Thenceforth there
were no more oratorical blunders.
Mr. Hays began to exhibit some capacity for leadership; his
speeches improved. From that day until the election of 1920 he
never made one without George Harvey's counsel and approval.
This is as typical of Harvey as his audacity. He has a gentleness
and charm quite unexpected in so savage a commentator. He will
discuss and advise but he will not argue; and all of the time he
will probe with uncanny accuracy for the weaknesses of those with
whom he is dealing. It is rather by the weaknesses of others than
by his own strength that he triumphs.
Eight months after his meeting with Hays, Harvey came to Washington
where his shadow was cast over the destinies of the Republican
party, which at that time consisted of a dozen elements with little
in common except a hatred of Woodrow Wilson.
It was an ideal situation for the exercise of Harvey's peculiar
talents. He met various factional leaders and before many weeks his
house became their rendezvous, the G. H. Q. of the forces who were
to encompass the defeat of Wilson. Harvey flattered and cajoled and
counselled, enjoying himself immensely all of the time. This
diversion was much more to his liking than the academic dignity of
the editorship of the "North American Review".
When President Wilson sailed away on his disastrous mission to
Paris, Harvey's "Weekly" threw aside all restraint.
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