The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1843-09-11
MIR CLAY AND THE PRESIDENCY.

From a very early period of his political ca
reer. Mr.. Clay seems TO have hxed MS eye Oh
the Presidential chair as the goal winch ne de-
sired. and expected ultimately to attain
Some men have been found sufficiently unIre-
tending and patriotic as TO rest salished WIN
the good which their talents and energies cou'u
effect in the situation TO which they may have
been elevated by the spontaneous choice oil the
People. without raising their aspirations any
higher-others have thought not OF the Presl-
dency until the gradual progression OF promo
ton and widely disseminated popularity have
almost placed it within their srasp-when The
expectation of being elevated to the highest Oh
flee in the gift Of the People has been the sug-
gestion OF circumstances, not the creation oil
their selfish ambition Not so Mr.. Clay When
wi the years ne numbered were barely suih-
cent TO qualify him for seat in the Senate OF
the United States, and he could, almost with
out suspicion, pretend to the innocence OF no
vice in political intrigue, he extended his vision
through The long vista OF party turmoil and rev.
olution before him, and intenlly scanned the
whole scene, that he might discover in turn all
the torluos,ies and difficulties Of the path which
led to the coveted prize beyond. To attain it,,
every faculty, every energy has been nerved ;
every plan and every scheme has been employed,
ill the age of 70 has overtaken HMM vain. He
has figured among statesmen in originating and
supporting measures deeply affecting the inte-
rests of the country, whether for veal or for
woe-t was with expectation Of the Preslden-
r nd n
trigued among poticians-it was with expecta-
ton of the Presidency. He has poured his flu
ent strains of deliberative eloquence in the Cap
itol-it was with expectation OF the Presidency
He speechifed at dinners and on the stump-lt
was with expectation of the Presidency. He
has promulgated opinions and condemned them
he has joined parties and forsaken them-he
has supported friends and abandoned them-it
was all with expectation of the Presidency
Amid every change Of political opinion in him
self-amid every revolution OF party-whether
he was Representative, Senator, Commissioner
in foreign country, or quilted his popular posi-
ton to become Secretary of State, he never lost
sight Of the one great object-the Presidency
AS soon as he thought his arrangements made,
his forces prepared, and the plan OF campaign
complete, he entered the field, and he was de-
ieated. Again defeated in open warfare, he
experienced, in 1889, the additional degradation
and disappointment of being rejected by his
own friends. Vexed and harassed by reitera
ton of defeat, where stands he now? Upheld
by his own desperation and the recklessness o
few desperate friends, he affects the modesty
of retirement, while he promises indirectly {
renewal of The contest. Directly, he promises
no such thing but in the morbid peevishness
of frustrated ambition, Eve will not quote an
old and familiar adage,D he assails personally,
as well as politically, one whose position he en-
vies, because he has, by long reveries on his
own aspirations, persuaded himself that he
should be there himself But where is he now?
AT every struggle he is sinking farther End
farther from the object he wishes to grasp
Are his hopes Of the Presidency brighter? His
most sanguine friends cannot confidently make
the assertion. He has met the punishment
which usually attends constant tissue Of in
trigue. The calculations Of his cunning have
deceived him, and he is farther from the Presi-
dency than ever
Yes, farther than ever. When he betrayed
the President, and declared himself in favor of
National Bank, contrary to The professions of
the party in 1910, and so far succeeded in his
perfdy as 10 obtain the leadership of the Wing
party after the vetoes-1ien, or up to that peri
3D. the Wing party held nineteen Of the States
by decided majorities Under Mr.. Claws lead,
and with his name as the candidate for 1914, in
less than two years, the Wings have lost pos
session Of all the States butfve or six This is
ncontrovertble, and will not be denied by any
sane Clay man.
From The Globe