The Job Offer (PJW)

"The Job Offer" is an excerpt from Frontier Spirit: An Unauthorized History of the Wayne Administration written by an anonymous White House insider.

The Job Offer
I had actually been watching some of the Republican convention that day. The first ever convention televised live across the entire country. Pretty bang-up, modern stuff if you had asked me. We really were entering a new era. Maybe it was an omen.

A few of the men inside later gave us the details of what happened on the fateful evening within a back room inside the International Ampitheatre. It was seemingly the usual political gathering: cigar smoke, liquor, card games. The big movers and shakers were Taft, Dewey, and Ike himself. Though he gave his delegates to Dewey, he still was an important figure and his endorsement would mean the world. So they kept him around. They say Dewey himself wasn’t too eager to run, having lost twice (and once to Truman of all people!), but he was interested in making sure Taft or one of his men didn’t get the nod.

Neither Taft nor Dewey would budge. They tried on a compromise candidate. Warren? That got laughs; neither wanted Warren in. Stassen? Nobody outside of Minnesota knew who has Stassen was.

Draft MacArthur? MacArthur made it clear he wanted no part in government. Well, draft someone else then.

In that backroom they began crafting the ideal candidate. He had to be a compromise between Taft’s and Dewey’s ideas, of course. A man of the people. Clean. Charismatic. Well-known. Strong anti-communist credentials, to appeal the man from Wisconsin. The table was silent for a moment.

They say nobody knows who truly came up with the idea. Some say they had an advertisement on the radio for Flying Leathernecks. Others say a few Californian delegates in the room thought of it. Whoever it was, the idea went around the room.

Wayne did fit the credentials. Taft wasn’t too happy at first, but Dewey offered a compromise for Taft man Everett Dirksen (who had earlier yelled at Dewey while his supporters instigated a fist fight) would be vice president. Dirksen was a political veteran and would assuage the fears of inexperience. Taft still didn’t like it, but he did agree with the goal that a Republican needed to get in the White House soon as a possible.

Was it a long shot? Of course. But America is a land of opportunity, right?

It was around 10 when the phone rang.