The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, Digital Edition > My Day
My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt

      

WASHINGTON, Wednesday—I wonder how many members of the Senate and the House will take the time to read the report on the affairs of Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, as submitted by the Senate subcommittee headed by Senator Thomas C. Hennings Jr. of Missouri. At first glance it is such a formidable document that it might discourage one from reading it. As a matter of fact, it is not until the 45th page that the reader finds "Conclusions reached by the subcommittee." The rest of the rather imposing-looking volume is made up of photostatic copies of evidence.

Those 45 pages, however, should be required reading not only for every Senator and Congressman, but for every American citizen.

What manner of man is Senator McCarthy?

His principal interest seems to be the investigation of more and more people and organizations and activities to create more and more suspicion among us.

Communism is an evil, and I have no love for Communists, but there are other evils as well. Some of them are bad in public service, and that is why I think we should read this report which deals with an important member of the Senate.

On the other hand, whatever else you may think about Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon you must admire the courage that makes him remain faithful to his principles even when he has to pay a fairly high price for that faithfulness. What he has been doing of late must take a heavy toll of a man's spirit and nerves. I think it is reassuring to have a representative in the Senate whom we can count on to do what he thinks right regardless of pressures and regardless of criticism.

Senator Morse also has the ability to explain his reasons, and I think this is something for which all Americans should be grateful, since they are assured of having various thorny questions put before them. Even if they do not agree with stands taken by one side or the other, it will be of value in the light of future happenings to be able to refer to what was said in the debates that take place in the Senate.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. is following the example of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles in asking that everyone in the United States Mission to the United Nations be investigated again by the FBI. This undoubtedly is a wise precaution in the light of the Senate attitude, though some of those who have worked in the mission a long time may feel it is slightly superfluous.

I am happy to see that Senator Lodge is going to sit in on Cabinet meetings. That will give him an opportunity to report on U.N. affairs much more frequently and to a wider group than his predecessor enjoyed. It should give the Senator greater backing in any position he takes in the U.N. and I think it will give the President and the Cabinet a greater understanding of the point of view of other member nations of the U.N.

I have seen many people since coming to Washington, and on Tuesday I attended the Howard University board meeting.

It is a pleasure to find myself free at last to go to such meetings and attend other events that I have so often neglected.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)


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About this document

My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, January 29, 1953

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
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Digital edition created by The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project The George Washington University 312 Academic Building 2100 Foxhall Road, NW Washington, DC 20007

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Transcription created from a photocopy of a UFS wire copy of a My Day column instance archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
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