Inside Philadelphia

When the Democratic landslide in Philadelphia was measured last week, many a Democratic politician (including National Chairman Paul Butler) hailed the results as a harbinger of 1956-But Mayor-elect Richardson Dilworth promptly announced that he did not consider his victory an indication of a national trend. Although Dilworth's statement brought puzzled frowns to some nationally oriented Democratic foreheads, it did not surprise many Philadelphians. Dilworth is more inclined to say what he thinks than what other politicians expect him to say.

A combat Marine veteran of both World Wars (an arm wound in the Soissons drive of 1918, Silver Star from Guadalcanal), Yaleman Dilworth was a successful Philadelphia lawyer who had only dabbled in politics before 1947. A1though the cause was hopeless, he ran as the Democratic candidate for mayor that year made a street-corner campaign that startled a city accustomed to automatic Republican victories (TiME, Oct. 27, 1947). He lost by 92.000 votes, but two years later he helped lead the movement that broke the back of the G.O.P.'s notorious city machine and put Democrats in four key city offices. Elected city treasurer that year. Dilworth in 1951 was elected district attorney on a team that made his friend, Joseph S. Clark Jr., the first Democratic mayor of Philadelphia in 67 years.

An "Emotional Man." When Mayor Clark decided not to run this year the Democratic organization's support moved behind Dilworth. Now a suave, experienced politician at a handsome, trim 57, Dilworth was a logical choice. In a complete reversal of his 1947 experience, he became the candidate of an established organization running with a well-oiled machine. His Republican opponent, a young (35) advertising executive named William Thacher Longstreth, was a newcomer with a tattered and split organization.

Although everyone expected Dilworth to win, both sides went at the battle with a roar. Dilworth conducted his usual street-corner campaign, often with his wife Anne and some of the eight Dilworth children (four by his first wife, two by his present wife, and her two children by a former marriage) in the entourage. The G.O.P. candidate for district attorney, Wilhelm F. Knauer, followed Dilworth around the city, would hold his own rally with the same crowd after Dilworth finished. Knauer began to attack Dilworth, and Dilworth fired back.

One night, at a meeting featuring candidates of both parties, Knauer charged that Dilworth had "smeared" him. When Dilworth got the floor, he pointed a finger at Knauer and shouted: "You're a mean, nasty little man. You've been going around street corners for two months and smearing me." That brought Longstreth, Dilworth's opponent, to his feet to point at Dilworth and ask of the crowd: "Do you think this man is emotionally and psychiatrically fit to be mayor?" Seizing the microphone, Dilworth cried: "Yes, I'm an emotional man, but I am a fighter. I have fought for Philadelphia because I love this city. Where would the cities of this country be if it were not for men like me who fight for them?"

The Worst Beating. The Republican National Committee made a mighty effort for Candidate Longstreth. Among first string Republicans who said a good word for the candidate: President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey (who spoke at a $100-a-plate Philadelphia G.O.P. dinner), National Chairman Leonard Hall, Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators Edward Martin and James Duff, and Indiana's Representative Charles Halleck.

In nearly every speech, Longstreth talked about his wish to bring "Eisenhower Republicanism" to Philadelphia. But he was unable to make the President of the U.S. an issue in the local campaign. Philadelphians knew that they had been getting good government, and they knew the veteran Dilworth far better than they knew amateur Longstreth. The final count: 420,099 for Dilworth to 288,646 for Longstreth. Although Dilworth's margin was less than Adlai Stevenson's Philadelphia margin over Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, it was the worst beating a Republican candidate for mayor of Philadelphia had ever taken.

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