Country Squire in the White House by John T. Flynn

Author:John T. Flynn [Flynn, T.John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 978-1-61016-019-3
Publisher: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc.
Published: 1940-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

4

This was quite a different New Deal from the one that emerged after the inauguration. The statements Roosevelt made before the election make curious reading when placed alongside of the actual performances and the statements made after he took office. The strange contradictions are not easily resolved. One wonders which of these New Deals—the one outlined in the campaign or the one put into effect after March 4,1933—conforms more closely to Roosevelt’s own philosophy. How far did he subscribe to the plans he proclaimed while governor and how far does he subscribe to the measures he urged after he came to power? Where does the real Roosevelt lie?

It is not easy to answer. There are some explanations of the many and vital contradictions. It is a fact that you can find statements from Roosevelt’s speeches on almost every side of every public question. This may be explained by the fact that most of his important speeches are written for him by someone else. It is a bad habit for a public man to follow. He is sure to find himself uttering sentiments one day which will be very different some future day when the speech is written by some different author. Roosevelt has his speeches written for him because writing a good speech is not one of his own talents. Of course occasionally he does write a speech—usually a short one. And it is possible invariably to tell when he does the job. His style is quite discoverable.

Indeed, it is a very interesting diversion to trace the various styles which appear in his speeches. Almost any student of composition—any experienced copyreader—would be able to divide his speeches according to their authors. I do not mean he could name the authors, but he could say this batch was written by one man and this batch by another, and so on, ending with a small batch written by the President himself.

Many of the President’s speeches while governor and in the campaign were written in a strikingly finished style. So much was this true that newspapers began to comment upon our “stylist” President. They could not have known, of course, that the speeches were not written by the President any more than the speeches uttered by an actor on the stage are the product of his pen. It would be as proper to praise Mr Walter Hampden for his magnificent poetic gifts because of the noble verses he utters in Hamlet. The authorship of many of the speeches is now known. Many of the campaign speeches were written by Moley, one or two by Hugh Johnson. Berle wrote some and had a hand in others. Ernest Lindley wrote the Oglethorpe speech. Moley wrote the speech of acceptance. Louis Howe wrote some. After the election, speeches were written by other composers—which accounts for many of the sentiments hostile to the campaign speeches. Once in a while Roosevelt himself dictates one. The famous Madison Square Garden speech in the second campaign, which drew so much praise, was written by Tommy Corcoran.

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