WENDELL WILLKIE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 December 1940, Page 10

WENDELL WILLKIE

MOST UNCONVENTIONAL. TOO SCARED TO DRIVE CAR. Wendell Willkie, recent unsuccessful candidate for the United States Presidency is most unconventional. When he was offered the post of chairman of the board of directors of the Commonwealth and Southern Utility Company,-of which he is president, he abolished the post and said it was ’“too damn stuffy. I would have to be dignified.” Stubbornly individualistic, he is careless in dress and doesn’t bother to look prosperous, although his salary is 75,000 dollars—the same as. that of the President. He doesn’t comb his mop of greying hair, doesn’t wear a starched collar or keep his clothes pressed, or worry to buy a new suit when his old one begins to. shine in the seat. He sits with his feet thrown over the arm of his chair and when interviewed paces up and down his office. Matches are simply thrown on the floor, and soon there is a trail of ashes on the carpet. His desk, on which his feet often rest, is untidy, and he has never owned a motor car. “I’m scared to: drive a car,” he said, “because I’m absent-minded. Im afraid I would run up a telephone pole.” He reads and fishes and plays poker for relaxation. He is 6ft. lin. tall and weighs 2101 b. . He enlisted on the day America declared war on Germany in 1917, and met Mrs Willkie while he was at a training camp. Her maiden name was Edith Wilk. , lil-e He simply said to her: ‘Edith Id Y to change that Wilk to Willkie, and S1 A blizzard delayed the w ® ddl " g two days, but Willkie even ua ly rived with a frozen bouquet which sne carried to the church.