National Affairs: Afterthoughts

As usual, the election meant many things to many people. A few:

¶ House Speaker Sam Rayburn: “. . . Under the circumstances … a good endorsement of the Democratic Administration.”

¶ New York Times: “. . . The national trend … is indisputably Republican.”

¶ Lame Duck Senator Millard Tydings: “I can’t explain the defeat; I suppose . . .the national Administration was not popular.”

¶ Lame Duck Senator Claude Pepper: Has to be interpreted as a gain for the conservative and isolationist forces in the country.”

¶ New York Herald Tribune: “. . . The net effect of the election on the conduct of American foreign policy is likely to be almost negligible.”

¶ Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt: “I am beginning to think that, as a political force, labor is somewhat uncertain as a backer.”

¶ C.I.O. Political Action Director Jack Kroll: “I can’t put my finger on it. Ap parently there was an undercurrent — a trend across the country — that nobody could detect in advance.”

¶ Tammany Chieftain Carmine G. DeSapio: “I guess we picked the wrong man.”

¶ G.O.P. Candidate Joseph Talbot (defeated by Senator Brien McMahon, chair man, Atomic Energy Committee) : “You just can’t fight the atomic bomb.”

¶ Governor Thomas E. Dewey: “. . . We had a landslide, and that I say is notice by the people of New York that we want the right to develop our waterpower at the St. Lawrence and Niagara Rivers.”

¶ Governor Earl Warren (asked the significance of his million-vote lead over Jimmy Roosevelt): “It means I won.”