Official Chronology of James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes—the "Assistant President."

James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes
James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes
(1882-1972).


"Assistant President" Jimmy Byrnes was determined to replace Henry A. Wallace as Vice President and his supporters did everything in their power to dump Wallace as Vice President.

Roosevelt had already pledged to support his Vice President, but he was absent from the Convention, and the Wallace supporters could not reach him for a definate decision.

 

Life Magazine featured the "Assistant President" on the cover of its Jan. 4, 1943, issue.
Life magazine featured the "Assistant President" on the cover of its Jan. 4, 1943, issue.

James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes was the ONLY man to serve in all 3 branches of the U.S. government: The Legislative, the Judicial and the Executive.

He was a Congressman and Senator; a Supreme Court Judge, and Secretary of State. The one position that he lusted after more than any other was to be President of the Unites States.

Byrnes' advocacy at the OWM of a hard war beginning with a regimentation of the home front had been a long time coming. Soon after assuming the OWM post in 1943, Byrnes had clashed repeatedly with Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau over Byrnes' urging a program of compulsory savings to be deducted from workers' paychecks to help finance the war. Morgenthau had argued that such compulsory savings, in addition to being objectionable on civil libertarian grounds, would hurt the Treasury's drives for voluntary war bond purchases. (The compromise eventually proposed by Byrnes, to have federal income tax deducted in advance from paychecks, outlived World War Two). (Robertson, Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes), p. 369).

Here is the official chronology of Jimmy Byrnes—the "Assistant President."

Date
Event
1882
"Jimmy" Byrnes was born in Charleston, South Carolina. President Andrew Jackson was also born in South Carolina. His grandparents were Fenians who were sent over here by the British as spies to destroy the United States.
1910
He is elected to the U.S. Congress with the help of a notorious racist named Senator "Pitchfolk" Ben Tillman.
1918
Reelected to Congress
1930
Elected U.S. Senator with the help of "Jewish" financier Bernard M. Baruch.
1937
Leads the fight with Senator Joe T. Robinson in Roosevelt's court packing scheme.
1941
Appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court by Roosevelt.
1942
Resigns from the Supreme Court....No other man in the history of the U.S. has ever resigned from the Court . . . except to RETIRE!!
1942
Roosevelt appoints him to the newly created position of director of the Office of Economic Stabilization (OES). He oversees ALL aspects of the civilian economy—a kind of economic czar. His power is like Joseph to Pharaoh in the Old Covenant. Byrnes' office is in the East Wing of the White House next to Admiral William D. Leahy.
1943
Appointed director of the newly created Office of War Mobilization (OWM). This position gave him virtual authority over the entire U.S. economy—both civilian and military. In this position he is able to GUARANTEE unlimited funding for the Manhattan Project!!
1944
Attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago fully expecting to become Vice President under Roosevelt. Harry Truman even wrote the acceptance speech nominating Byrnes....Truman is nominated instead....His history of anti-civil rights for blacks caused him to lose favor with Roosevelt and the Democrats.
April 2, 1945.
Jimmy Byrnes suddenly resigns from his position as "Assistant President."
April 12, 1945
President Roosevelt is assassinated in Warm Springs, Georgia.
May 7, 1945
Germany officially surrenders to the Allies. World War II is all but OVER with the surrender of Nazi Germany. Huge Soviet armies begin to secretly redeploy to the Far East for a showdown with Japan.
July 3, 1945
Jimmy Byrnes is appointed Secretary of State under the new President Truman. This position places him next in line to succeed the President....Truman first learns about the atomic bomb from Byrnes. Truman appoints Byrnes as head of the Interim Committee to advise him on the use of the atomic bomb.
July 6, 1945

At this CRITICAL MOMENT in world history, President Truman is SENT OUT OF THE COUNTRY to Potsdam, Germany, to meet with Stalin and Churchill. He does not return until August 7, the day after the bombing of Hiroshima. 67 atomic scientists sign a petition against use of the bomb but General Groves prevents Truman from seeing it . . . until after his return.

July 16, 1945
Second test of an atomic bomb (code name Trinity) at Alamogordo, New Mexico.
August 6, 1945 Atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Aug 7, 1945
President Truman returns to the U.S.
Sept, 1945

Jimmy Byrnes reorganizes the State Department. Nelson Rockefeller is fired from his position as Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America. Only Rockefeller has more Presidential ambitions than Byrnes.

1946.
Byrnes become the first COLD WARRIOR. This time the crisis is over Iran and access to oilfields. The Soviets withdraw from Iran but Byrnes' behavior disgusts Truman.
Jan. 1947
President Truman fires Byrnes from the State Department. His ambition to be President finally ends in defeat.
1950
Jimmy Byrnes is elected Governor of South Carolina—the oldest man ever to hold that position. His term as Governor ends in 1955.
1972
Byrnes dies at his home in Spantanburg, South Carolina.

References

Byrnes, James F. All In One Lifetime, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1958.

Robertson, David, Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes, W. W. Morton & Co., New York, 1994.


Copyright © 2013 by Patrick Scrivener


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