Friday, August 29, 2008

TODAY'S TWD: ROBERT A. TAFT

In 1965, the late George Furth took part in an episode of 'Profiles In Courage' that chronicled Senator Robert A. Taft's opposition to the Nuremburg trials. Here's the synopsis of that episode from Classic TV Archives (link to the left):

1.08 [08] Profiles in Courage:
ROBERT A. TAFT
03-Jan-1965 NBC Sun


guest cast:
Lee Tracy ............. Senator Robert A. Taft
David Opatoshu ........ Professor Goldman
Lou Frizzell .......... Jensen
Sue Randall ........... Joan
Loring Smith .......... Marsden
Louise Lorimer ........ Martha
George Furth

Synopsis:
Dramatizes Senator Robert A. Taft's courage in condemning the Nuremburg war crimes
trials because of his belief that it was unjust to hold the trials under an ex post facto law.
Evaluates Taft's judgment in terms of equal justice under law and the concept of international law.
Synopsis 2:
In 1946, Sen. Robert A. Taft risks political suicide by taking a public stand against the Nuremberg Trials.

Here's a little background on the man and his stance from Wikipedia:

Robert Alphonso Taft (September 8, 1889 - July 31, 1953), of the Taft political family of Ohio, was a Republican United States Senator and as a prominent conservative spokesman was the leading opponent of the New Deal in the Senate from 1939 to 1953. He led the successful effort by the conservative coalition to curb the legal privileges of labor unions, and he was a major proponent of the foreign policy of non-interventionism. However, he failed in his quest to win the presidential nomination of the Republican Party in 1940, 1948 and 1952.

Taft condemned the postwar Nuremberg Trials as victor's justice in which the people who won the war were the prosecutors, the judges and the alleged victims, all at the same time. Taft condemned the trials as a violation of the most basic principles of American justice and internationally accepted standards of justice. Although his opposition to the trials was strongly condemned by many, other observers, such as Senator John F. Kennedy in his bestselling Profiles in Courage, applauded Taft's principled stand even in the face of great criticism.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

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