Springtime for Henry

In the George bill, the U.S. Senate had made its condition of appointment, and the President had signed it. Now that RFC’s billions were out of Henry Wallace’s reach, there was nothing much to do but confirm him as Secretary of Commerce. The Senate did—56-to-32. Wallace set out to be the greatest Secretary of Commerce since Herbert Hoover.

The Senate then turned to another Presidential appointee: long-jawed, leftish Aubrey Willis Williams, ex-head of the National Youth Administration. After a three weeks’ examination of his qualifications for the office of Rural Electrification Administrator, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 12-to-8 last week to reject him. The Senate was in a mood to do the same. Urged to ask Franklin Roosevelt to withdraw his nomination before it came to a vote, Williams stuck out his chin and retorted, “Hell, no!”