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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1914)
i 1 6-B TIIE OMAHA RITTCDAr lMzK: OCTOBER 4. 1014. .--ML-A HEWS FROM WHITE HOUSE L0RD a?al of theI :-... ROYAL ILLLT. 1 How the Pmident Meet the Men Who Writ for Presi. ;ir. ' s I ' ' HTKIJTLEY SET A PRECEDENT 1mT4rT& PresUent A 1 wars T.r Rrarti, T. R. ror ararlniis, Taft Reticent n4 Vllit nf. rn rr le. it t. J The ret whll llsht of publicity, which til statesmen and politicians cry for and few really want, ha mad Immense heaV ay t the White Hi under the Wilson adm'nlstratlon. and there are not many secrets around the executive office a man? aurpo- Fatrona: rom and dlsaffectlons; luck f party harmony, national or local; per sonal Jealousies and blckerlnira amon: leader, moat of which eventually find Ihelr way to Trealdent Wllaon or Secre tary Tumulty; Secretary Bryan'e foreign policies and hosts of other minor matter re often kept bottled up on the general principle that their publication wo'ild do nobody any Rood, hut there la rent wlde epen publicity around President ttlHon nd his Immediate assistants on momen tous national questions In which the peo ple are directly and vitally Interested. . All of which leads to a atory of the gradual development of pltllms publlrlty In and by the White Houae and of the methods and channel by whh h the peo pleplain and fancy obtain their Infor mation of the doing and movementa of President. tor pa of Repent Orlcln. I'ntll twelve yeara ago no regular ac commodations had beon jyantcd newa- papermen in the dally life of the execu live offices. Whn the "White House wa r rehabilitated In 1902 and , the president I tlven pfflce lit the wwt.end of.tlai re f Minatwcted building a roowt was set alde for refortere and correeiiindenti. . Their vanka have Increased, so fast that they 55 inw hve a regular organisation f.slml- Jar nature to th 'feorroapondenrs at the I aplto); and this organisation la recognised .J iy th 'president, 'and hla assistant. , i Trior to the time of President- felcln Vy reporting the White House had not corns an organised . daily and hourly business as It la now. Up to 1W1 the of flcea of president were In tse main White House. Five comparatively small v rooms on the eaal end of the second! floor J tt the White House belonged U preal- "t lent, their secretaries, stenographer. nd . . . .... CirrKi, ana mere me executive iiuniness t the nation was conducted. What Is i' : new the private entrance fur the families of presidents waa then the main entrance for all purposes, social, political and per sonal. Catering to the people throusrh the newsranors and maaaslnca had not H become the art U now Is. Nfcwamper men made occasional trips to the WW to House f to Inquire of private secretaries about ap- t polntmrnta or other subjects upon which their newspapers wanted enllKhtenment, but there were no regular assignments to J cover the White House aa, In late years. Presidential visitors were jrait "held up" !f and asked to tell about tpjelr business With the president They 1 Jwwld have Hen rmrrtried at such a proceeding;. Preside ld to Be Triatped. "ritlleas publicity" had not become fad or an Issue. Presidents were , not trained or educated In the art of slapping this psychological stuff to the people be fore the opposition could Krt there. Frivate secretaries understood that their principal duty was tot prevent newspaper callers Betting anything of what was sTolns; on. Presidents talked to Intimate newspaper friends In a strictly confiden tial manner, not for publication. Presl tents who wanted to got their views to the publto did so through messages te ongress or an occasional letter, publica tion of which was pecmiLted. It waa con- j aldered undignified to be "filth ting the op- . poslttoa through soma of the modern day t methods. Oruff but hanent drover Cleve- i land paid little attention to the news- ) papers and President IQurlson used the press very little to put out his views. J Neither resorted to traveling among the J .; people as a meana of disseminating their Tltwa Cteveland went fishing and hunt- K inn. but not for-votss. Hl waa fond ot the whir of a rod and the :fleh of a g.ame .tlah at the end of the line, while duck shooting was the height ef his Joy. ( J. McKlaley was the ftrae chief executive 1 begin going among Uie people In re- ? sponse to invitations , to Attend functions 5 n(1 there. He enjuyed circulating V-5 mmoa voters and he made many trips. Mra MoKlnlay and snembera of his 5 MhlnA MlMr.lt- X .-J J - - . . he Insisted that liberal provision should be) made for newspaper representatives. One car and sometimes two cars would be set aside for the pgeaa and Mr. Me Klnley considered the Correspondents as part of his party, shlirtng In all the honors and entertainments provided by iiiikui uu riruus. mose were in f. "the good old daya" when the raairoadi ' a Anfl tA rkl 1 1 fpteSnBiua'aritli 1..1. 1 jt . - - " . " i ihtivii 1 1 my.ii. The presidential trains cost nobody on board anything and -were stocked with tfco finest things to wt and drink to be found In tlte land. .Even with that the railroad found that' undertaking protlt' able,- as big crowds were drawn to places along their lines where the president stopped. MrKlaler aad'tjke Renoriere. McKlnley-s loyalty to the press was shown on one of his trips through the south. His Itinerary In a certain south sm city Included drivbig through the estate of a man of Immense wealth. The Miperlntendent of the estate sent word that newspaper men wore not expected to be with the president. 'Then 1 will not accept the Invitation." Mr. McKlnley sent word back through his secretary. Tat promptly settled the matter. Mr. McUInley's kindly, thoughtful disposition was shown In a number of Instance when correspondents traveling with him became ilL He personally loo toed out for them and sent delicacies and flowers. The beginning of the McKlnOey admin istration saw the establishment of the present system of reporting the White House. A reporter of The Star who waa sent there began writing a dally column of events. Including Interviews with vis itors, items about their busbneaa, facta and gossip about - the day'e work and movements of the president; everything ho could gather was legitimate. Other papers en 4 press associations followed the plan, 'and It has been effective ever also. Mr. McKlnley's encouragement at the Inception being vitally Important. Private secretaries, senators and repre sentatives hsve beon slowly trained to a recognition of the wisdom. -ef being frank and fair with reporters and Correspond etits who greet thesg before and after con ferenoos with presidents. Three-fourths of the statesmen have become "wise" to the good results that followed Judicious advertising of Wuite House calls In their states and districts, and when It Is poo sille to do' so tell what they have seen U e president about. Of course, they do not always do so with ths understanding tVt the White House shall know that the facts sre given by them. It it the 11' v. rS y . f. vn;;,y - I Whit Honee eveept In two Instances where he did not like something that had been written snd brought shout sine re call of the mn. He had a habit of send ing for a large number of correspondents at a given time to enlighten them on some subject before congress and I tie country. He would talk freely, not minc ing words, but would often wind up with tho declaration that he did not wish any or the Information used at that time, simply desiring to pot the correepond ents as to what waa going on. When the colonel did not want to talk, howevtx; when he preferred to keep secret certain developments, he knew how to do It to perfection. Correspondent could not draw anything from him with thlr most direct questions. Colonel Roosevelt had three or four Inti mate friends among Washington corre spondents, men he liked to talk with and whom he favored In many way with Im portant Information not ready to be given to all the correspondents. These men had accesa to him almost say hour and kept hla confidences. Colonel Roosevelt's favorite time for talking with tke hewspapersnen was when he was shaving for luncheon. Jjet after he had finished his day's rroxram of callera and conferences. His daily habit waa to send for William Dulaney. his colored messenger, snd be shaved about 1:30 o'clock, before going to Join guests at luncheon. Hitting In a special chair Dulaney had for him, the colonel talked gayly to his press friends His face lathered and wearing one of hla fa mous grins, be waa an unusual figure as he talked animatedly and Interestingly. Taft Mot aa Advertiser. President Taft did not profit by the successful advertising methods of Colonel Roosevelt. He did not do any of the things Roosevelt had done. He was on friendly terms, though, with newspaper men. and eaw the press boys as often ss hla work would permit. He, too. had a few lull mate friend among the Washing ton writers, and they enjoyed an Intimate friendship with hlrtv They could not pre vail upon him to get to the newepaper la better manner with his views on public affairs. He detested the dellberets use of the press to accomplish hla own popu larity, aud seldom appeared In the gtews- pspers until long after the opposition bad 'handed him" some hard wallops. Tho other fellow got to the public first In his esse. He had. though, the good will and esteem of all newpaicrmen. Wash ington ftaf. v v.. ! - r. Ii buslneaa of the reporter to know how to handle the Information given him so as to get tho news Into his paper god at the same time conceal the souros of the ma terial. To blunder In handling Informa tion of this kind, making trouble for hi Informant and otheis, would be unpar donable. And so the statesmen and cor respondents told unreservedly to each other, the man In public Pfe trusting the conrsndent to be fair and tactful In hla write up. ' K.asy to ;rt to McKlnley. resldent McKlnley waa accessible to newspapermen who were well .known o him. Naturally he ave more time to correspondents of papers friendly to him than to correapnndenta of. hostile papers. He held to the traditional Idea of politics In those daya that It waa best not to talk too freely, but he waa cundid where he thought It not Imprudent, to be so. The old school view that too much publicity waa dangerous and Insured trouble pre vailed to a degree In his handling of pub lto matters. Despite his lung experience In publlo life he had not become an adroit manipulator of the publlo mind through the newspapers. was Colonel Ttoosevolt. McKlnley's suoeessor, who . put Into fiscful" practice the. ylew that to get to, the public first with your own opinions and facts waa equivalent. to hitting the other fellow the first blow In a personal encounter. And the colonel left many a political corpse In the arena by beating the other fellow to the newspapers and getting his side fixed In the public' mind. When the op position trailed., along behind with ex planations the publto waa tired, too tired to read much. The colonel's "first-blow" tactics had done the work. Cofonel Roosevelt was the best posted man ever In ths White House on the preparation of material he wanted to get to the public through the newspapers. He knew then. as he does now, the beat days In the week to get the moat Into the papers, the days whan they have the greatest amount of space. He waa an adept In writing the material to be printed so that It would get under ths hides of the people In Just the right way, and -accomplish Just what he wanted to accomplish In making a certain Impression. T, H. Always Cowt-teena. Colonel Roosevelt was always courteous and kindly to correspondent at the Omaha's Best Medium Priced Hotel. 125 Outside Rooms. New Hotel Savoy EUROPEAN -:- H. Werner, Prop. Newly refurnished, hot and cold running water and telephone in each room, free shower batli on each floor, electric elevator. Near all theaters. Direct car line to South Omaha. Buffet and Cafe in Connection. Steam Heat. Corner IBth and Jackson Streets Take Harney Street Car from Depot and Walk Two Blocks flout h. Telephone ItoufcuM 2117. Hotel Ilex, 16th and California Under Same Management. Elkhorn Valley Condensing Co. 'PAP1LLION, NEB. 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