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Pages of History
The big story of November 1944 was the re-election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to an unprecedented fourth term.
Roosevelt took an early lead and maintained it throughout the evening. Gov. Tom Dewey, his Republican challenger, conceded the election at 2:15 a.m.
With the aid of party bosses and labor leaders, the Democrats piled up such an overwhelming majority in the nation’s largest cities that traditionally Republican rural states were unable to overcome. The Democrats not only won the Presidency but also gained seats in both the House and the Senate.
Roosevelt’s landside victory was seen as an endorsement of his plan to establish a United Nations. Those who objected were branded “isolationists.” One of the points under discussion was whether the U.N. Security Council would be granted the power to send American troops into battle without Congressional approval.
A corollary was whether a vote of the Security Council would supersede the will of either the American representative or the U.S. Congress. The New York Times, which had not yet become as liberal as it is today, pointed out that under the Constitution only Congress had the power to declare war.
Roosevelt may have won the election but Republicans swept Nebraska.
In Cedar County, the vote was two to one in favor of Dewey (3452 to 1724).
Karl Stefan was returned to Congress by a large majority. Dwight Griswold was elected governor. Dwight Burney of Hartington won a seat in the Unicameral. George Berglund of Laurel was elected County Commissioner in the Second District.
After winning the election Berglund sold his interest in the John Deere dealership to his partner Jack Fennell.
Nebraska voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have prohibited the manufacturer and sale of alcoholic beverages in the state. In a letter to the Laurel Advocate published shortly before the election, Seabee Maurice Harper wrote: “The liquor proposal meets with my personal disapproval and others in my company feel the same way. Let’s not take advantage of the fellows who are overseas doing their jobs. When everyone gets back we can take up this liquor question and do the right thing.“ The proposed amendment was reminiscent of how the Prohibition (18th) Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment was rammed through in 1917 while American boys were fighting overseas and had no say in the matter. Nebraska incidentally provided the final vote needed to ratify the amendment. Prohibition became the law of the land on Jan. 16, 1919.
Another bond drive was launched on Nov. 20. The Sixth War Loan was the third drive of the year. The Fourth War Loan drive kicked off in January. The Fifth began in June. In each of the first two drives, the people of Laurel were expected to buy $36,000 worth of bonds. In the third drive Laurel’s quota was $32,000.
People seemed to be getting sick of being constantly pressured for money.
Sales for the Sixth War Loan were slow. In fact, it was nip and tuck whether or not many communities would reach their quota. But by the time the drive ended in late December, the people of Laurel came through once again.
One reason for the lack of enthusiasm was the feeling that the war was about over.
Earlier in the year, there had been predictions that Germany would surrender before the end of the year.
The Advocate of Nov. 29, reported a committee made up of representatives of Laurel‘s churches and civic organizations had been meeting to make plans to celebrate “VD Day.”
“VD Day?” Seems like an odd thing to celebrate. Did people think Laurel boys were busy fraternizing with frauleins instead of fighting Nazis? (That would come later with the Army of the Occupation). At first, this writer thought it might have been a typo – that the Advocate meant “VE Day.” But a linotype keyboard is completely different from a modern computer keyboard. On a computer, the letter “E” is directly above the letter ”D.” On a linotype keyboard “E” is the first letter in the top row while “D” is the second letter in the fourth row. Thus a typo would seem very unlikely. (This writer, incidentally, could operate a linotype in his younger days.)
