Talk:Wayne Wheeler

POV Problem

There are several pov statements in this article such as:"Under Wheeler's brilliant leadership" , "the first great victory of the Anti-Saloon League", "The energetic and resourceful leader" & "he wielded awesome power". I would just remove these statements, but because, while the article contains many references at the bottom, nothing in the article is specifically referenced, thus it is difficult to assess what in the article is actually accurate. It needs to have the pov statements removed, and the references need to actually to refer to statements in the article. Grung0r 02:53, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Additional Information

Smithsonian magazine, volume 41, number 2, for May 2010 has an entire 8-page illustrated article on Wayne Wheeler. While it reflects writer Daniel Okrent's notably uncomplimentary POV and does not cite a single source, it does have many interesting details. There are also several paragraphs about Okrent himself, penned by Editor Carey Winfrey, on page 2 of that issue. Dick Kimball (talk) 17:55, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Speculation

Is it possible that the origin of the phrase "wheeler dealer" is inspired by Wayne Wheeler? Meriam dictionary cites first use of the term "wheeler dealer" in the 1950s. — Preceding unsigned comment added by The0ther (talk • contribs) 05:46, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Possible Changes to article

The Wikipedia article on Wayne Wheeler has little information and needs serious reconstruction in order to give a great account of what he stood for throughout his life. The talk page on the Wikipedia link is appalling to me as an individual, due to its lack of comments and deprivation of possible solutions and deficiency of new inputs that could make the article more credible and reliable to researchers. The article lacked much in depth research as to the personal motives and core beliefs that Wayne Wheeler stood for and held so dearly to him through his career in the Anti-Saloon League. There are many aspects that require immediate changes in order to make the Wikipedia article credible and they should be added as soon as possible. According to David Hanson of the “American National Biography”, there is more information about Wayne Wheeler that would go unrecognized by the public had the information not been put out into the open by someone such as himself. The first step that should be taken in making this Wikipedia article credible would be to add more information from Wayne Wheeler’s childhood. By this information being given to the reader of the page, it will supply the reader with key insight as to where his core beliefs started and what factors shaped his thought process for his future actions. One key event of his life that played an essential role in him joining the Anti-Saloon league came when was injured as a young boy on his family’s farm. He was helping with the daily chores when a hired hand came to work inebriated and accidently punctured a young Wheeler’s leg with his hayfork. This event was obviously very traumatic and affected not only Wayne but his family as well. It is because of incidents early on in life that many people, such as Wheeler, devote their lives to solving problems that may provide similar results to other innocent people. The next topic that the Wikipedia article should go slightly more in depth in would be his education life. The article does brush on the subject of his college career but then quickly jumps ahead into his career with the Anti-Saloon League. All the Wikipedia article provides us, as readers, is that he went to Oberlin College and was involved in Temperance work. It fails to provide information that he taught school for two years before entering college and that while in college, he excelled in many fields such as Speech and Debate. This information would provide useful in the shaping of Wayne Wheeler as a public speaker who speaks out against the negative side effects of alcoholism. Once the current Wikipedia article moves into his lifetime career, it becomes extremely disorganized but the reader can still manage to connect with the big picture. Everything is randomly thrown around, yet it manages to tie together around a common and uniform theme, which in this case is prohibition. The segment on his work career should begin with his first job and should probably be included into his education paragraph, seeing that he had started working with the Anti-Saloon League while he was still attending classes in college. Once that topic is covered, it would be best, in my opinion, to make a smooth transition into several stages of his job career and what he contributed to each position that he held. It would be best to list these jobs in order of their importance and in chronological order.

Certain jobs that could be touched upon were secretary work, possibly his internship if any, and any others that influenced his rise to power in the ASL.  After it is covered that each contribution he made left a major impact on the war of prohibition, the Wikipedia article should talk about the scrutiny he had to endure and face alone from various groups. Some of the major groups of concern that may be beneficial to a person attempting to do research would include alcohol distributors (i.e. gin house owners, pubs, and local alcohol makers), the government, public citizens, and women suffragettes. Each of these could be added as links to other major topics and could be referred back to how each of these groups reacted to the Anti-Saloon League and the political workings of Wayne Wheeler. I believe the main focuses of scrutiny should fall under three of these categories for they were majorly affected due to Wayne’s doings in the Anti-Saloon League. The Women’s Rights groups should be mentioned, for at this time in history prohibition worked hand-in-hand with all efforts being made by women’s suffrage attempting to gain more rights and be recognized for their movements. The government should be next on the list for they regulated these laws and were supposed to make sure that these laws were being enforced by local enforcements. This could include subtopics such as corrupt cops at the times and how they would turn a blind eye to such people as gin-house owner, bootleggers, and gangsters.  

There are many much need changes in the Wikipedia article on Wayne Wheeler and the Anti-Saloon League. The information given is a bare bone summary of his life, though it seriously lacks in depth knowledge and needs work before it would be suitably acceptable for use by researchers doing a report or writing a paper. I hope that someday it will acquire the needed knowledge that it currently lacks so that it becomes yet another helpful resource in the constantly evolving quest for historical information. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronei663 (talk • contribs) 17:39, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Denatured Alcohol

Apparently, according to Bill Bryson's book: One Summer: America 1927 Wheeler was instrumental in substituting denatured alcohol for ordinary alcohol in permitted uses, thus contributing to many painful deaths. The overall picture of Wheeler in Bryson's study is not positive. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.130.59.180 (talk) 12:47, 4 October 2018 (UTC)