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(Excerpts from:)

Fools, Drunks, and the United States Au ust !", !#$!

%arkham Sha& '(le


A )apton )ooks *istor( Selection

Foreword
In Plain Tales from the Hills, in the story A Germ Destroyer, Kipling wrote, Once in every five years, as you know, we indent for a new iceroy! and each iceroy imports, with the rest of his "aggage, a #rivate $ecretary, who may or may not "e the real iceroy, %ust as &ate ordains' &ate looks after the Indian (mpire "ecause it is so "ig and so helpless' )hat was in *+++' &or some forty years "efore that, the remark that God ,or a special #rovidence- looks after fools, drunk.ard/s, .children,/ and the 0nited $tates had "een, in one or another form, common currency' It had "een attri"uted to all sorts of people, from the #ortuguese diplomat and statesman the A""1 2orrea ,3os1 2orreia da $erra- to, eventually, 4ismarck' 5one of the distinguished men on whom that 6uotation has "een fathered ever said it' 5o one knows who first did' 4ut the point is the same as the point of this work7 that it was "elieved to encapsulate a profound truth, uttered "y some great statesman, and it was treated as "eing "oth well8sourced and worth repeating' #erception, not for the first time, drove reality7 especially political reality' &or that reason, it furnishes, I think aptly, "oth a theme, and the title, of this "ook'

Theres good news tonight


August *9, *:;*, was a )uesday' It was the feast of $t' 2lare, and, in Auschwit<, that 2onventual &ranciscan, &ather =a>imilian Kol"e, was less than forty8eight hours from eternity, in the last days of his martyrdom' ?is life "efore the war had included a mission to 3apan' In 5agasaki, he had erected a monastery, on a site that was considered "y the locals to "e geomantically inauspicious7 "ad feng shui, fsui ,hsui- in 3apanese. 5one of this was in the American mind on August *9, *:;*'

**
On August *9, *:;*, Americans were "eing pulled slowly out of the Great Depression' )he 5ew Dealers attri"uted this to government programs and Keynesian economics' =en and women who had left the ruins of Dust 4owl farms! the %erkwater, one8horse towns of rural America in all sections and regions! the Appalachian

mountains! and the narrow, somnolent $outh, had a shrewd suspicion, as they went to their saving swing8shifts at the factories that were supplying the Allies with war materials, that there might "e another reason' 5o"ody ever got rich working for the 222! "ut @ockheed, say, was another thing entirely' On August *9, *:;*, ?uey #' @ong had "een in his grave for almost si> years' )he minister whoAd taken his funeral, Gerald @' K' $mith, was striving mightily to take up Governor @ongAs mantle, and was in "ed with the $ilver $hirts and any other fascists and white supremacists he could find' ?is taste for disloyalty and sedition had already proved too stout even for the America &irst 2ommittee' Badio had helped make ?uey #' @ong a national figure' )he days of the Atwater Kent radio, with its elegance and higher prices, had passed, and the 5ew Cork tone of national radio "roadcasts had passed with it' )he )e>as 2ompany D )e>aco D sponsored the "roadcasts of the =etropolitan Opera 2ompany, certainly, and found them pulling a surprisingly large and varied audience' 4ut grand opera and sophisticated "ig "and %a<< were no longer the only fare on radio' 5ow the Americans, uprooted and longing for home and simpler times, simpler answers, could drink from their "aptismal font' Ehen the whistle of the @ouisville F 5ashvilleAs crack passenger train, the #an8American, passed "y, and E$= D the radio station owned "y the 5ational @ife and Accident Insurance 2ompany of 5ashville, )ennessee, whose slogan Ee $hield =illions gave the station its call8sign D took you to the Byman Auditorium and George ?ay, the $olemn Old 3udge, grand opera gave way to the Grand Ole Opry' And goat8gland8prescri"ing

physician to #riapus, Doctor 3ohn B' 4rinkley, 6uack, demagogue, and all8around huckster, had "egun the era of the "order "lasters, =e>ican "order radio, transmitting into the 0$ and clear to 2anada, at G(BA, 2uidad AcuHa' Imitators had followed D #appy @ee OADaniel had "ecome governor of )e>as "ased on folksiness, a career as the front man for a Eestern $wing "and, flour8mill advertising, and the cunning use of "order radio D "ut G(BA ruled the airwaves thanks to its having the 2arter &amily as its lead act' Displaced and dispossessed Americans, lost in the cities, uprooted, Eildwood &lowers taken from their native soil to wither and die, could hear =other =ay"elle on the autoharp with the turn of a dial, and go home again in memory' )o this day, the =e>ican trumpets in Bing of &ire carry on the tradition that 3une 2arter 2ash im"i"ed as a young girl in Del Bio' )he "ig "ands and Eestern swing ,Aw8haw, cried 4o" Eills, and )ommy Duncan laid down a solo-, and country8and8western music, were the demotic of American entertainment! and the radio "rought to the smallest town the deeds and doings of sports heroes, and the comedy of 4urns and Allen, 3ack 4enny, 4o" ?ope, =ilton 4erle, and D deplora"ly D Amos AnA Andy' #laces that had never seen a vaudeville show or had a theater to host one could now hear the old routines7 the train was now "oarding for Anaheim, A<usa, and 2ucamonga' Cou could hear a pri<e8fight and, @ordy, it was almost %ust like you were Bight )here' And with 3oe @ouis punching through the 4um of the =onth 2lu" all through the year, followed "y his incredi"le contest with 4illy 2onn, you were Bight )here pretty often, if you had a taste for pugilistic performances'

)he 4igs, the $how, =a%or @eague 4ase"all, ended in those years at the =ississippi7 $t' @ouis, home to the 2ardinals and the hapless 4rowns, was as far west and south as "ase"all went' 4eyond $portsmanAs #ark there was no "ig league "all' )he #acific 2oast @eague was all "ut the 4igs, "ut it wasnt the 4igs, and any player in the #2@ would take a pay8cut to have a cup of coffee in the 4igs' )hree Di=aggios did D and stayed' 4ut the inter8mountain Eest and the $outh were 2ardinals 2ountry, thanks to the powerful signal of K=OG in $t' @ouis and the acumen of 4ranch Bickey7 these were the days when, it was said, every small town had an AF# and a 2ardinals farm clu"' Badio had come of age' It was "roader now in its appeal! and, too, a wary government had seen to it that its rough edges were smoothed off' &ather 2oughlin was off the air! &DB was "roadcasting fireside chats instead' )here were the movies, too! the movies, the shorts D =errie =elodies and @ooney )unes D and the newsreels, with @owell )homasA mellifluence in full play' 4ut it was the radio that gave you the news, As It ?appened7 scandal from Einchell and #earson, gravitas from =urrow in @ondon and $hirer in 4erlin, and pep and %ollity from Ga"e ?eatter' Ehy, you could go to church with those crystals lined up %ust right, listening to =onsignor $heen, say, or you could hear the sounds of @ondon as 4ritain stood alone and "attle raged in the skies of Kent, you could listen D oohhhhh, DoctorI D to the Dodgers tearinA up the pea8patch as Bed 4ar"er called the gameJ' )hat was somnolent, searing August in *:;*, with the rest of the world at war, and that war very far away D and as near as the signal

on the radio' ***

(from) Play ball!


August *9, *:;*, was a tense day for "ase"all, as the standings tightened D or didnAt D in the last stretch' @efty Grove and Ga""y ?artnett were retiring' $tan =usial was a month from "eing called up' ?al =anders made his de"ut as a reliever in the )igersA loss to ?appy =ilnar and the 2leveland Indians, ; D * at 4riggs $tadium! =anders pitched one inning and gave up one hit and no runs' Detroit and 2leveland would end the season tied in the middle of the %unior circuitAs standings, 9K games "ack' #hillies pitcher ?ugh =ulcahy had "een an All8$tar in *:;L' ?e wasnAt pitching now7 heAd "ecome the first "ig league "allplayer to "e drafted, on =arch +, *:;*' It was a different kind of call8up than the call from the minors to the 4igs, and in the ne>t few years, a heck of a lot of "allplayers would find that out' )ypically, the first American @eague player to "e drafted D having appealed his ;8& classification D was ?ank Green"erg, who refused to sit out a fight' 4ostonAs )ed Eilliams had raised his "atting average to over

;LL, "ack in =ay' &DBAs average was dropping, as war fears and isolationism "attled it out in the pu"lic mind' On 3uly *M, 3oe Di=aggioAs hitting streak had ended at NK consecutive games' On August O, the 2lipperAs streak of reaching "ase safely in M; consecutive games was impro"a"ly ended "y 3ohnny 5iggeling of the Beverend 2harlesA hapless hometown 4rowns' @ou Gehrig had died in 3une' )he 4a"e was dying "y inches' 4ut "ase"all went on' On August *9, *:;*, at (""ets &ield, the 5ew Cork Giants "eat the 4rooklyn Dodgers 9 D L in the second game of a dou"leheader, having won the first game + D N' 2liff =ountain =usic =elton pitched a complete game win, giving up only three hits7 one to the e>82ardinal Ducky =edwick and his famous "iceps, two to scrappy 2ookie @avagetto' =ountain =usicAs fellow )arheel, 4urgess 0r6uhart Ehitey Ehitehead, the Giants second8sacker, and Giants catcher Ga""y ?artnett, forty and playing his last season, contri"uted the runs' )he DodgersA "ig hitters D including Beiser and 2amilli D went hitless' It didnAt matter' Dem 4ums had lost their opener to the Giants on April *N, too' On August *9, *:;*, the Dodgers were K: D O: D 9 at the end of play! the Giants, N* D N9 D 9' )he Dodgers would go on to win the pennant! the Giants would end the season 9NP games out' #istol #ete Beiser would lead the league in "atting average, triples, runs, slugging percentage, and total "ases, and "e tied with 2ardinal 3ohnny =i<e for dou"les' ?is teammate Dolph 2amilli would lead the 5@ in homers and B4Is' It might almost have prefigured AmericaAs coming war'

** In Eashington D2, the "ase"all $enators were on the road, out of town, notching a rare win against the even more woeful #hiladelphia Athletics, "eating them : D O' )he Athletics were so hopeless that even the $t' @ouis 4rowns finished a"ove them in the A@ standings' )he other senators, and their counterparts in the ?ouse, were playing at home' It was the #resident of the 0nited $tates who was wrapping up an away series, in the Atlantic waters off 2anada, where he was in conference with the 4ritish #rime =inister' )he Bight ?onora"le Einston 2hurchill D the 4rits perversely spelled that funny, with a u in honoura"le D haunted the dreams of certain mem"ers of 2ongress and their constituents, the way 4o" &eller haunted the nightmares of "atters facing the Indians' (very"ody knew who he was, had heard that incredi"le voice over the ether, had read a"out him since the 4oer Ear' Depending on where you stood, he was either the shining knight of freedom, or the cunning @imey "astard who was going to get the 0$ D with )hat =an BooseveltAs happy assistance D into a foreign war that would plow8under every fourth American "oy' )here was a lot of inside "ase"all going on in Eashington' )he fact was, in the year and a half since the 4ritish ?ouse of 2ommons had risen up against 5eville 2ham"erlain D and there was a man who, if he were a "ase"all team, would "e the 4rowns or the Athletics or the Eoeful #hillies ,#hiladelphia really didnAt have much in the way of "allclu"s, come to think of it- D in the year and a half since #arliament had torn 2ham"erlain from his seat and put

2hurchill in charge, thered "een a right smart of oratory from the 4rits and their prime minister, and not a hell of a lot of success in the field, so far as America could see' )he 5a<is had "een kept from invading, sure, and the BA& was doing thrilling things in the air! and now that the 2ommunist Bussians were in the war, the 4ritish had felt the pressure ease up a mite, and were at least no longer retreating towards 2airo' 4ut avoiding defeat D with American weapons and %unk ships, at that D wasnAt winning a war' 2ongress distrusted oratory7 it had heard too much of it, usually from demagogues of the ?itler stamp' )he 4ritish parliament seemed like a funny sort of place7 with their nearest thing to a #resident sitting there in the legislature, and party loyalty capa"le of "eing upended overnight "y a few rolling speeches, and they didnAt know what all 6uaint customs' And then there was the (mpire, and all those e>tremely non8Ehite soldiers from it! and kings and 6ueens and dukes and what not, and people sitting in their version of the $enate "ecause they were the umpteenth (arl of 3erkwater or what have you ,2ongress carefully ignored the presence in its own ranks of mem"ers elected "ecause they were some"odyAs nephew or son or son8in8law-' And now theyAd made common cause, the 4rits, with 3oe $talin' )hat was hard to swallow' ,Americans can "e "rought to reali<e that you take your allies where you find them! "ut Americans also want to like their allies' )heyAd "reathed a sigh of relief when the Bussians had toppled the 2<ar in the Great Ear' And they would go on, as they always did, to persuade themselves in the teeth of the evidence that $talin and the $oviets, after #earl ?ar"or, were really,

when you got down to it, nice, honest, democratically8inclined folks a man could work with and trust' ItAs the same sort of attitude that kept them out of Eorld Ear One until Germany tried to get =e>ico to sta" them in the "ack, and out of Eorld Ear )wo until they were attacked themselves' )he American icon is a Quaker painting of the #eacea"le Kingdom "y (dward ?icks, and itAs always "een for the sake of that vision that Americans have gone to war' )hese are people, after all, who named first a pistol and then a missile the peacemaker' Eithout irony' )he American capacity for self8 deception is endless'** )he )welfth of August, *:;*, in the &rench $tate D ichy &rance D was a grave day, according to =arshal #etain' ?e addressed the nation and announced the program for what was to "e his fifth government since the s6ualid collapse %ust fifteen months "efore' .J/ @ong live &ranceR )his was a funeral oration, not a re"irth' And it was the speech of, if not the murderer, surely an accessory, over the corpse' ** .J/ )he fact was, the $econd Eorld Ear "roke out at different times in different places for different people' )he $oviet 0nion had "een the )hird BeichAs partner in the rape and dismem"erment of #oland' )he German war machine would not have e>isted had the $oviets not "een hand in glove with the revanchist Germans all through the *:9Ls, "efore ?itler came to power, and the *:OLs afterwards' )he 5$DA# and the KD# had tactically allied in the Beichstag to kill off the Eeimar Bepu"lic! and the secret police of

the two totalitarian regimes had cooperated afterwards to kill off Karl Badek, Eilli =Sn<en"erg, and a slew of others, as late as 3une of *:;L' ?ad ?itler not suddenly invaded the 0$$B in 3une of *:;*, $talin would have remained for who knew how long his most sedulous colla"orator, feeding the Beich with war materiel with such assiduity as to make #etain look like a hero of the Besistance' (6ually, the A"yssinians, as (thiopians were then called, had had war come to them years "efore anyone had heard of Dan<ig or the $udetenland' America was not yet interested in or involved in the war! "ut, as $talinAs old rival )rotsky, dead %ust at a year at $talinAs assassinsA hands, was wont to say, war was interested in America' And 3apan had "een at war with 2hina since *:O*, and in earnest since *:OM' ***

(from) Whoops, Mr. Moto, Im a co ee pot


4y August *9, *:;*, it was a staple of the American pu"lic imagination that cunning little 3apanese were swarming like ants all over Asia and $outh America and the #acific 2oast, "ent upon serving their )ennT, their (mperor, "y fair means or foul' 3ohn #' =ar6uandAs royalties were proof enough of the popularity of that conviction, and his =r' =oto was referenced even in the always popular 3ava 3ive that so pepped up a nation of coffee drinkers' ,Eell, outside the iced8tea $outh' ItAs too damned hot for coffee in Di>ie'4y August *9, *:;*, it was likewise a staple of the American pu"lic imagination that the 3apanese couldnAt put together a toy that didnAt fall apart, let alone "uild a fighter airplane, and were all so "lind and "espectacled they couldnAt see to fly one anyway' Beality, as might "e e>pected, was entirely different' 2io82io $an, =adame 4utterfly, wasnAt waiting for @ieutenant #inkerton 0$5 in 5agasaki' As for #ooh84ah, Ko8Ko and his little list, and

that most humane =ikado, well, the five ragged 2hinese infants of $hanghai rendered homeless "y a 3apanese "om"ing, a haunting photograph of whom is now in the photo archives of Cad ashem, werenAt humming along with a smile' )he (mperor ?irohito intended that his regnal name, the name that would define his era, "e $hTwa' It meant, more or less, enlightened peace' 4y *:;*, the $hTwa (ra, a time of war and horror, had "rought criminal disaster to Asia and ena"led the end of the (nlightenment in 2entral (urope J and would ena"le also the $hoah' (ven as the regent for his father, after his return from his Grand )our of the =ysterious Occident, the young ?irohito had "een, in his twenties, a modern "oy, in the model of (dward III, with a Boaring )wenties style' )hat hadnAt lasted! he was fundamentally diffident, easily influenced, a shy fish8pesterer D again like the flaccid and inverte"rate future Duke of Eindsor, "ar the interest in marine "iology ,the Duke of EindsorAs intellectual interests stopped at doing the 2harleston and lapping up deference-' $tate $hinto and the 3apanese 2onstitution regarded ?irohito, as his su"%ects regarded him, as a @iving God D which didnAt mean that heAd "e o"eyed, as there were any num"er of imperial military officers who felt it the (mperorAs duty to "e a figurehead and not to interfere in what was "eing done ostensi"ly to and for his greater glory, as in the days of the $hogunate and its bakufu, camp government "y the military' ,In one or two cases, it was very camp government' Wakashud is nothing new in 5ippon'In 3apan, on August *9, *:;*, war and preparation for war and rumors of war had "een a way of life for a decade' )hings had come

to this pass D heres a how8de8do D in 3apan as they had done in Germany' )he worst, as Ceats might have put it, were full of passionate intensity, and the "est were spineless' )he (mperor might not "e a @iving God, "ut he incarnated his people and their politicians pretty closely7 unwilling to accept the wider influence and wilder claims of the nationalists and militarists, e6ually unwilling to risk anything "y opposing them, and deeply unwilling to miss a chance of "acking a winner if the militarists did manage to run the ta"le' .J/ And then, too, there was the undou"ted fact that Americans had a mite of trou"le getting too lathered up a"out one yellow race "eating up on another yellow race' )he Americans of August, *:;*, were %ust a"out as >enopho"ic and casually racist as J the 3apanese' ,Anyone who thinks thereAs a dimeAs worth of difference "etween the historic attitudes of Americans, Bussians, 2hinese, and 3apanese, could do worse than ask a Korean, whose people have had to deal with all four'- $ure, lots of Americans regarded 2hina with a sort of 6uasi8paternal affection, mostly conceived from a missionary position, "ut 2hina wasnAt the 0$, or Guam, or the #hilippines, after all' And that was another thing' ery few Americans who so much as dwelt on the #acific and Asian fighting could credit the idea that any "elligerent, let alone the 3apanese, would "e stupid enough to get the 0$ into a shooting war' (ven the people who suspected that &DB was shading American neutrality pretty far towards the Allies, reali<ed that the A>isA "est "et was to keep that neutrality in place, and not have to face American power overtly' ?eck, werenAt the Germans, said )hose In the Know in official Eashington, "usting

their guts to keep the 0$ out of the warR And the 3apanese wouldnAt move without the Germans, would theyR .'''/

(from) This ! is "ondon


4y August *9, *:;*, Americans had contracted the ha"it of listening to the war news from a"road D not least in hopes of keeping it news from abroad. (dward B' =urrow was "roadcasting from a @ondon at war! 4ill $hirer had, until the end of *:;L, "roadcast from 4erlin' )he war correspondents were glamorous, they were evocative and affecting, everyone listened in J "ut "y August *9, *:;*, the war a"road had "ecome, almost, a gripping, long8running, "ut ultimately distant )hrilling Badio $erial for a goodly num"er of Americans' Americans remem"ered the Great Ear D sometimes all too well' And they remem"ered what came out of it' And there was this, too' &or several centuries now, Americans had "een self8selecting' Immigrants in a nation of immigrants, they tended to "e as they had "een since Kit 5ewport landed his irginians8to8"e in the 5ew Eorld, a people composed of those

who, in the old country, had not "een so tied to the (sta"lishment as to have no reason to leave, and not so feckless as not to dare to seek and strive and find' =ore recently, however, improvements in communications and transport had meant that Americans could take their innocence a"road D and stay there if they liked' =any of those who, even half a century "efore, would have provided the political center of gravity for the pro8Allied cause, were already overseas' $t' @ouis is where the 5orth and the $outh, the (ast and the Eest, the settlement and the frontier, face one another, upon the shores of =ark )wainAs "ig river' It was the land of the hapless 4rowns and the con6uerant 2ardinals, "ar"ecue and %a<< and "eer and German8American confraternities' It had 2atholics on every street corner and 3ews who could hold their heads high in li"erty' Its Italian8Americans went to the 4ig @eagues' 4eer "arons ran "allclu"s and high8cotton Ehiskypalian socialites owned animal8 chow mills' $t' @ouis was statuary and cathedrals and whorehouses and faro dens, choking smog and lavish gardens, Di>ie8style poverty and racism and ignorance side "y side with &amous 4arr and $ti> 4aer &uller, a place where the Grand @eader was a department store, not a fuehrer! it was contradiction and conformity' It was the "irthplace of 3osephine 4aker, who was now the toast of #aris and committed to the Besistance! and of )' $' (liot, who was now a 4ritish su"%ect "y choice, taking to its logical conclusion the cultivated tourism of a ?enry 3ames' And it was the namesake of the most famous airplane in the world, that had "een flown from the 5ew Eorld to the Old "y the most famous of aviators'

(liot had gone a"road and "ecome an (nglishman' 3osephine 4aker had "ecome &rench' And 2harles A' @ind"ergh, who shed his cele"rityAs luster on America &irst, had "ecome a worshipper at the shrine of mystic Germanness, euts!htum' It ran in the @ind"ergh family' ** )he first @ind"ergh to arrive in America had "een a mem"er of the $wedish parliament, evading an em"e<<lement charge and "ringing his mistress and a change of surname' ?is son "ecame a Bepu"lican congressman who preached a narrow gospel that persists today in such Bepu"licans as #at 4uchanan and Bon #aul, of whom the former from his fever8swamp praises the @ind"erghs to this day7 a gospel mistrustful, prairie8 populist, isolationist, anti8war, and suspicious of the &ederal Beserve as an invisi"le government run "y an international, rootless, =oney #ower' ?e really might as well have come out and said, the 3ews7 it was o"vious what he meant' And it was 2ongressman @ind"erghAs like8minded son who was the EorldAs Greatest 2ele"rity in August of *:;*, fourteen years after heAd landed at @e 4ourget' ** .J/ $t' #aulAs had survived the worst of the first 4lit<, its dome rising a"ove the smoke and flames to sym"oli<e the a"ility of @ondon to )ake It' At the end of Decem"er, *:;L, (rnie #yle had reported from a @ondon sta""ed with great fires' &or now, there was a lull in the 4lit<7 the @uftwaffe had "een "eaten "ack "y the BA&, and Operation 4AB4ABO$$A now engrossed the ?un ,and gave

cover to America &irst in recasting the great struggle as one of the Beich against 4olshevism-' Cet the American press, in newsreels and newspapers and a"ove all in nightly "roadcasts, did not slack or falter in "ringing home the desperate nature of the fight and the incalcula"le importance of the stakes for which 4ritain and the Allies were fighting' On August *L, *:;*, the @uftwaffe had "om"ed =oscow in a night raid, a 4lit<' 4ritain and the 0$$B had e>tended offers of assistance to )urkey if she were attacked "y the A>is' In 2hile, Argentina, and, worst of all, in 2u"a, 5a<i plots were reported' On August *9, Admiral Darlan was given sweeping powers "y =arshal #etain, and ?itler issued Directive 5o' O; for the (astern &ront' Americans heard the war news from @ondon, on the radio, night after night' 4ut were they listeningR )hey heard! "ut did they attendR )he $outh was largely pro84ritish and eager for a scrap, with that $outhern willingness to fight that was "red in the "one' )he 5ortheast was divided, largely on ethnic lines' )he Eest regarded the #acific as the important theater of the coming war, and had long "een locked in a local cold war with 3apan, dating "ack to "efore the Great Ear and fueled "y suspicions in *:*M that the 3apanese would do a deal with =e>ico and the Kaiser! as long as the Germans were allied to the 3aps, many in the Eest counted the Germans as enemies in prospect' On August *9, *:;*, the 6uestion was whether $t' #aul and =inneapolis, $t' @ouis and =ilwaukee, had anything to say to, or would hear anything said "y, @ondon and the smoking ruins "eneath ErenAs 2athedral of $t' #aul'

(from) The

#arlem Fresh$%ir Ta&icab

'ompany
On August *9, *:;*, ?uey #' @ong, the Kingfish, had "een in his grave for almost si> years' 4ut the Kingfish that lived in the pu"lic mind was the character on 24$A "lackface comedy, the long8 running Amos AnA Andy' @a &ayette, Ala"ama, on the Georgia @ine, is the county seat of 2ham"ers 2ounty' #at Garrett, the Old Eest lawman, had "een "orn in 2ham"ers 2ounty ninety8one years "efore' )he arch8 segregationist former $enator from Ala"ama, 2otton )om ?eflin, claimed @a &ayette as his hometown, although heAd "een "orn in @ouina, in Bandolph 2ounty, one county to the north of 2ham"ers' It was the actual hometown, the "irthplace, of 3oe @ouis, the 4rown 4om"er, who had done his growing8up in Detroit, in no small part "ecause of the sort of folks who voted for 2otton )om ?eflin' @a &ayette was also the "irthplace of 2ongressman Arthur E' =itchell, Democrat, who represented the &irst District of Illinois' ?e was representing Illinois rather than Ala"ama in 2ongress "ecause he,

like 3oe @ouis, was an African8American, a term not yet really coined and current in *:;*' 2ongressman =itchell was the second 5egro =em"er of the ?ouse of Bepresentatives to "e elected in the post8Beconstruction era' )he first was 2ongressman Oscar De #riest, who had represented the same district from *:9: to *:ON as 2ongressman =itchellAs immediate predecessor' 2ongressman De #riest had lived to "ecome a =em"er of 2ongress D had, very possi"ly, lived to grow up and "ecome anything D "ecause his family had had the good sense to get the hell out of @auderdale 2ounty, Ala"ama, on the )ennessee and =ississippi lines, when young Oscar had "een a"out seven years old'
.'''/ After George ?enry Ehite, Bepu"lican of 5orth 2arolina,

left the ?ouse in *:L* as the last of the 5egro congressmen elected in the Beconstruction (ra, it was twenty8eight years D fourteen ?ouse election cycles D "efore another 4lack congressman would serve' )hat he represented an Illinois district D the @and of @incoln D was no surprise' )hat he was a mem"er of the GO# was also no surprise7 Bepu"licans of "oth races referred with pride ,and white $outherners referred with disdain- to the Bepu"lican #arty as )he #arty of @incoln' A depression, particularly a Great Depression, has "een known, though, to wake folks up' 4lack Americans had "een, since their enfranchisement, loyal to the Bepu"lican #arty7 if a 4lack man, or, later, woman, could vote at all, that vote was an all8"ut lead pipe cinch for the GO#' 4ut 4lack Americans werenAt fools' (conomic hardship and &ranklin BooseveltAs personal magic had worked on 4lack voters as well as upon whites! "ut it was more than that' Once

the spell was "roken, and the "loody shirt no longer waved, 4lack voters acted on something theyAd long noticed D and they would have had to have "een "igger fools than even the Klan thought them, not to have noticed D namely, that "etween *+K+ and *:L*, thereAd "een two African8American 0$ $enators and twenty8one 4lack 0$ Bepresentatives, all of them Bepu"lican and every last one of them from a $outhern state that was "eing Beconstructed' )he Bepu"licans in the states that had not seceded had talked "ig during and after )he Ear and during Beconstruction J "ut theyAd elected delegations to 2ongress from their own states that were whiter than a "owl of grits' (very' Damn' )ime' $o when Oscar De #riest came to 2ongress representing a district in A"e @incolnAs Illinois, he was the first African8American 0$ Bepresentative since Beconstruction! he was the first African8 American 0$ Bepresentative from a state that hadnAt "een part of the old 2onfederacy! there wouldnAt "e another African8American 0$ Bepresentative from Di>ie until *:MO! and 2ongressman De #riest was to "e the last Bepu"lican ?ouse mem"er who wasnAt lily8 white until *::*' ** .'''/ On August *9, *:;*, 2ongress was a"out to decide whether or not to e>tend the term of the military draft' 5o one on the ?ill was a"out to decide, de"ate, or if possi"le to think a"out, the desegregation of the military' 4lack Americans who had left a $outhland where strange fruit hung from the trees, who had sought the warmth of other suns, were e>pected to fight for their country' 4lack Americans who had stayed

in the $outh were e>pected to fight for their country, also' Ehether or not that country stood up and fought for them' )he miracle is that they did' 4ut in August of *:;*, Eashington was almost afraid to contemplate what might happen if they didnAt, and the slipshod intelligence services of the 0nited $tates were waking up in a cold sweat over 5a<i plans to create 4lack homelands in a con6uered America, and, more rationally, 3apanese espionage efforts among the more radicali<ed 4lack population' )here was also a salient fact that Official Eashington knew and preferred not to dwell on' )he 3apanese could 6uite easily and plausi"ly claim to "e in the same "oat as 4lack Americans' African8 Americans were the longest8suffering and most visi"le victims of racism and discrimination, "ut they were "y no means the only ones' )he #rogressives, including Bepu"licans enamored of eugenic science, 6uite as much as the most ra"idly race8"aiting Klu>er8 $enator, were dedicated to immigration restrictions that favored the entry of 4ritish and 5orthwestern (uropean immigrants over immigrants from (astern (urope and the =editerranean' 5or was that the most important restriction they desired' Keeping out Asiatics was an o"session7 partly, "ut only partly, "ecause of pressure to keep the la"or market where it was ,$amuel Gompers was willing to put his role as A& of @ president a"ove his convictions as a 3ew D the Immigration Acts of *:*M and *:9; were anti83ewish as well, in effect if not in form D for the sake of inflating wages-' )he *:9; Act was called the 3ohnson8Beed Act after its sponsors, the then $enator David Beed, Bepu"lican of #ennsylvania, and the then 2ongressman Al"ert 3ohnson, an Illinoisan who had "een a newspaperman in $t' @ouis and $t'

3oseph, and an editor of the Washington Post, "efore moving to Eashington $tate and "ecoming the Bepu"lican Bepresentative for the )hird 2ongressional District' Bepresentative 3ohnson had com"ined in his person presidency of an overtly racist eugenics association with the 2hairmanship of the ?ouse 2ommittee on Immigration and 5aturali<ation, and had drafted the *:9M Act according to his lights' It had "een his goal to restrict and depress immigration from the parts of (urope that ?itler was to regard as the Heimat of the "ntermens!hen, and still more to completely cut off immigration from Asia, very much including 3apan' )he GentlemanAs Agreement of *:LM "etween 3apan and the 0$ was a"rogated "y the 3ohnson8Beed Act, and the 3apanese, relegated to the same e>clusion the 2hinese had "een under for years, were not in the least amused' ***

(from) 'haplain (im


In August of *:;*, it was hardly possi"le to imagine that there could "e, within the year, an Office of Ear Information, censoring here and scripting there and assisting the 4lue 5etwork of 542 in spooning out soap8opera pa"ulum for the ?ome &ront with advice for service families from 2haplain 3im! yet there was already an America eager for marshmallow uplift without too much of that old8 time religion' In *:*M, most of the #rotestant mainline churches had "een against American entry into war, at least until the Uimmerman )elegram had %olted them into the sort of shocked and mournful affront so common to the overly pious and 0ncoA Guid when they reali<e theyAve "een had ,and "y a grafter who couldnAt have conned a reasona"ly "right five8year8old out of a lollipop, at that-' In the denominations that had split into 5orthern and $outhern "ranches in the *+NLs and *+KLs, the $outhern synods or pres"yteries or what have you had tended to "e more pro8Allied, then, in the tradition of the Bight Beverend @ieutenant General

@eonidas K' #olk, 2onfederate $tates Army, 4ishop of @ouisiana, and of the Beverend 4rigadier General Eilliam 5elson #endleton, 2onfederate $tates Army, rector of Grace 2hurch, @e>ington, irginia ,now B' (' @ee =emorial (piscopal 2hurch, otherwise $t' 4o"As-' And 4ishop #olkAs and the Beverend General #endletonAs old communion, the #rotestant (piscopal 2hurch in the 0nited $tates of America, was pro8Allied in *:*M and indeed from *:*; on7 and still the blood is strong, the heart is High #hur!h, and we in dreams remain the # of $. 4y August *9, *:;*, the mainline churches as a whole were less important in influencing whether or not their mem"ers were pushing America &irst or 4undling for 4ritain' 4y August *9, *:;*, the mainline churches as a whole were less important, period D or for Anglophile Anglicans, full stop' )heological li"eralism and the elevation of social work over, well, the (levation of the ?ost, had had their effects' An increasing num"er of Americans were unchurched! an increasing num"er of Americans who werenAt, were finding the post8Great8Ear @aodiceanism of the general uplift, milk8and8water, lukewarm mainline denominations, insufficient' America is always poised "etween apostasy and revivalism, "urning out on religion or "eing set a"la<e in a new 4urned8Over Great Awakening' .J/ )he OEIAs 2haplain 3im was, when the time came, to concern himself with Dear 3ohn letters and care packages and cheery letters from home' Beal chaplains and real officers of the line were to find themselves dealing with rather meatier pro"lems' =#s and the $hore #atrol were going to "e facing situations no"ody wrote home a"out' And the Army and the 5avy, among themselves,

were going to find that Dr' $euss, &ri< &releng, and 2huck 3ones were a little too accurate to "e funny when #rivate $nafu gets the clap, loses all his pay, drinks himself to death, and passes information to the A>is' All in a five minute short' .J/ )here has never "een a port city, naval "ase, or army encampment in human history that was not for that very reason a center of gam"ling, whoring, and "oo<ing' George EashingtonAs 2ontinentals, ?ookerAs Cankee troops and @eeAs Army of 5orthern irginia, the dough"oys of *:*;, had all known this as certainly as had EellingtonAs scum of the earth at 4ada%o< or 2aesarAs triumphing legions entering Bome' .J/ )he pro"lem is one of discipline' $ailors on shore leave, soldiers with a weekend pass, =arines on a tear, the swing8shift from the defense plant, will shoot craps ,Tenaha, Tim%son, &obo and &lair' $ighter from e!atur, the !ounty seat of Wise -, they will go sniffing around for whores ,or roger each other or local men if thatAs their preference, no matter what the penalty-, they will get drunk, and they will "rawl' )his offends against military authority! it also leads to unfortunate incidents with the civil authorities! and in the case of war8workers, it affects production, intolera"ly' &or these timeworn pro"lems the military has evolved timeworn solutions' &or a newer pro"lem, however, there was no comprehensive solution in August of *:;*' George Eashington, 0lysses $ Grant, and B' (' @ee D even that $ternly 2ovenanting Disciplinarian $tonewall 3ackson D had learned "y "itter e>perience that the "est and most dedicated of troops can and will turn into the summer soldier and sunshine patriot under certain circumstances' ItAs different when thereAs an

actual shooting war on' ItAs another thing entirely when the troops are overseas, with no home to slip off to, to see $ally and the children or check on the harvest' 4ut the American peacetime draftee, stateside, is as independent as a hog on ice' &or one thing, he is a citi<en and a voter, and tends to put more stress on the first part of the hyphenated term citi<en8soldier' ?e regards his enlistment as a contract' And in August of *:;*, having under the terms of the 4urke8Eadsworth Act of *:;L "een lia"le only for twelve monthsA call8up, he considered the idea that his service could "e e>tended "y 2ongress as an anticipatory "reach of that contract' 4arracks were "eing graffitied with the acronym O?IO7 over the hill in Octo"er' And "y over the hill, he meant neither too old to "e lia"le for service nor King George commands and we o"ey, Over the hills and far away7 it was instead a declared intention of desertion' )he 2ontinental 2ongress, A"raham @incoln, and 3efferson Davis, would all have found that wearisomely familiar' )heyAd dealt with it in their own days' )he $eventy8$eventh 2ongress of the 0nited $tates, on August *9, *:;*, the ?onora"le $am Bay"urn of 4onham, )e>as, "eing $peaker of the ?ouse and the ?onora"le 2arter Glass of irginia "eing #resident #ro )em of the $enate, now confronted that same pro"lem'

(from) T aint )nny, Mc*ee!


On August *9, *:;*, every American citi<en en%oyed the full panoply of rights afforded him "y the 0nited $tates 2onstitution' In theory' ** .'''/ In August of *:;*, =an<anar was, as its name suggests, an orchard D or had "een7 a shipping point in an orchard district, in Inyo 2ounty, 2alifornia, on the 5evada line, now ruined "y @os AngelesA insatia"le desire for water' (orget it, )ake. *ts #hinatown. =uch of the irrigation that had made 2alifornia a garden of the world, and many of the small, %ewel8like farms, had "een the slow, patient creation of the 2hinese J and the 3apanese, with their picture8"rides and their strong +isei sons and daughters, and their refusal to admit defeat in a $tate that D with 2ongressional ac6uiescence, and in defiance of the 2onstitution D refused to allow them to "ecome naturali<ed and to own land outright' It was a GentlemenAs Agreement' $weet were the uses of #rogressivism and

eugenics, that respecta"le form of racism' On August *9, *:;*, in the land of li"erty where every American citi<en en%oyed the full panoply of rights afforded him "y the 0nited $tates 2onstitution D in theory D no one seemed to recogni<e that the wars of religion had returned' $ecular religion' Ideology "ecome ideolatry' )he =AGI2 transcripts cluttered General =ilesA desk without ac6uiring any aura of importance' )he &4I and military intelligence were shadow8"o>ing in the dark' And social pressures and the criminal law alike left a surprising num"er of Americans with secrets D and "ad consciences, and the suspicion, the assumption, that everyone else was in the same "oat' .'''/ the "runt of suspicion and conse6uent lawless internment fell only upon the 3apanese8Americans, who were conspicuously loyal to the 0nited $tates, rather than on German8Americans or Italian8Americans, who furnished almost all of the few traitors America suffered' 0ne>amined pre%udices, conformism, #rogressivism and "igotry hand in hand, a whole &i""er =cGeeAs closet of secrets and evasions in daily life and work, an ina"ility to imagine that oneAs enemies are as competent as oneself7 all of these together were the witchAs "rew that left America in *:;* at once open to her enemies and poised to em"arrass herself "y her response to them' ***

(from) The March o Time


On August *9, *:;*, sunrise came to Eashington D2 at K7*: A=' )he sun set at K7O; #= local time in ?onolulu, ?awaiian )erritory7 *97O; A=, August *O, in Eashington' On the (astern &ront, in #oland and the 0kraine, and in 4erlin, the advance of German arms remained swift enough to create annoyances for those engaged in cleansing the territories of $lavs and 3ews and Boma' )hey were groping for a &inal $olution already' At day"reak, farmers were already rising and setting to their August tasks from sea to shining American sea' On @ong Island, potato farmers and spinach farmers were hard at work' In irginia, to"acco planters were walking the fields as dawn "roke' In Georgia, cotton and peanuts were carefully e>amined "y those whose fortunes would "e made or "roken "y the yearAs harvest' )he swing shift in the factories had given way to the early day shift'

And in Eashington D2, clerks and "ureaucrats were shaving and having "reakfast and preparing to head in to work' ** =r' $am, the $peaker of the ?ouse, Bepresentative $am Bay"urn of 4onham, )e>as, was an early riser7 a farming "oyhood marks a man' ?am and eggs and "iscuits with cotton8"lossom honey, and coffee all "ut straight from the pot, set him up for the long day ahead' ?e left his rooms at the Anchorage 4uilding on Q $treet and headed for the 2apitol' )he summer recess, in a Eashington not yet generally air8 conditioned, no longer lingered even in the capacious 2ongressional memory' )he day looked to "e hot and humid! inside the ?ouse of Bepresentatives, and in the temper of the ?ouse, it looked to "e hotter than the fires of ?ell' Ehen =r' $am had "een a "oy, the 2<ar had ruled Bussia "y ukase' 5ow 0ncle 3oe $talin ruled as an autocrat' &ifty years "efore, when =r' $am had "een a "oy, 2<ar Beed, as $peaker, had rewritten the Bules of the ?ouse and "ent that institution to the $peakerAs will! twenty years after, %ust "efore =r' $am had entered the ?ouse as a freshman in the Eoodrow Eilson years, 0ncle 3oe 2annon had fallen to a ?ouse revolt D led "y )BAs son8in8law, 2ongressman 5icholas @ongworth, who, when he "ecame $peaker of the ?ouse, may have regretted his early success D that made the great "aronial 2ommittee 2hairmen powers in the land, and reduced the $peakerAs influence to the limits of the $peakerAs personality, political prowess, and persuasiveness' )he $enate had passed the draft e>tension, the amendment to the

$elective )raining and $ervice Act of *:;L7 not "y much, "ut they had managed to pass it, "arely, a few days "efore' 5ow it was up to the ?ouse! which meant it was up to =r' $am' ** .J/ 2ongressman 3ack U' Anderson, Bepu"lican of the (ighth 2ongressional District of 2alifornia, was one of the ma%or fruit8 growers and canners of the #acific 2oast! he would later "e one of the firmest and fieriest advocates of 3apanese8American internment' )he road to =an<anar, which was not hymned "y Kipling and never knew 2ros"y, ?ope, and Dorothy @amour in a sarong, had some strange twists' =r' $am knew he could count on the )e>as delegation to swing into line, and march to the sound of the guns like ?oodAs men at $harps"urg' ?e felt, with less assurance, that most of the $outh was solid' 4ut it was going to "e as close an engagement as any of those in which the $peakerAs Bevolutionary great8great8grandfather, 2olonel George Ealler of the irginia militia, had fought at Guilford 2ourthouse and then at George EashingtonAs side, and there was no assurance it would "e a victory to rank with that of Corktown' Draftees were still chalking O?IO in "arracks, "urning draft notices, and, "y all accounts, inciting to riot and mutiny' )he America &irsters and the 4undists were afoot' Isolation still gripped many congressional districts, even where it might not grip those districtsA 0$ Bepresentatives' =r' $am cast his eye upon the ?ouse' )here was un6uestiona"ly a 6uorum! and some of the leading doves were a"sent' It was time

to call the roll and count the votes, "efore the opponents of e>tending the draft reali<ed their strength' ***

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