BOOK “I CALLED HIM GRAND DAD” RECEIVES FAVORABLE REVIEW

The title, I Called Him Grandad by Thomas T. Fields, Jr., suggests an easy going book with reflections of a paternal grandfather. This is not the case. It is an in depth biography of Harvey G. Fields whom I had not heard of. His list of appointments and accomplishments boggle the mind: successful lawyer; State Senator; Federal District Attorney (check out his conviction rate in the book); Chairman of the Democratic Central Committee; orator, author; but most of all, a staunch fighter for the justice system. As I started reading the book, I was drawn into Thomas’s writing style that was to the point, detailed and entertaining. One minor point is there are a few times that the stories do overlap, so there is some repetition. The biography spans Field’s life from 1883 to 1961 – the years that shaped America into what it is now. The book also gives insight and detail into his close friends, acquaintances and co-workers, who were some of the most influential and powerful men in America at that time such as: Huey Long, the former Governor of Louisiana; President Roosevelt; Clarence Darrow, who defended Darwinism in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial in the 20’s. The list goes on and on. An added bonus were the letters of correspondence included in the book from all of the players. How one man could keep up with all his involvements is a testament to Fields of his love of life and work.

What I found particularly interesting is the connections of the justice and political infrastructure that Fields was a part of. He was drawn into some of the major historic events at that time. Corruption was rampant before and during Fields time in office, and it is almost as if he wanted to singlehandedly tackle the “black hats” in Louisiana that had been ruling for years and years. He was a crucial part of the infamous Louisiana Scandals in the ‘30’s that brought down many politicians. This did not actually help Fields in his political career; other agendas in Washington ruled that day. Fields was part of some of the most cut-throat wrangling that America has ever seen.

Thomas does not dwell too much into the home life and outside activities of Fields, although I think that may have shown another side to the man. He does elude that in retirement he enjoyed talking to random strangers about all types of events. This suggests that Fields was a likable individual and a bit of a storyteller, which eventually was passed down to his Grandson, the author. I have heard stories of Louisiana and, like most, have seen films about that southern state. To read about the pulse of power that ran that part of the world for those few decades and to see it though the eyes of a major player was a treat for this history buff.

POLITICAL SPIDERWEB

When I was in school we were taught that power was defined as a person or thing that possesses or exercises authority or influence. Five specific types of power were identified. These powers were Coercive, Legitimate, Reward, Expert and Referent. To me the worse type of power was Coercive, power that comes from the ability of someone to punish. The best power is Referent, the power possessed by an individual based on respect that others have toward the individual.
Over the years a sixth power has entered into the vernacular. This sixth power is Connection Power. This is identified as power obtained by who a person knows. While it is a relatively newly recognized power, the actual use of this power has been in existence since the beginning of mankind.
In today’s political and governmental environments the use of connection power is commonplace. For those that saw the movie The Green Mile one of the villains had been placed in a key position at Angola because he was the governor’s wife nephew. While such actions are unfortunate they are not out of the norm. When connection power is combined with referent power a person or persons of immense stature emerge. This will then lead to a group of people that wields much control over a sector of the country or the country as a whole.
While we can relate to existing events in Washington in relation to the use of power and especially connection power, the 1920s and 30s provide a unique glimpse into how the power players in the Democratic Party used networking and connection power to gain control and then hold it for decades.
In 1924 the democratic convention was held in New York. A front runner was Al Smith, Governor of New York. A growing leader in the party was Jim Farley as was also a young Franklin Roosevelt. The convention was very contentious due to the KuKluxKlan controversy and it took over one hundred ballots to select the Democratic candidate. Al Smith was not selected and this was primarily due to a Catholic leader of immense power in the party saying that a Catholic could not be elected President. Ironically this person was Joe Kennedy, father of the first Catholic President, John Kennedy.
!n 1928 Roosevelt cut a deal with the Huey Long delegation to support Al Smith for President. The delegation did and Smith was the democratic nominee. Smith’s campaign manager was Franklin D. Roosevelt and the new head of the Democratic Central Committee was Jim Farley. Smith lost the race to Hoover. The economy soon collapsed and the stage was set for a Democratic to take office. In 1932 Roosevelt cast Smith aside and ran himself. His campaign manager was Jim Farley. Smith felt he had been stabbed in the back and never spoke to Roosevelt again.
Smith still remained friends with Farley. Farley had formed a gigantic building material consortium in New York City. Smith became president of the new Empire State Building Corporation and Farley provided a large amount of the building materials for the construction of what was then the tallest building in the world. Roosevelt also made Farley Post Master General. One initiative that Farley pushed was the use of planes to carry the mail. Delta Air Lines received a lucrative contract that helped to build the air line. A major owner of Delta was also the first to bottle Coka Cola in Monroe, Louisiana.
In 1940 Farley fell out of favor with Roosevelt due to abuse of power by Roosevelt. Farley left the administration but later began work in the private sector. His new job, Chairman of the Board of Coka Cola Exporting Company.

This information and other interesting stories about American Political History in the 1920s adn 30s can be read in “I Called Him Grand Dad. The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields.” Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

PEOPLE THAT BUILT LOUISIANA – EARL LONG

This will appear in the Farmerville, Louisiana Gazette on Feb 27, 2013,
Most people that have been raises in Louisiana have to some extent been exposed to the Long’s family and their political legacy on the state and the nation. What is interesting to note is that the tentacles of this legacy reach into Union Parish in general and Farmerville specifically. While Huey Long is the most noted individual of the long family, his brother Earl has had his share of notoriety and had a major impact on the state and our own community.
Earl was born in 1895 on a farm near rural Winnfield. Success ran in his family. Brother Huey worked his way through college, became a lawyer and ultimately one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Earl had another brother that became a medical doctor and practiced in Oklahoma. Long attended law school at Loyola in New Orleans and later practiced with his brother and two other lawyers from this area. Even though being a partner, it was apparent to all members of the team that Huey was the senior partner and in charge of the firm. This was Long’s first link to Union Parish as one of the four law partners was from Farmerville.
In 1932 Long ran for Lieutenant Governor and lost. His brother Huey failed to support him. Instead Huey backed House Speaker John Fournet. Fournet won and Earl was incensed. Huey declared, “Earl is my brother but he is a crook”. Earl had earlier said of Huey that he was, “the yellowiest physical coward that God had ever let live.” Ironically, Huey’s selection of Fornet led to James A Noe’s selection as governor. Fornet left his position as lieutenant governor to sit on the supreme court. His position was unfilled when O.K. Allen died and thus Noe who was president pro-tem of the Senate became Governor. Noe was at Huey’s side when he died. Later Noe and Earl Long reconciled and Noe ran for governor and Long for Lieutenant Governor in 1959. Noe also had deep ties with Farmerville. He moved to Louisiana following World War I and settled in Farmerville. He later married Ann Gray who was a Latin teacher at Farmerville High School prior to moving to Monroe.
In 1939 Earl was Lieutenant Governor and took over as governor when the federal prosecutor from Farmerville built the case that led to what is known as the Louisiana Scandals. This led to over 200 federal indictments for corruption and Governor Leche, the president of LSU, architect Leon Weiss of Farmerville and many more went to prison. This placed Earl in the position as the political leader of Louisiana. Long later won the 1948 election for governor but due to a term limitation of one term he could not run in 1952. He did run again in 1956 and easily own. It was during this term as Governor that Long was committed to a mental hospital by his wife. Long proceeded to fire the head of the Louisiana Board of Hospitals and then appointed a friend that had him released. His escapades with a Bourbon Street stripper is famous and Blaze Star became even more famous when she was immortalized in “Blaze” a movie about Long that starred Paul Newman. It was later speculated that Long was suffering from a series of T Strokes that led to his bizarre behavior. During this last term as governor Long did make some very positive changes to the state. He led the fight for state’s rights and attempted to tear down the Jim Crowe laws and move away from integration. He passed a very controversial state wide sales tax. Long also signed into legislation a bill that funded the construction of one of the largest manmade lakes in the deep south and located in a rural parish in North Louisiana that had a parish seat that many legislature had not heard of. In a later article the details of how this resolution was passed and how the sales tax law was a pivotal point in signing Lake D’Arbonne into law.

MID-EAST UNREST

Over the past year we have looked at actions happening around the world that were leading to democratic governments throughout the Middle East.  We looked on as governments fell and free elections were held and we watched as the United States led from behind in countries such as Libya and now Syria.  And now we watch as our embassys are attached, the flag of the strongest country in the world is burned and an American ambassador and his entourage are murdered.  Now we hear that a film is the leading culprit and no other reason is behind these despicable acts of violence against American property and to a lesser extent other Western countries.

This is a complex issue and many aspects of foreign affairs have led to the situation we are in today.  Unfortunately, it is far more difficult to control escalating violence that we are currently encountering  to day instead of taking measures in the past that would have eliminated or provided insight into what was coming so that pre-emptive measures could have taken place.

The Muslim community is very sensitive to any negative depiction of the holy profit Mohammad.  A Scandinavian cartoonist depicted Mohammad in a negative light and caused the Mid-East to ignite.  A book that declared that Mohammad was a false profit led to death sentences from religious leaders in Iran and the writer was forced into hiding in the UK for fear of his life.  The recent movie by a sickened producer depicting Mohammad as a womanizer and anything but a profit is said to be the reason for the recent attacks on U.S. embassies abroad.  While this may be the fuse, it is not the only reason for the violence around the world.

The film definitely ignited many unemployed, under educated individuals in many of the Arab countries.  But it was not the viewing of the movie that led to this furor.  The majority of the protesters probably never heard of U Tube where the moving trailer ran, nor saw what was portrayed..  Instead it is self serving terrorist groups that used this to stir up the masses to attack the embassies and thus do the work that would lead to violence and the anti Arab cries in the West.  This then undermines the recent legitimate elections in the new democracies.  Case in point, the attacks in Benghazi, Libya forced the American Ambassador to flee.  He was then ambushed as his car left his safe house.  This was well coordinated.  To have an assassin waiting at the exit point took knowledge of where the house was and how the Americans would respond to attacks on it’s embassy.  It was calculated and well planned.  The protesters were simply provoked by the assassins to attack the consulate and became dupes in this heinous crime.  It is now being identified that the perpetrators in Libya were actually members of deposed and dead leader, Khadafy’s organization and would like to see the new democratic government fail.  Egypt is no different.  Protesters that led to the current democracy were college students desiring a true change.  Protesters today in Cairo are uneducated, unemployed youth looking for a thrill.  Some were even paid to protest.  The 200 protesters don’t speak for the eighty million that live in the country but they have the ear of the media.  We also hear of protests in India.  This country is totally non-Islamic and it’s dislike for Muslims is quite well known.

While the movie itself, ill conceived and full of misrepresentations,  is still a part of our core freedoms provided by our founding fathers and our government does not need to either appologize for its‘ release nor the movie’s content.  Freedom of speech is allowed and is protected by our constitution.  Instead of apologizing the government has the responsibility to explain the workings of our constitution and that the content of an individual’s thoughts are not to be suppressed.  As unfortunate as the movie is it is the  thoughts of an individual and no way depicts the views of the government of the United States of America.

Now for one last thought.  What happened that allowed these powder kegs to erupt.  Where was our intelligence community.  Have we been lulled to sleep thinking that  warm fuzzy Khumbaya  session with groups determined to destroy our country would allow us to become overnight friends. Did no one put together the explosives of 9/11, emerging western governments in Islamic countries and a stupid low cost movie and then realize that was the recipe for a powerful explosive.  If our foreign policy is to appease and not display  power and leadership and to buy our way to friendship, then we are doomed as a leader of the free world.

What would Teddy Roosevelt have done.

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS

Anyone that has a television realizes that we are in the middle of a presidential election and the official start of campaigning is supposed to begin with the presidential conventions.  It is at the convention that the candidate is officially nominated by his party to run for the highest office in the land.  It is also at the convention that the candidate for vice president is selected.  Today this nomination is more ceremonial and the convention is a launching pad full of speeches and pizzazz with the actual selection of the nominee being known for weeks before the convention is held.  The vice presidential nominee had already been determined by the presidential nominee and the selection is based not only on personal substance but also on the ability to get a segment of the voters that may not be so supportive of the presidential nominee.  We get to watch this anticlimax twice.  Once for the Republicans and once for the Democrats.

It was not all ways like this.  In the mid-sixties John Kennedy was a major contender.  The Louisiana delegation was originally in favor of Lyndon Johnson.  The working began and votes taken at the convention.  After much political work Kennedy gained the nomination and Johnson became his vice presidential candidate.

Even though many of us have witnessed the nomination of the presidential candidate without a certainty of who it will be until the convention is almost over, we have witnessed nothing like what happened in 1924.  The Democratic convention was held in New York in the middle of summer and it was hot.  Air Conditioning was lacking and it was the norm for men to be in shirt and ties and jackets with hats would be expected of professional men.  Women would be in full dress.  Delegates would arrive by train following days of travel for many.  Excitement abounded and each state delegation would have their own favorite delegate to nominate.  Voting would begin and following a few rounds of delegate voting a candidate would be selected.  1924 was far different.

A major point of contention was the KuKluxKlan.  The Roman Catholic delegation from New York’s Tammany Hall wanted the party to denounce the organization.  Fights almost broke out in the hotels.  William Jennings Bryant, the youngest candidate ever for president was now an old man and was jeered for thirty minutes and not allowed to speak as he tried to keep the Klan issue out of the convention. He knew this was dividing the party.  This failed by seven votes and following fifty failed ballots to determine the nominee the press had named the convention  the “Klanbake”.

The Klan issue was not the only item of controversy at he convention. The two leading nominees were William McAdoo and Al Smith.  Smith was Catholic and no Catholic had ever been elected president and this was seen to be an albatross around his neck.  Ironically, it was Joe Kennedy who convinced democratic leaders that a Catholic could not be elected president. It would be 40 years before Joe’s son, John, would be the first Catholic elected president.  The other leading candidate, McAdoo, was doomed by his support of the Klan. The balloting and politicking continued.  The convention had lost its’ glamour. Delegates had run out of money and were wiring home to get enough to pay for hotel bills and food.  Finally after fifteen hot contentious days and following one hundred and three ballots, the Democrats selected John Davis to be their candidate.

Conventions have certainly changed over the years.  This story was captured in the book “I Called Him Grand Dad.  The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields”.

HOLDER ISN’T THE FIRST – ONLY THE FIRST CAUGHT

The attorney general is alway closely aligned to the President and this was no more apparent than Bob Jackson and FD Roosevelt.  In 1938 Harvey Fields delivered to Jackson a case that led to the Louisiana Scandals.  Fields was the Federal Prosecutor for the Western Region of Lousiana.  The final indictment was for 200 state officials to include the Governor and President of LSU.  Two men committed suicide.  Field was concerned that the case wouold be swept under the rug.  La Governor Leche was extrememly close to FDR and even adjourned the La Legislature, took it to Dallas and reconvened it in Dallas when FDR visited the city.  Fields build the case on mis-use of WPA funds and developed the use of using the mail as a means to defraud, thus pulling in the Feds.  To insure that justice would be served, Fields close friend James Noe leaked the story to Drew Pearson who broadcast it in his column, Wahsnigton Merry Go Round.  FDR had to prosecute.  In 1940 Fields was not re-appointed to his position despite every congressman requesting it, members of the La Bar and prominent lawers requesting it.  As for Attorney General Jackson, he was waiting for his appointment to the Supreme Court to be approved so he definately would not rock the Roosevelt boat.  So, Holder is not the first to be in close with a president but he is the first to be brought up on charges. Had this happened in 1940, nothing woudl have been said.

A book has been published that chronicles the life of Harvey G. Fields.  It is called, “I Called Him Grand Dad.  the Lost Political Papers fo Harvey G. Fields”

A movie overview has been prepared for the book.

SPEAKING AT THE DAR

I will be speaking at the Daughters of the American Revolution Meeting a t the the First Method Church in Farmerville, Louisiana Saturday teh 214th at 10:00.  Subject of my talk is the impact of Farmerville, Louisiana on state and National Politics.  I will also review my book, “I Called Him Grand Dad.  The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields”

O CHRISTMAS TREE

The United States of America was founded on the principles of religious tolerance. John Locke wrote on it and this impacted Thomas Jefferson when he was crafting our great Constitution. While our country was built on Christian principles, it was also established on allowing every person to believe and practice their own religion without reprisal or discrimination. With the country having Christia based values, there are certain Christian holidays that have been celebrated since the beginning of our country and date back to Germany. While these holidays are religion based and allows workers of all beliefs to have a day off from work, it is not mandatory that everyone within the boundaries of America must celebrate these holidays within a religious context.

Today political correctness is working itself into the social fiber of our country. This correctness is being inserted into our celebrations in a manner that jeopardizes the rights of the institutions that provided our religious tolerance. So many of our government agencies are opting to recognize Christmas as a religious neutral holiday and the beautiful nativity sets that brought warmth and peace to so many government buildings across our country are disappearing. This will then not offend any one that doesn’t believe in Christmas. Just last week the governor of Rhode Island refused to refer to their tree at the capital as a Christmas tree but has it referred to as a “holiday tree”. What is lost from this conversation is the fact that the holiday was founded as a Christian Holiday, was identified as an official Federal Holiday and allows Christians to celebrate this special holiday in accordance with tolerance from other individuals. Unfortunately, many of our governments have ignored the need to be tolerant of the holiday and instead they have opted to change the title of the event and the true meaning of the Christmas holiday in favor of a non-tolerant view. This is in contradiction to the people’s doctrines that began the event and what the holiday was intended to be.

When I first went to Saudi Arabia I was told to ship our Christmas tree as a holiday tree and not to mention Christmas in the shipment description. It would then get through customs. I did so and my tree came through. I also witnessed many Christmas trees that had been confiscated in the customs area at the Dammam port. But Saudi Arabia was the keeper of the Islamic faith and they make sure that everyone understands this and there are no false expectations when a person goes there to work and live. It is interesting to note that the compound I lived in use to decorate heavily for Christmas and one area was referred to as Christmas Tree Circle. The company stopped the lighting so that they could be politically correct. The largest group of people that were disappointed when the decorating ceased were the local Saudis as they loved to drive through the camp at night and enjoy the lights. I took pleasure in placing a well lit Christmas tree in my large picture window so people could drive by and enjoy the season.

There are glimmers of hope that the trend to sanitize Christmas and thus other religious holidays could be moving back to the traditions of our country. WalMart, one of the largest corporations in the world, just announced that they would now greet customers in America with a “Merry Christmas” and not “Happy Holidays”. I use to purposely wish the cashier a “Merry Christmas” and wait for a response. I usually had it returned to me. Merry Christmas everyone.

BEAT THE RUSH AND ORDER BOOKS FOR THE HISTORY BUFF

Monroe, Louisiana, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 24, 2011 — Thomas T, Fields has two books that will appeal to the History Buff for Christmas. “I Called Him Grand Dad, The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G Fields” and “Desert Burning” are available at Amazon.

“I Called Him Grand Dad” covers the tumultous political history of Louisiana and the Nation from the turn of the century thorugh the early 1960s. Individuals identified in the book include Huey and Earl Long, Franklin Roosevelt, Jim Farley, Richard Leche, Semour Weiss, William Jennings Bryant, Robert Jackson and many more. Over 100 private political letters are included.

“Desert Burning” is a historical novel that covers a period that starts 1 month before Iraq invaded Kuwait and ends a month after Desert Storm ended. The author was living in Saudi Arabia during this time and he captures the period and looks at the war from the lives of the civilians that kept the oil flowing during the war.

Both books are available from Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and XLIBRIS.com.

SPEAKING AT THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

It’s an honor to have been asked to speak at the Daughters of the American Revolution On January 21st, at the Farmerville Methodist Church in Farmerville, Louisiana.  Subject of the program will be Farmerville and its’ Impact on State and National Politics.   The talk will center around my book, “I Called Him Grand Dad.  The Lost Political Papers of Harvey G. Fields”