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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C, THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 1940 If Wendell Willkie Wins in November ? He’ll Be Sixth Political 'Dark Horse’ To Be ’Stabled’ in the White House By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) I F, AS the Republican party hopes and believes, Wen dell Willkie is the winner in the Presidential race next November, he will become the sixth “dark horse” to be “stabled” in the White House. For only five times in our na tion’s history of 151 years have the people elected to the highest office in the land a man who was either unknown before his nomination or was not seriously considered as a potential candidate. James Knox Polk was the first of the “dark horse” breed of can didates. He was a Tennessee coun try lawyer who went to congress for seven terms and became a strong partisan of “Old Hickory” Jackson. Due mainly to Jack- son’s influence, he * became speaker of the house of represen tatives and later governor of Tennessee. He was defeated for re-election to that office and his political career seemed ended. As the time for Democratic con vention of 1844 approached, the strongest contender for the nomi nation was Martin Van Buren who had served one term as President but had lost to the Whig candi date, Gen. William Henry Harri son, in 1840. Van Buren had the backing of General Jackson but the Southern Democracy was sus- JAMES K. POLK picious of him and his attitude toward slavery. During 4he first seven ballots at the convention in Baltimore Van Buren had a majority of the delegates’ votes. But, due to the strength of Lewis Cass of Michi gan, he could not get the two- thirds vote required by party rules. After the seventh ballot the southern delegates secured a recess and held a caucus. They decided to rally behind the de feated Tennessee governor who was “right” on the slavery ques tion and who enjoyed the friend ship of Jackson. Beyond Polk’s Hopes. Polk had no hope of being the Presidential nominee but he had made it known that he would ac cept the vice presidency. On the eighth ballot the southerners sprang their surprise candidate and the New York delegates withdrew Van Buren’s name. On the next roll call they swung to Polk, other states followed and when the ninth ballot ended the JAMES A. GARFIELD first “dark horse” in convention history, a man who hadn’t been mentioned for the honor 24 hours previously, had been unanimously nominated. Of course, the Whigs were de lighted to have a “no-body” as an opponent for their candidate, Henry Clay. But their jubila tion was premature. For Clay, the Kentuckian, angered the South by pussyfooting on the question of annexing Texas, thereby adding slave territory, and the new Liberty party of Abolitionists, headed by James G. Bimey, diverted enough votes from Clay to give Polk an easy victory. Eight years later the Demo crats again nominated and elect- R. B. HAYES ed a “dark horse” candidate, Franklin Pierce, our only Presi dent from New Hampshire. Edu cated at Bowdoin college, he was a successful young lawyer when he was elected to congress at the age of 29 and to the senate when he was only 33. But because Mrs. Pierce was a shy woman who hated public life, Pierce re signed from the senate and went back to his law practice in Con cord. At the outbreak of the War with Mexico he entered the serv ice, came out as a brigadier- general and announced that he was through with public life for ever. But the political situation dur ing the next five years changed all that. When the Democratic convention opened in Baltimore on June 1, 1852, the leading can didates were Lewis Cass of Mich igan, James Buchanan of Penn sylvania and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. For 28 ballots none of these men was able to secure the necessary two-thirds major ity. Then the convention decid ed it had better turn to a new candidate who had taken no part in the slavery dispute and had therefore incurred no bitter en mities, in other words, a “no body.” Some of the Maine delegates suggested the ex-senator from their neighboring state. So Franklin Pierce was trotted out as a “dark horse,” received 15 votes on the 29th ballot and gained steadily until the 48th, when he received 55. By that time it was apparent that the band wagon was on its way and the delegates hastily climbed on. On the 49th ballot Pierce received 282 of the 288 votes. The Whigs nominated Gen. Winfield Scott, hoping that “Old Fuss and Feathers” could repeat the victory of that other hero of the Mexican war, “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor. But the Democrats’ young Mexican war general swept the election field with 254 electoral votes to Scott’s 42. Pierce tried for renomination in 1856 but was defeated and van ished from the political scene. First Republican 'Dark Horse.* Thus far the Democratic party had been the one which supplied “dark horse” candidates. But beginning in 1876 the Republicans took their turn. In that year James G. Blaine was their logi cal candidate and in the early balloting at the convention in Cin cinnati he was within 30 votes of victory. However, the “Man From Maine” had his enemies who were determined to block his nomination. Among the “favorite sons” who were trailing along on com plimentary votes was Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio, a lawyer who became a major-general in the Union army, then returned home to serve two terms in congress and three terms as governor of his native state. He was scarce ly known outside the borders of Ohio and during the spirited con test between Blaine’s partisans and his enemies no one paid much attention to Hayes’ 61 votes. Roscoe Conkling of New York had the support of the New York and Pennsylvania delegates but when it became apparent that Conkling had no chance to beat Blaine the Pennsylvanians began to throw their support to Ohio’s favorite son. This started a swing which carried the Buck eye “dark horse” to victory by 384 votes to Blaine’s 351. The Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New York and in the election it seemed that Tilden had won. Then occurred the famous incident of the con tested electoral votes of Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, the appointment by congress of an electoral commission and its 8 to 7 vote in favor of Hayes. So another “dark horse” went to the White House but there are those who still believe that he had lost the election before the electoral commission’s vote sent him there. Although Hayes was not a great President, he was probably the best of any of the “dark horses.” Declaring that “he serves his party best who serves his coun try best,” Hayes gave the coun try an administration which set a high mark for future “dark horse” Presidents to try to equal. The first of these was another Buckeye, James A. Garfield. Se curing an education by his own efforts, he became a teacher and was elected to the Ohio senate which he left in 1861 to become the youngest brigadier-general in the Union army. He came out of the war a major-general and was sent to congress where his prin cipal distinction was his loyalty to Blaine. Grant Tries for a Third Term. The 1880 Republican convention was again a battle between Conkling and Blaine but this time the New York leader was trying to secure a third term for Ulysses S. Grant. Although Grant led Blaine in the voting from the first ballot, Conkling could not muster up quite enough votes to secure the nomination for the ex-Presi- dent. Garfield was present at the con vention as the leader of the Ohio FRANKLIN PIERCE delegation pledged to John Sher man. He made the speech plac ing Sherman’s name in nomina tion and, as it turned out, suc ceeded in nominating himself by doing it. For when it became ap parent that neither Grant nor Blaine could win, the convention turned to a compromise candi date. On the 34th ballot Garfield re ceived 17 votes. He immediately protested that he was there in the interests of Sherman but the chairman ruled him out of order and the balloting proceeded. On the 36th ballot the break came. The Blaine and Sherman forces swung behind Garfield and he was nominated with 399 votes to Grant’s 306. Garfield easily de feated the Democratic nominee, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock but his career as President was cut short by the bullet of a disap- WARREN G. HARDING pointed office-seeker, Charles J. Guiteau, September 19, 1881, a little more than six months after he had entered the White House. The story of the fifth “dark horse” President is so recent and so familiar to most Americans as to need only brief mention here. The 1920 Republican con vention was in Chicago a fight between Gen. Leonard Wood and Gov. Frank O. Lowden of Illinois for the nomination. It soon be came apparent that a hopeless deadlock would prevent the nom ination of either candidate. Then followed the now-famous night conference in a “smoke- filled hotel room” and the next day Senator Warren G. Harding, an Ohio “favorite son,” was se lected as the nominee. Harding defeated his fellow-Buckeye, Gov. James M. Cox, 404 electoral votes to 127 and entered the White House, pledged to bring the country “back to normalcy.” His administration, marred by scandals reminiscent of the Grant regime, ended August 2, 1923, when death summoned this ill- fated Ohioan . . . the second “dark horse” President to die “in the harness ” By VIRGINIA VALE (Released by-Weste$n Newspaper Union.) R ITA HAYWORTH won a victory when Director Charles Vidor offered her a chance to become Brian Aherne’s leading lady in “The Lady in Question.” Because the sultry-eyed actress wears clothes so well she’s been la belled “the best dressed girl in filmland.” And because she’s what she is, she found herself in danger of acquiring an other label—that of a glamour girl. But the lovely Rita wants to act. If you’ve seen her in “Susan and God,” with Joan Crawford and Frederic March, you know that she can do it, too. But in that one she was beautifully dressed. She wanted a role that would give her a chance to show what she could do in spite of being dowdily dressed. Vidor certainly gave it to her in “The Lady in Question.” Her entire wardrobe for this one cost less than $45. A drab suit, shoes with run-over heels, and a very simple afternoon frock—that’s what this “best dressed” young woman was given to wear. She was delighted. But she couldn’t go dowdy all the way—she had to wear silk stockings. Remember Marie Wilson, the cun- hing blonde who was clever enough to put herself across in Hollywood by playing dumb? Her most recent picture was “Boy Meets Girl,” which isn’t exactly recent, after all. She has just concluded a 20 weeks* personal appearance tour, and now she’s back in pictures; you’ll see MARIE WILSON her in “Virginia,” playing a neu rotic young New York society wom an who wants to buy an historic Virginia plantation owned by Mad eleine Carroll and transform it into a night club. ✓*\ Grim fate pursues Bette Davis on che screen. She’s died, gone insane, lost her eyesight, faced certain death on a plague-ridden island, been murdered, and caused a scan dal that rocked the world. In her new picture, “The Letter,” she starts right out by killing a man. However, her roles haven’t affected her private life—she’s taking rhum ba lessons in her free moments. sir ‘ '7I\ Speaking of free time—Raymond Gram Swing (whom Radio Guide re cently named “the wisest and most scholarly of the war commentators”) has had but two free weeks for vaca tion in the past four years. And with the European situation what it is there’s no telling when he’ll ever again have time off. A honeymoon that was delayed for five years started recently, when Laurette Fillbrandt (“Virginia Rich- man” of “Girl Alone”) and her hus band, Russ Young, finally departed for Hollywood and points north. He’s a radio announcer, and ever since their marriage, when he wasn’t booked to announce she was com mitted to acting—getting 16 free weeks together was something of a triumph. Are you one of these movie fans who implore the stars to do some thing on the screen that will really # be a message to you? If you are, you annoy your favorite star no end. George Brent has one of those fans, a girl who wants him to tap his cigarette three times on an ash tray at least once in each picture, just to let her know that he was thinking of her. He did it as a gag in one picture, and regrets it—says since then she’s been so insistent that he’d be muscle-bound if he ac ceded to her demands. vt/ Pretty Brenda Marshall (now working in “East of the River”) gets regular letters from a youth who wants her to mention his name just once during the picture. And Jane Wyman receives roses to wear. When the roses arrived when she started work in “Tugboat Annie Sails Again” Jane took steps. She wrote him that she couldn’t do it if she wanted to, because she has to do what the script tells her to, that she has rose fever and can’t stand the flowers—and besides, that she’s married. Embroidered Linens for Baby Pattern No. 2504 eraging 5% by 21^4 inches, 2 mo tifs averaging 4% by 10 inches; materials required; illustrations of stitches; color schemes. Send order to: 'v. Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept. 82 Eighth Ave. New York Enclose 15 cents in coins for Pat tern No Name Depth of Ocean According to the U. S. coast and geodetic survey, the average depth of the ocean is 12,450 feet below sea level. The deepet place yet found is off the island of Min danao in the Philippines, where a sounding of 35,400 feet has been reported. The greatest recorded depth in the Atlantic, 30,096 feet (5.7 miles) was discovered north of Puerto Rico on February 14, 1939, by the U. S. cruiser Milwaukee, during maneuvers.—Pathfinder. 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