Wallace, Nixon May Discuss 'Vice President's Role' Here

Former Vice-President Henry A. Wallace may debate Richard M. Nixon on "The Role of the Vice-Presidency" before the Law School Forum on March 30. Wallace has accepted the group's invitation but Nixon has not as yet replied.

Mark DeWolfe Howe '28, professor of Law, who specializes in Constitutional Law and American Legal History, is scheduled to moderate the proposed debate.

Increased public interest in the role of the Vice-President since President Eisenhower's heart attack prompted the choice of the topic.

Wallace served as Vice-President from 1941 to 1945 and as Secretary of Commerce from January 1945 to September 1946. Opening his career as Secretary of Agriculture, he served eight years in this post from the inception of the New Deal. Former President Truman dismissed Wallace from his cabinet for criticizing his Administration's foreign policy.

Trying for a political come-back, Wallace sought the Presidency on his Progressive Party's ticket in 1948 but received only one million votes. In 1950 he resigned from the Progressive party and returned to farming.

Responsibilities Increasing

The importance of the Vice President in case of the incapacitation of the President has grown so much that a committee has recently polled legal experts including four Harvard professors on the problem of temporary succession.

Since President Harry S. Truman charged that Roosevelt left him completely ignorant of foreign affairs, the office of the Vice-President has steadily gained responsibility in the executive branch of the Government.