When Montana first sent Burton Kendall Wheeler to the U. S. Senate (in 1922), the U. S. was trying hard to forget World War I. Mr. Wheeler's own Senatorial concerns were domestic: helping blow the lid off Teapot Dome, plugging for silverite legislation, building his reputation as an able, fighting Liberal. Among many things he was against were big armaments. But he gave little heed to foreign affairs, did not trouble to label himself an Isolationist when that word still had punch.
Last September, 29 days after Hitler's armies marched into Poland, world events touched Burton Wheeler. He declared himself...