New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-27
THE cRAyDFlT8ER Nv POLITICS.

The Democratic press has made the I'M
portant discovery that General HARRISON ha i',
a grandfather. This fact, it concludes' VIII
no fatal to the success of the Republican party
The American people, it afirms will never DC
Influenced by principles of heredity in choosing
a President. They will be prejudiced, say these
oracles. against the candidate who has had
distinguished ancestors and who appeals 1of
popular support on the strength OF an historic
NAME "The grandfather in politics" they
are confident, will never work in America.
This line of criticism would seem more lor-
mi6able If General Harrison's own grandfather
had not been equally unfortunate in his day
in having distinguished ancestors. Presl-
dent Harrison's own father had been one of the
signers of the Declaration, had been Governor
of Virginia during three terms, had been
elected four times to Congress, and was one OF
the leaders of the Revolutionary period. A
more remote ancestor had been one of Crom-
wells generals and was one of the first of the
patriots of the Commonwealth to be beheaded
after the Restoration Tippeoanoe labO
under this striking disadvantage of being the
son of his father, yet was triumphantly elected
to the Presidency after one of the most ex-
citing political campaigns. John Quincy
Adams in like manner, suffered from similar
disability, yet became President, notwith-
standing the fact that he was the son OF his
father. Republicans may therefore console
themselves with the reflection that man may
have had a grandfather in this great and
glorious country, and yet have good fighting
chance of being elected President.
Nothing can be more stupid than the descrp-
ton Of General Harrison as man nominated
because he was the grandson of Tippeoanoe.
He did not win his promotion for gallantry
on the battlefield because he had grand
father, but rather because he was himself; nor
had ancestry anything to do with his dis
tinguished position as the leader of the Indiana
bar, or with his political canvasses in that
State, or with his honorable career in the United
States Senate. AS his grandfather before him
became President on the strength of his bravery
as soldier, his ability as an orator and states
man, and his general availability as leader
in the place of Henry Clay, the idol of the
Wings, so he has achieved all his successes
in life by virtue of his patriotism and force
of character and a combination of circum-
stances rendering him the best substitute for
Mr.. Blaine.
1t is not a case of the grandfather in politics.
General Harrson's prominence in this can
vass is not due to his name, and nobody will
be asked to vote for him because he is the
grandson of his grandfather. Patriotic lin
cage and distinguished name have never
stood in the way of any American statesman's
ambition when he has once shown himself
to be man Of force. If the Republican can
didate be highly favored in the historic asSO-
Citations clustering about his name so much the
better. To sneer at public man because his
father or his grandfather has been a hero in
American history would be one of the ire
sponsible demonstrations Of political Jacobin-
ism.