POLITICS, AS USUAL

NORMAN W. BAXTER of the Washington Post was elected president in 1930, marking the first of a series of notable contests for the office. True, the office of president as well as others had been contested before. Robert Armstrong had beaten George Authier who, in turn had beaten George Holmes. And Charles Hamilton had gone down to defeat before Fred Essary. There was little, if any, bitterness in these races. Faction, however, began to make itself felt. For one thing, an idea gained currency that the Gridiron Club was ambitious to dominate the Club, through election of a succession of its members to the presidency and, perhaps, other offices. Within the Club there was definite feeling that the Gridiron should keep its hands off. Individual candidates might be the best of friends themselves, but frequently their followers and supporters campaigned with something akin to acrimony.

Club election in the lounge: Left to right, Dick Westwood, George Durno, Harry Radcliffe, Jack Chester, Paul McGahan, Bascom Timmons, Benjamin Meiman, Lee Poe Hart, "Pete" Brandt.

Mr. Baxter had been opposed by Paul Wooton of the New Orleans Picayune. There was very active campaigning for weeks before the election. The vote was Baxter, 201; Wooton, 163. (The electorate was smaller in those days.)

The following year, 1931, brought an even more sternly-fought election, probably the most bitter in the Club's history. Eugene S. Leggett had come to Washington as correspondent for the Detroit Free Press. From his red hair and florid face he was known as "Red" Leggett and his genial manner as well as his competence as a newspaperman won him quick popularity. It was not usual for a newcomer to seek office in the Club so quickly, but he was put forward by a "Young Turk" faction. He was but 28 years old, unusually youthful for an aspirant to the Club presidency.

James L. Wright of the Buffalo Evening News, a Gridiron Club member and long a member of the Club, was the regular candidate who was opposed by the "upstart" Leggett. Even though a desperate campaign was waged by the Leggett forces, few members doubted that Wright would win. Indeed, a supper party had been arranged at Wright's house to celebrate his election. It fell to the lot of Merwin Browne, second man on the Buffalo Evening News, to remain at the Club to get the final results and then come to the party. He did so and announced that the vote stood: Wright, 166; Leggett, 189. Somewhat in the manner of the 1916 Hughes and 1948 Dewey over-confidence parties on similar occasions, the guests went ahead with the affair but in a different spirit than had been expected.

Mr. Leggett later because an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and, with Lowell Mellett, established the several information agencies under the New Deal.

The political boss has been a figure in American affairs almost from the beginning of the Republic. It was inevitable that correspondents who covered politics would be colored, however slightly, by the methods pursued in broader fields. Bascom N. Timmons already familiar in these pages, had come to Washington in 1912 and early began to make his mark as a newspaper reporter. He had covered politics in other cities and it was but natural that he should sense in the Club an opportunity to exercise his notable talents or political tact and management.

While he was president of the Club during the great building crisis of 1932, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt attended a dinner at which Mr. Timmons was host and John N. Garner the Vice-president-elect, a particular friend of Mr. Timmons, a fellow-Texan, was the guest of honor. James A, Farley who was to be Postmaster General, F.D.R.'s man Louis McHenry Howe, and many other Democratic leaders were present.

Mr. Timmons had well earned all the influence he enjoyed in the Club. But his influence was applied with the lightest of touches.

Assuredly when Raymond P. Brandt of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran for President the following year with the Timmons blessing, he was unopposed. The year was notable in both national and Club annals. In 1933 the Club achieved its 25th anniversary, its Silver Jubilee year. "The Birth of a Nation's Press Club," a skit written by James Hay, Jr., and Richard W. Westwood was presented in the auditorium. The amateur actors took the parts of charter members and the stage set was the tap-room of the original quarters over the F street jewelry store.

For example the part of William H. Atkins (Tommy) was played by Dick Westwood, while Charles O. Gridley played William P. Spurgeon, first president of the Club. John J. Daly played himself, a cub reporter when he was an early member; Thomas P. Dowd played Col. Robert N. Harper, long the Club's banker. Benjamin Meiman played the part of Julius Reiners, the club's first bartender who also at various later times served as steward, manager and taster. Robert Wood, the waiter, was played by himself. In addition to President Brandt's address there was one by Arthur J. Dodge, the senior Past President. Metropolitan Opera singers provided arias and Lieut. Charles Benter's United States Navy Band played. Avery Marks, Grafton Wilcox, past presidents who had gone to other cities, attended along with all resident living holders of the office.

The original bar reborn: A skit on March 29, 1933 called "Birth of a Nation's Press Club" featured an accurate reproduction of that earliest refuge. Typical members, played either by themselves or by proxy in the case of the departed, are left to right: Robert Wood, Dick Westwood, Tom Dowd, H. R. Baukhage; Frank Hall, Charley Gridley, Russell Edwards, Benny Meiman, Harry Radcliffe, John Daly.

William C. Murphy. Jr. of the Philadelphia Public Ledger became President without opposition for 1934. The year started with a dinner to President Roosevelt and a skit based on the NRA with John O'Donnell of the New York Daily News, Harry Ward of INS, Paul Y. Anderson, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Edward Folliard of the Washington Post and others taking part in the satire.

In September, however, Mr. Murphy accepted a post with the American Liberty League and resigned as Club president. The Club constitution came once again into play: Mark Foote, vice-president, succeeded to the office of president and served the balance of the Murphy term.

Mr. Foote, a reporter for the Booth Newspapers, was elected to a full term for 1935.

Mr. Foote had such attendants as President Roosevelt and Arthur H. Vandenberg, a newspaperman and Senator from Michigan, at his inaugural, while members did a skit called "The Spokesman's Return, or a Dull Day at the White House" with Frank Hall, H. R. Baukhage, Harry Radcliffe, Russell Edwards and others taking part.

The year saw negotiations of utmost importance to the Club carried on by Mr. Foote, Bascom Timmons, George Stimpson, David Lawrence, Paul Wooton, Fred Essary, Carter Field and others to bring the building corporation through the ordeal of a financial reorganization. The skillful and untiring efforts of these members saved the Club's property from the quicksands of the Great Depression which had swallowed so many other enterprises which had started with hopes as high. The efforts of these members are beyond praise for it is largely due to them that here we sit today!

The Timmons influence imperceptibly was succeeded by a new machine, doubtless the most tenuous and shadowy that ever operated in any politics. It was the "Stimpson machine."

George W. Stimpson was a product of the Iowa plains and came to Washington in 1922 at the age of 26. From the old Washington Herald, where he worked for a brief while, he went to The Pathfinder, a weekly magazine of vast circulation, largely rural. There he conducted a feature called the Question Box in which he answered the bewildering variety of questions which came in from readers. Mr. Thompson's Question Box became famous and laid the foundation for his shelf of books such as "A Book About American Politics," "A Book About A Thousand Things," and several others. His "A Book About the Bible" achieved a Book-of-the-Month Club distribution.

Partially because of fragile health, George Stimpson's ambition on coming to Washington had been to write and compile books rather than engage in the more onerous tasks of active journalism but, through the urgency of Bascom Timmons and Jesse Jones he was prevailed upon to accept the position of correspondent of the Houston Post, the influential Texas paper which he continued to represent for several years. In later retrospect, Mr. Timmons said of him: "He probably had more to do with more people getting elected than anyone in the history of the Club, although Frank Lord and Fred Haskin were no slouches!"

The first Magic Show was inaugurated in 1933. At first a free evening show for children of members, in later years it has become a Saturday matinee for which a nominal fee is charged. Frederick H. Untiedt, an amateur magician himself, and other members have done much in the development of this annual entertainment. Professional magicians and other entertainers appear before hundreds of youngsters.

Mr. Stimpson entered Club politics when he ran for Vice President at a special election to fill a vacancy in October, 1934. The vote was 153 for Stimpson, 94 for George Holmes. At a regular election two months later, the voted stood 220 for Stimpson; 45 for Paul Y. Anderson. The "Stimpson machine" was solidly established. The next year, Mr. Stimpson's election to the presidency as correspondent of the Houston Post, was uncontested. His ascendancy endured as long as lived.

Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, Vatican Secretary of State, signs the Gold Book in October, 1936. On the future Pope's left is George Stimpson, Club president, and Frank Hall, Director of N.C.W.C. News Service.

At a later time when a vacancy occurred in the great office of Librarian of Congress, more than fifty members of Congress, in addition to many others, wrote voluntarily to the President of the United States urging George Stimpson's appointment, but by that time his health was failing and he did not feel equal to the task. Only a few weeks before his death, a party was given at the Club in his honor. Chief Justice of the United States Fred M. Vinson, Speaker Rayburn, Senator Tom Connolly, Chief Judge Marvin Jones of the Court of Claims, and others paid tribute to his high character and splendid attainments.

An event believed unique in the annals of any American club was the visit in October 1936 of a man who was to become Pope. His Eminence Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, then Papal Secretary of State, was in this country on affairs of the Church and was invited to visit the Club. Frank Hall, editor of the National Catholic Welfare Conference news service and Henry Flynn, news editor, Club members, escorted His Eminence to the Club where he had lunch. He is remembered as a man of quiet dignity, seeming tall and slender in his robes. He spoke in clear English, in part saying:

"Glory belongs not only to those who triumph on the battlefields, but even more to those who safeguard the public tranquility and peace. My appearance here is entirely voluntary. It is a tribute to the ideas and ideals of your press in reporting with accuracy and speed the events which occur as they occur in all parts of the world."

For the many parties given during Mr. Stimpson's presidency, the most extraordinary talent was present. Such men as Alexander Woollcott, Heywood Broun, Franklin Pierce Adams and Deems Taylor graced one occasion. A Founders' Day Party, presided over by George Durno, saw a skit with such figures as Labert St. Clair, Addison Foster, Edward Roddan, Tom Peters, Paul Hodges and others taking part. A party was given for the American Society of Newspaper Publishers. During Mr. Stimpson's administration, the Club received, under the will of John Hays Hammond, his invaluable collection of autographs. They numbered 700, including the signatures of such great figures as the last Czar of Russia and Cecil Rhodes.

The lingering effects off George Stimpson's quietism introduced what came to be known as the "escalator". The Club presidency was not contested again for a decade where, in 1945, Paul Wooton defeated Homer Joseph Dodge. Nor has there been a contest in the years which followed. The vice-presidency intermittently was contested, the member elected to that office moving onward to the chief seat unopposed.

Charles O. Gridley was elected president for 1937. At that time he was correspondent of the Denver Post and was unopposed for the office. He had run for vice-president with Mr. Stimpson the previous year, defeating John J. Daly. Due to his administrative competence, his term of office was tranquil and, like the country that has no history, happy. The usual entertainment of famous people continued. Mr. Gridley made a reputation which resulted in his being regarded ever afterwards as a sort of youthful elder statesman, consulted by everyone not only on the news stories of the day but upon Club politics.

"Cactus Jack" Garner gets a new hat "fit for a Texan" from the Club on the occasion of the 1937 outing. Here Senator Tom Connally crowns Mr. Gorger as the Boss, FDR, approves. The presentation took place at Quantico, Va., May 22.

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