National Affairs: The Senator

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For 33 years the great old man, son of a tenant farmer, had lent dignity and wisdom to the Senate of the U.S. Six times the people of Georgia had returned him to Washington, where he served with distinction on twelve committees, as chairman of five. In the winter of 1955 he was the ranking U.S. Senator, and as the Senate's president pro tern he stood fourth in line of succession to the presidency. Last week, on a warm winter's day in his home town of Vienna, Ga. (pop. 2,200), Senator Walter Franklin George, 77, submitted his good record and his good name once more to the voters of his state. "I will be a candidate," he announced, "for nomination for the office of United States Senator next year.''

The Senator was heading into the probability of a primary battle against ex-Governor Herman Talmadge, a hard and shrewd man who has promised the voters a declaration of his intentions next spring.