Part: 12         Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536         Page 515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374 of 1143

and a man called Kenneth Simpson and Walter Mack, who were later to nominate him at the Republican convention in Philadelphia.

Walter Mack was the national committeeman, wasn't he?

Yes, and they met for the first time at my apartment that night, on the 21st of June '39. I already thought that he was a good candidate for President, but everybody thought that was absolutely idiotic, the silliest thing they had ever heard.

You had known him in a social way?

I had known him socially by a series of chances, which is really another story, and I felt that he was very effective on radio and that he was really the only counter there was to Roosevelt, who was then running for a third term. And this time I was really an independent and didn't know anything about partisan politics at all, but I was attracted by Willkie's personality and I thought that he would be a good candidate. And I remember saying something like this to Albert Lasker, and he said, “Well, you may be very intelligent about other things, but that's really the craziest idea I've ever heard, to have someone who's the head of a big utility business even discussed as a possible candidate for President; that's just madness. Now, just forget it.”

Your idea of his ability was based on his personality?