Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-08-02
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE E1 PREsI-
DENT.

marked character was the seventeenth
President. Unique he was ss Washington, or
jackson. or Lincoln, or Grant. 10 we'll for him
whose will is strong" says the poet. Through
this force Of wil Andrew johnson has read the
men Of his country and time lesson which will
assuredly last long in its history. What freak
of fancy can surpass the feats of this re-
msrkable life? A man without education, for
tune or social advantage to attain successfully
all the honors his town and State, and finally the
nation have to bestew; raised from honest, but
obscure toll to the head OF one of the greatest
countries in the world
Mr.. Johnson WAS proud OF that ascent, as he
had good reason to be. There WAS much unfair
in the ridicule which his self-assertion drew
from men who had nothing of his force it
seemed ever to US, on the contrary, righteous
boast, far removed from petty and enyious van
ity. In this, Johnson WAS the American at his
best in this he showed tina spirit at its bright
est which colonized ths western world, and
through persecution and suffering brought it,
within an exceptionally brief period, in lin0 with
the leading nations of the world He was a
man who could not be beaten to whom there
Was truly mo such word as fall" Such courage
and determination ia magnificent it thrills the
heart.
1t may be said tina. the last link IN johnson u
chain Of SUCCESS was an accident-that he
would not have been President at the hands of
the people. But the people made him Vice Presi-
dent knowing.that it was veiy possible be might
rise to the higher place. 1t had happened sew
oral times before in our history that the Vice
President had succeeded to the Presidency and
that consideration is always supposed to operate
in placing the second name on the national tick
ct And at what odds WAS the senatorship
achieved which led to the Vice Presidential nom
nation? At what greater odds, even, was the
return to the Senate attained, after it was sup
posed both parties were alenated from the ex.
President? This last WAS crowning triumph.
Not only have most of the Presidents died in
private life, but some OF them,in actual obscure
ty and some in contempt John Quincy Adams
expired in the forum, where he remained fore
most figure but Monroe, Tyler, Polk, Buchanan,
none of these could have fought such fight
and accomplished ouch return to the Senate as
Johnson did,
Not unmindful of his defects-not forgetting
his violent and demagoguical methods. nor his
impeachment, nor such propositions as that by
which the interest paid on the national debt was
to be considered az so much in discharge OF the
principal-the strong characteristics OF tile man
command respect. His will.power, that worked
him up the hill OF public life to its summit his
unquestoned devotion to.the soil where he was
born, and the flag that floats over it hs unim-
peached honesty and freedom from the corrupt
practices that have put so much disgrace on
every civilized nation-these were points to ad-
nire. The decision, energy, and persistency of
this rude son Of American conditions are quail
ties that command respect, and deserve imita-
ton. The true Statesman cannot exist without