Democratic House leaders had given Franklin D. Roosevelt some advice: if you are sending up any more vetoes, give us 24 hours notice or don't expect us to rally our forces in time.
Last week, a full day before the next message went up, Jimmy Byrnes phoned rangy John McCormack, Majority Leader, told him to get set for a veto of the Commodity Credit Corp. bill, which prohibited the use of subsidies to roll back food prices. Immediately the House strategists conferred, under the prism-hung chandelier in Speaker Sam Rayburn's ornate office. Telegrams were hurried off to more than 50...
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