Julia Clarke wrote this letter to her husband Henry when he was in the army during World War II (1939-1945). She observes that Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate opposing Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1944 presidential election, had been equating the Roosevelt Administration’s New Deal legislation with communism. Julia suggests that Dewey is attempting to gain votes by this tactic. She writes to her husband that “This Boston speech of Dewey is absolute Hitler stuff! Making one lie before your ears, then another bigger, then another of those two- regular garter stitch on huge needles of falsehood till the anti red blanket blots out all else. It is frightening!” Julia’s later reference to the speech as a “subtle ‘Reichstag’” is probably referring to Hitler’s manipulation of the German parliament, which was known as the Reichstag until 1945.
Clarke, Julia K. WWII political letter to Henry L. Clarke. November 1, 1944. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l06-060/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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