
A former vice presidential nominee with Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson
A revered senate veteran, Carter Glass.
The recognized chief of the brain trust, Dr. Rexford G. Tugwell.
It would be a mistake to draw any hasty conclusion, applicable to the whole list of the missing.
Senator Glass, for instance, is under physician's orders. Some others are plainly out of sympathy with their present party leadership, and it is the common understanding among politicians that still others have been asked to remain as silent as possible.
The sum total, however, is impressive. The campaign of 1936 is almost as notable for the silence it has provoked in some quarters as for the noise it has stirred up in others.
Voters In The Dark
Late October has brought one or two of the absent back to the footlights to take fleeting bows. These appearances have not, however, changed the general picture.
The voter is told by both parties that the decision of Nov. 3 will be vital to the future of the country. He is urged to study the issues, to inform himself, to consider carefully for whom his ballot shall be cast. Yet through most of the campaign he is deprived of the advice of public figures whose opinions he has valued highly in the past.
The explanations in individual cases are, as noted, many and various. The public is left to draw its own conclusions as to how far diplomacy has entered into these statements of the cause. The effect remains the same. In an epochal year, the seeker after light encounters great areas of darkness.
It hardly seems to make sense.
But perhaps it is one of the inevitable results of party politics.
MANY SHOWN TO BE CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FROM ACTIVITIES NOW BEING CARRIED ON
By BYRON PRICE
Chief of Bureau, The Associated Press Washington
The poet who pondered so yearningly the whereabouts of the snows of yesteryear would find in this campaign strong inspiration for his plaintive muse.
Where are the political giants of other times? What of those names, known to fame which so lately adorned the headlines daily, and nightly rode the ether waves? Where are they hidden away?
Some few of the great figures of the campaign might be recognizable, it is true, to the returning native, after a short visit to Mars. The voice of President Roosevelt would ring familiarly. Memory would stir to the exhortations of Al Smith and Frank Lowden.
But through long weeks of campaigning the returned traveller would have looked in vain for many others who have played the role of stars but recently. His impression, far beyond that of ordinary campaign years, would be that the numerous company of his old favorites had passed over almost en bloc to the port of missing men.
Among Those Missing
Those who have been conspicuously absent from the hustings through the heat and burden of the day include outstanding figures of both parties, and represent almost every known shade of political thought.
Consider some of the most prominent:
The vice president of the United States, John N. Garner.
The only living ex-President Herbert Hoover
The only living ex-vice president, Charles G. Dawes.
A former Presidential nominee, John W. Davis.
The dean of the senate, William E. Borah.
A former vice presidential nominee with Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson
A revered senate veteran, Carter Glass.
The recognized chief of the brain trust, Dr. Rexford G. Tugwell.
It would be a mistake to draw any hasty conclusion, applicable to the whole list of the missing.
Senator Glass, for instance, is under physician's orders. Some others are plainly out of sympathy with their present party leadership, and it is the common understanding among politicians that still others have been asked to remain as silent as possible.
The sum total, however, is impressive. The campaign of 1936 is almost as notable for the silence it has provoked in some quarters as for the noise it has stirred up in others.
Voters In The Dark
Late October has brought one or two of the absent back to the footlights to take fleeting bows. These appearances have not, however, changed the general picture.
The voter is told by both parties that the decision of Nov. 3 will be vital to the future of the country. He is urged to study the issues, to inform himself, to consider carefully for whom his ballot shall be cast. Yet through most of the campaign he is deprived of the advice of public figures whose opinions he has valued highly in the past.
The explanations in individual cases are, as noted, many and various. The public is left to draw its own conclusions as to how far diplomacy has entered into these statements of the cause. The effect remains the same. In an epochal year, the seeker after light encounters great areas of darkness.
It hardly seems to make sense.
But perhaps it is one of the inevitable results of party politics.
What sub-type of article is it?
Politics
What keywords are associated?
1936 Campaign
Political Absences
Missing Figures
Presidential Election
What entities or persons were involved?
President Roosevelt
Al Smith
Frank Lowden
John N. Garner
Herbert Hoover
Charles G. Dawes
John W. Davis
William E. Borah
Hiram Johnson
Carter Glass
Rexford G. Tugwell
Where did it happen?
Washington
Domestic News Details
Primary Location
Washington
Event Date
1936 Campaign
Key Persons
President Roosevelt
Al Smith
Frank Lowden
John N. Garner
Herbert Hoover
Charles G. Dawes
John W. Davis
William E. Borah
Hiram Johnson
Carter Glass
Rexford G. Tugwell
Outcome
the campaign is notable for the silence of many prominent figures, with some absent due to health, disagreement with party leadership, or requests to remain silent.
Event Details
The article comments on the absence of many well-known political figures from the 1936 presidential campaign activities, listing prominent individuals from both parties who have not participated, contrasting with their past prominence.