DEMOCRATS: Fortune's Child

When he is in a good mood, New York's Mayor Bill O'Dwyer is the kind of Irishman who can charm a bird down out of a tree. But when the spirit moves him, he can be so bullheaded, blunt-tongued, and bent on the grand, illogical and impolitic gesture, that neither charm, hard work, nor all the other virtues, could be expected to rescue him from the consequences. Irish-born Bill O'Dwyer, who was a bartender, a cop, a district attorney and a brigadier general before becoming mayor, has one great attribute, however—fortune smiles on him.

In his 4½ years as mayor, O'Dwyer has seemed both fascinated and repelled by New York politics and his trying job. He has suffered from nervous exhaustion and heart trouble, has often yearned to pursue his particular hobby—following the trail of the old Spanish conquistadors in Central and South America.* He has also alienated backers and constituents. He opposed doubling the subway fare to 10¢, before the election, and afterwards, came out for it. He announced that he would not think of running for a second term, and changed his mind at the last minute.

The Tiger's Friend. Just before election day last November, he made public his plans to marry an ex-model, Sloan Simpson. When newspapermen coarsely suggested that his timing might have something to do with getting elected, he gave them all the rough side of his tongue, and, even worse, became a camera dodger.

He also made Harry Truman as sore as a hoptoad in a thumbtack factory by suggesting in 1948 that the Democrats ought to get a better presidential candidate. After Truman was nominated, O'Dwyer gave him the biggest motorcycle escort ever assembled in New York, but the President, though virtually deafened by sirens, did not forgive him.

Bill O'Dwyer was forever denouncing Tammany Hall, which the late Fiorello La Guardia had all but smashed, but when election time came around, he would be found, cozy in the corner of the Tammany tiger. Recently, ex-Cop O'Dwyer disturbed many a New Yorker by denouncing a prosecutor who was investigating crookedness on the police force (TIME, July 31).

At this point it seemed as if O'Dwyer was bent on making enemies damaging to the party and vanishing from public life. But things didn't work out that way at all. A few weeks ago Ed Flynn, the cagey, power-minded Democratic boss of The Bronx, asked himself a very interesting question: "What if O'Dwyer resigned?"

The Democrats' Answer. The answers had a lovely sound. New York would have to hold a special mayoralty election at the same time as the elections for Governor and Senator. The Democrats could undoubtedly put a fresh, cooperative type of mayor into office. Better yet, they would stir up a big city vote, and with Tom Dewey already out of the gubernatorial race, might be able to re-elect Senator Herbert Lehman and put over their whole slate, from Governor on down.