Life, 1928-03-29 · page 15 of 34
Life — March 29, 1928 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page attacks **Mr. Willis of Ohio**, a Republican politician backing Herbert Hoover for president in the 1928 election. The author (Henry Suydam) argues Willis should become president instead, sarcastically praising Ohio's supposed advantage in producing presidents. The main cartoon "Sitting Up with a Chic Friend" (lower left) depicts a woman flirting with a man reading political documents—likely mocking Willis's political ambitions as distraction from serious governance. The right-side cartoon "Ex-Plumber Parachute Jumper" shows a figure falling, captioning a joke about forgetting a parachute—possibly satirizing the recklessness of Hoover or Willis's political positions. The text emphasizes xenophobia as political strategy, attacking Hoover's time living abroad in England as disqualifying for the presidency.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Life Mr. Willis of Ohio (Note: This is the first of a series of communiqués from the political battlefront in Washington, which will appear regularly in Lire from sow on.) ECAUSE some Presidents of the United States have come from Ohio, it is assumed that any poli- tician from Ohio may become Presi- dent, The routine party hack from Ohio is supposed to enjoy an enor- mous advantage over any other can- didate for President, no matter how brilliant and well qualified the other candidate may be, simply because Ohio is geographically “right.” This theory is now finding its redue- tion to the absurd in the Hon. Frank B. Willis of Ohio, who is campaign- ing against Herbert Hoover for Re- publican delegates in that State. ** * M R. WILLIS is the perfect flower +"* of Ohioan civilization. He is one hundred per cent Ohio, He was born in Ohio. He was educated in Ohio. He taught school in Ohio. He was a member of the Legislature of Ohio. He served two terms in Congress from Ohio. He became Governor of Ohio, and finally United States Senator from Ohio. Now he wants to become President of the United States from Ohio. He wears Ohio clothes, speaks with an Ohio accent, and is the humble servant of that most typical Ohio institution—the Anti-Saloon League of America. Srnec Ur wire a Cuic Frienp IS the scramble for Ohio delegates to the Republican National Con- vention, Mr. Willis is conducting a campaign against Herbert Hoover based on the fearful charge that Mr. Hoover has lived “twenty-three of the thirty-three years of his adult life” abroad. No man who has lived abroad, in Mr. Willis’ opinion, is fit to govern the destinies of this most potent Republic. No man who has lived outside of Ohio is possessed of that adamant Americanism ntial to preserving the Constitution all enemies, foreign and domestic. The worst of this kind of farrago is that large numbers of people in the rural districts of Ohio will prob- ably fall for it. Senator Willis is a shrewd politician and knows his pub- lic. The Willis crowd charge in all solemnity that Mr. Hoover's address from 1914 to 1918 was Red House, Horton Street, London, whereas Mr. Willis’ address was Main Street, Delaware, Ohio. Therefore, Mr. Willis should become President. **# * XE NOPHOBIA is an effective weapon in politics. Mussolini thrives on it; French politicians have used it for years. William Hale Thompson of Chicago has made Anglophobia profitable and popular in the Middle West, and Senator Willis has taken Thompson's tech- nique to heart. No man who has ever been outside of the United States should be elected President; no person who has ever copied a Duke in pushing peas on the back of his fork should be given the con- fidence of his fellow-citizens; no American who has exposed himself to the culture of another country should be elected to public office. In other words, no perspective on the United States is desired in the White House. * # F Mr. Hoover has suffered from living in England, it is in the accretion of an almost impenetrable reserve, not an attractive quality in a candidate for popular acclaim. But if reserve be un-American, Senator Willis, with his stentorian bellowing, his ham-handed back-thumping, and his platitudinous Ohio-bound patriot- ism, is left to make the most of it. I have no doubt he will. Henry Suydam. Ex-PLumser Parachute Jumper: Darn it, I'll have to go back to the plane! 1 forgot to bring my parachute! comicbooks.com