REPUBLICANS NAME M’NARY FOR VICE PRESIDENT; RUSSIANS INVADE RUMANIA, HUNGARY THREATENS (6/29/40)

Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz | 6/29/40 | Turner Catledge, James A. Hagerty, Eugen Kovacs

[Homer_J_Simpson]

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[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Senator Drafted – 2
Convention Broadcast Aids $9,000 Gem Theft – 2
Willkie Approves Platform, Opposes Big Campaign Gifts – 3
Text of Willkie’s Address – 3 Hamilton Status Yet to be Decided – 4
The International Situation – 5
Reds are Fired On – 6-7

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1940/jun40/f29jun40.htm

Germans publish Allied plans

Saturday, June 29, 1940 www.onwar.com

In Berlin... The German government publishes the “White Book” which contains details of Allied plans to intervene in the Low Countries.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.etherington/month/thismonth/29.htm

June 29th, 1940

UNITED KINGDOM: An island fortress is preparing to repel invaders expected at any moment. Sea-fronts and sands on the south and east coasts are bare of visitors and children, while gun emplacements, barbed wire and pill boxes, disguised as chalets, tea stalls, even haystacks, spring up everywhere. Scaffolding and concrete blocks cover beaches, and piers have been cut off from the shore. To prevent troop gliders from landing, open spaces, downs and golf courses are strewn with obstacles - old cars and buses, carts even iron bedsteads. On the moors above Rochdale, old canal barges are floated on reservoirs to prevent landings by sea and float planes. All signposts have been removed and station names painted out. Motorists must lock and immobilise parked cars. Church bells are silent - to be rung if the invasion should come.
Submarine HMS TALISMAN is commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)

NORTH SEA: U-99 was attacked in the North Sea by a “friendly” aircraft with three bombs. The boat suffered slight damages. (Dave Shirlaw)

GERMANY: Radio propaganda interprets British moves to block landing strips as popular sabotage of the wealthy classes’ cricket pitches.

MEDITERRANEAN SEA: At 0615 the Italian submarine Argonauta was probably sunk near Cape Ras el Hilal, Libya by destroyers HMS Dainty, Decoy, Defender, Ilex and HMAS Voyager. It is also possible the Argonauta was depth charged and sunk around 1450 that same day by an RAF Sunderland in position 37.29N, 19.51E. (Dave Shirlaw)

U.S.S.R.: Submarine SC-411 is laid down. (Dave Shirlaw)

JAPAN: Tokyo: Japan announces its interest in controlling the South Seas, which it sees as part of its sphere of influence.

ATLANTIC OCEAN:

About 0500, the unescorted Empire Toucan was torpedoed by U-47 190 miles SW of Fastnet and broke in two. The U-boat sank the afterpart by gunfire. The bow section was sunk by gunfire by destroyer HMS Hurricane, which picked up the master and 30 crewmembers and landed them at Plymouth. Three crewmembers were lost

At 0012, decoy ship HMS Edgehill was hit by one torpedo from U-51 amidships and stopped but did not sink due to her buoyant cargo. The U-boat surfaced and fired a coup de grâce at 0106, but it needed a third torpedo at 0124 to let the vessel sink slowly by the stern. Built as motor ship West Lynn (4702 tons), 1931 renamed Willamette Valley for Sir William Reardon Smith and Sons Ltd, Cardiff. On 17 Sep 1939 requisitioned by the Royal Navy and converted to a decoy ship, commissioned as special service vessel (SSV) HMS Edgehill (X 39). The ship had a concealed armament of nine 4in guns and four torpedo tubes and carried a buoyant cargo to help keep her afloat if hit.

U-26 sank SS Frangoula B. Goulandris at 49.59N, 11.24W. Six dead and 32 survivors. (DS)

[Homer_J_Simpson]

http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/

Day 303 June 29, 1940

Operation Catapult. Admiralty gives Vice Admiral Somerville explicit instructions to secure the transfer, surrender, or destruction of the French warships at Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, with no concessions given to the French - they either accept the British terms or face destruction. Somerville’s Force H consists of battleships HMS Valiant & HMS Resolution, battlecruiser HMS Hood, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, cruisers HMS Arethusa & HMS Enterprise and 11 destroyers.

U-99 is again subjected to friendly fire. Leaving Wilhelmshaven, she is attacked by a German aircraft with 3 bombs. U-99 crash-dives and collides with the sea floor, causing minor damage.

U-boats sink 3 ships Southwest of Ireland. U-51 sinks Royal Navy decoy ship (SSV) HMS Edgehill (with concealed armament of nine 4in guns, four torpedo tubes and a buoyant cargo to help keep her afloat if hit). Due to Edgehill’s buoyancy, it takes three torpedoes to sink her. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/394.html
U-47 torpedoes British SS Empire Toucan which breaks in two (3 killed). 31 crew are rescued and landed at Plymouth by destroyer HMS Hurricane which scuttles the floating aft section. http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/393.html
U-26 sinks Greek steamer Frangoula B. Goulandris (6 lives lost, 32 survivors). http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/395.html

Italian submarine Rubino is sunk by Short Sunderland flying boats of RAF 201 Group in the Ionian Sea between Italy and Greece. RAF flying boats pick up some survivors. Off Tobruk, Italian submarine Sirena is damaged by Short Sunderlands of RAF 230 Squadron. West of Crete, Italian submarines Uebi Scebeli and Salpa are damaged by British destroyers HMS Dainty, Ilex, Defender & Voyager. Uebi Scebeli sinks slowly and the crew is rescued by HMS Dainty.

[wagglebee]

It’s kind of odd but I stumbled upon something rather strange that would have happened had the GOP won the election in 1940.

Charles McNary would have been VP and, assuming nothing else changed, would have died in February, 1944 leaving the office of Vice President vacant.

Wendell Willkie would have been President and, assuming nothing else changed, would have died in October, 1944 leaving the offices of President AND Vice President vacant.

This would have created as scenario in the middle of the biggest war in history where Congress would have had to elect a president under the 20th Amendment.

[Fiji Hill]

You may notice that Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie--a Democrat until only recently--concluded his acceptance address saying, "and so, you Republicans, I call upon you to join me." If he were a real Republican, he would have said, "fellow Republicans."

The GOP laid an egg in nominating a neophyte like Willkie. They should have picked Senator Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio), a lifelong, principled Republican who has done much to revitalize the Senate Republicans, who were nearly Moribund at the start of 1939.

[BroJoeK]

"The GOP laid an egg in nominating a neophyte like Willkie. They should have picked Senator Robert A. Taft (R-Ohio), a lifelong, principled Republican who has done much to revitalize the Senate Republicans, who were nearly Moribund at the start of 1939."

The issue in 1940 -- the only real issue -- was isolation versus intervention.
Taft, Vandenberg et al were strong isolationists, while Wilkie was for providing more US aid to the allies.

Yes, as the fall campaign developed, in typical American fashion, both sides tried to appeal to all voters.
Eventually Wilkie accused Roosevelt of a secret plan to lead America to war.
FDR in tern suddenly discovered isolationism and promised he would "not send American boys into any foreign wars."

When war came in December 1941, all the Republican isolationists supported it.

[C19fan]

Hitler gets really pissed off Stalin moves into Moldavia and Bassarabis threatening the Romanian oil fields.

[Fiji Hill]

The issue in 1940 -- the only real issue -- was isolation versus intervention. Taft, Vandenberg et al were strong isolationists, while Wilkie was for providing more US aid to the allies. Yes, as the fall campaign developed, in typical American fashion, both sides tried to appeal to all voters. Eventually Wilkie accused Roosevelt of a secret plan to lead America to war.
FDR in tern suddenly discovered isolationism and promised he would "not send American boys into any foreign wars."

When war came in December 1941, all the Republican isolationists supported it.

Foreign policy was a major issue, but not the only one. The economy was also a major issue, with Willkie making reference to "seven years of depression" under FDR. Willkie also made a big issue of the president's bid for an unprecedented third term.

Not every Republican supported the war when it finally broke out. Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-Mont.) voted against declaring war--as she had done in 1917.

[Fiji Hill]

Hitler gets really pissed off Stalin moves into Moldavia and Bassarabis threatening the Romanian oil fields.

Hitler and Stalin agreed to partition Romania in 1939. In the Arbitration of Vienna, aka the Vienna Award of 1940, Hitler forced Romania to yield these areas, formerly part of the Russian empire, as well as Northern Bucovina, which had never before been ruled by Russia.

[henkster]

Cernauti, formerly known as Czernowitz, changed hands many times in WW1 before being occupied by the Romanians in 1918. It was probably the most “cosmopolitan” East European city, with large segments of Poles, Germans, Jews, Ukrainians and Romanians. Probably a few Magyars, too. Cernauti will exchange hands a number of times in the next few years, as well.

As for Romania, her ordeal is just beginning. The Soviets occupy Moldavia, and now the Hungarians are looking to take away Transylvania. Romanian coal, oil and grain, and her soldiers, are coveted by the Germans. She doesn’t have any real allies nor can she stand on her own. This isn’t going to end well.

[henkster]

I would have supported Taft and Vandenberg in 1917. But in 1940 it’s a different world. Hitler’s Nazi Germany is on the march, and so is the Soviet Union. It’s a New World Order and it is clearly not compatible with Constitutional Republican government or free society.

Something has to be done, and we need to go do it.

[BroJoeK]

"Not every Republican supported the war when it finally broke out. Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-Mont.) voted against declaring war--as she had done in 1917."

I stand corrected, should have said: all the leading Republican candidates for president supported the war when it came.
I base that statement on having never heard of one who didn't.

Even Senator Robert Taft, who did not later-on support the Cold War (since the Soviets never attacked us directly), did support the war against Axis powers.

Why and how Wilkie defeated both Dewey and Taft in 1940 is an interesting question.
But we should note that Taft was again and again defeated -- in 1944 and 1948 by New York Governor Thomas Dewey, and in 1952 by General Eisenhower.

So there was obviously something about Taft which didn't quite sit right with the average Republican voter of those times.

[Fiji Hill]

But we should note that Taft was again and again defeated -- in 1944 and 1948 by New York Governor Thomas Dewey, and in 1952 by General Eisenhower.

So there was obviously something about Taft which didn't quite sit right with the average Republican voter of those times.

In the 1940's, delegates to nominating conventions were mostly chosen by caucuses and state conventions, and there were relatively few primaries, but Taft was, in fact, very popular with many average Republican voters--in fact, his nick name was "Mr. Republican." Although his campaign style was described as plodding and dull, and he had no use for crowd-pleasing stunts such as kissing babies, which he dismissed as "ballyhoo," he won three Senate terms handily.

However, the GOP's Eastern Establishment--the "Wall Street" faction--never liked him, and they had more money than the "Main Street" faction that made up much of the party's rank and file.

Taft didn't run in 1944--he was up for re-election to the Senate. In 1948, Dewey was the front-runner for the nomination from the start, although Taft won the Ohio primary. In 1952, Taft came to Chicago with the largest number of delegates, but deal-making by his opponents gave Eisenhower enough to win the nomination.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

This would have created as scenario in the middle of the biggest war in history where Congress would have had to elect a president under the 20th Amendment.

That is a fascinating possibility, but isn't it likely that the VP would have been replaced between February and October?

[Taft in '52]

But we should note that Taft was again and again defeated -- in 1944 and 1948 by New York Governor Thomas Dewey, and in 1952 by General Eisenhower.
So there was obviously something about Taft which didn't quite sit right with the average Republican voter of those times.

It wasn't the voters with which Taft didn't sit quite right. It was the Republican Party's establishment, which had no interest in conservative principles. The Michael Steeles, John Boehners, and Arnold Schwarzeneggers of today had their counterparts in the Tom Deweys, the Sherman Adamses, and the Earl Warrens of Taft's day.

[BroJoeK]

Fiji Hill: "Taft didn't run in 1944--he was up for re-election to the Senate.
In 1948, Dewey was the front-runner for the nomination from the start, although Taft won the Ohio primary.
In 1952, Taft came to Chicago with the largest number of delegates, but deal-making by his opponents gave Eisenhower enough to win the nomination."

From Wikipedia:

"As 1944 began the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be

• Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate;
• Senator Robert Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives;
• New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's powerful, moderate eastern establishment;
• General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war; and
• former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific.

However, Taft surprised many by announcing that he was not a candidate; instead he voiced his support for a fellow conservative, Governor John Bricker of Ohio."

In 1948: "With Eisenhower refusing to run, the contest for the Republican nomination was between

• New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey,
• former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen,
• Ohio Senator Robert Taft,
• California Governor Earl Warren,
• General Douglas MacArthur and
• Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, the senior Republican in the Senate.

Governor Dewey, who had been the Republican nominee in 1944, was regarded as the frontrunner when the primaries began.
Dewey was the acknowledged leader of the GOP's powerful eastern establishment; in 1946 he had been re-elected Governor of New York by the largest margin in state history."

In 1952: "The fight for the Republican nomination was between

• General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who became the candidate of the party's moderate eastern establishment;
• Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the longtime leader of the GOP's conservative wing;
• and Governor Earl Warren of California, who appealed to Western delegates and independent voters."

In 1952: "The conservative Republicans led by Taft were based in the Midwest and parts of the South.
The conservatives wanted to abolish many of the New Deal welfare programs; in foreign policy they were often non-interventionists, who believed that America should avoid alliances with foreign powers."

"When the 1952 Republican National Convention opened in Chicago, most political experts rated Taft and Eisenhower as neck-and-neck in the delegate vote totals.
Eisenhower's managers, led by Dewey and Massachusetts Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., accused Taft of "stealing" delegate votes in Southern states such as Texas and Georgia."

"In the end, Eisenhower took the nomination on the first ballot; to heal the wounds caused by the battle, he went to Taft's hotel suite and met with him.
Taft issued a brief statement congratulating Eisenhower on his victory, but he was bitter about what he felt was the untrue "stealing delegates" charge, and he withheld his active support for Eisenhower for several weeks after the convention.
In September 1952 Taft and Eisenhower met again at Morningside Heights in New York City, there Taft promised to actively support Eisenhower in exchange for Eisenhower agreeing to a number of requests.
These included

• a demand that Eisenhower give Taft's followers a fair share of patronage positions if he won the election, and that
• Eisenhower agree to balance the federal budget and "fight creeping domestic socialism in every field."

Eisenhower agreed to the terms, and Taft campaigned hard for the GOP ticket."

Eisenhower won the 1952 general election in a landslide.
More important, his coattails carried Republican majorities into both houses of Congress -- iirc, a condition which had not existed since 1932 and would not exist again until the year 2000 -- when Republican President Bush had majorities in both houses of Congress.

[wagglebee]

That is a fascinating possibility, but isn't it likely that the VP would have been replaced between February and October?

No, replacement of a vice president due to vacancy wasn't addressed until the 25th Amendment in 1967. Prior to that the office was vacant until the next election. Truman didn't have a vice president for nearly four years. The first VP under the 25th Amendment was when Gerald Ford replaced Spiro Agnew.