The Power of P.A.C.

After the convention had run two days, the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page cartoon, in four colors, showing Sidney Hillman playing Cardinal Wolsey to Henry Wallace's Cromwell (with a tin can tied to his robes). Earlier, the Tribune had called Sidney Hillman a "kingmaker," and enthusiastically described how he and Senator Harry Truman breakfasted over croissants and cafe au lait in Hillman's room at the Ambassador East Hotel. (Actually, they both had orange juice, bacon & eggs, coffee.)

But the Tribune was not alone in noting the power in the Democratic Party of Sidney Hillman, chairman of the C.I.O.'s Political Action Committee (TIME, July 24). Delegates felt it, and so did the bosses, who were forced to scramble and sweat hard to head off P.A.C.'s tough, emotional though amateur drive for Henry Wallace.

The Top. P.A.C.'s convention headquarters were in two 19th-floor rooms of the Sherman Hotel, filled with red leather chairs and Renoir prints. Here P.A.C.'s assistant chairman, Calvin ("Beanie") Baldwin, and its research director, smooth, balding Economist J. Raymond Walsh, held sway, totting up the Wallace count, working on delegates, calling the printer for more placards. Across the hall was a small room, with the blinds half-drawn, where Sidney Hillman took catnaps between conferences.

P.A.C.'s more important politicking was done in Labor Leader Phil Murray's luxurious quarters in the "Bungalow" on the Morrison Hotel's top (42nd) floor. To this spacious $55-a-day suite--living room (with grand piano), dining room, bar, kitchen, three bedrooms, and even a place to put a barber chair--came Vice President Wallace, 45 minutes after he reached Chicago. He climbed up the back stairs from the 41 st floor to escape attention. Here also came Senators Guffey and Pepper, and all but two of the six Cabinet members who attended the convention.

Besides ample headquarters and ample funds, P.A.C. also had ample manpower. All 14 regional directors were there; also P.A.C.'s 50 delegates to the convention, its 75 alternates, and many a potent union-man.

Almost on Top. What did P.A.C. accomplish? It nailed some of its planks into the platform. It effectively blocked the nomination of any real Southerner or anti-New Dealer for Vice President.

But above all this, P.A.C. showed that it could control almost half of the Democratic Party. Without P.A.C., Henry Wallace would hardly have won one vote; with P.A.C., his highest total on Ballot ii climbed to 472 1/2..

Said one happy PACster: "The Democratic Party is 52 years old; P.A.C. is one. Just give us a chance."

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