The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-19
poTITTCAL SUPERSTITION
EVER CHOSEN PRESIDENT
NJ 49, FROM THE SENATE.

1+as, Evidence Oh AnlS ToeoAty'
-. Conkling's Saying That the
s,'gugt BODY Breeds Unhealthy Can
s.as-Ths Pathway to the White
- strewn With Political Corps 80
-, tbs Louisville Courier-JourndI.
Gov David B. Hill of New York
10 70 accept the nomination Of his
oOn9o1, tor the United States ssnatorship,
POI ,arsons who carry superstition into
'oi IT,. de,lared that he had done some
pJ.-s' rbich would make 1t impossible for
s1--e - get the presidency in 1892. Gov.
80, himself told of that fatality, which,
80 ,be beginning, has followed the aspi-
'-H t.oo, NJ senators TO become President.
IT, however, a mau given to no superstl-
h nc 10 and he smiled when they told him
that no man mad ever sIeppeo LIolA
tt sanate chamber to the white house,
tne .jag those who held the Office
e1ceRRs Ice President and we're pro-
Oh - tberefrom. Gov. Hflps friends in
Nc Work. state believed in January. at the
Ne - his election to the Senate, that his
t' lnJ for the presidency was as sure
lnnvrhing ever can be in a political
a. He controlled the party in his
10. il was sure unanimously In regular
VA bis nolitical successes had been so unin-
eI.-Intsd that elsewhere in the country
Inv men Of his party declared that be,
4 r.ors than any other. possessed the pecu-
i;.r Qualifications OF which availability is
I'D N be the CHIEF, to bring that nominas
ton from the national convention.
Nows those who cherish the superstition
~ the Senate think they see In the inter-
rnntion to Gov. Hills political career an
other proof that the Senate does not and
iii not furnish Presidents. They say that
Gov Hill had not been In the Senate
month before clouds began to arise within
three months that he was being buffeted by
nolitical storms and in a little over five
months found his ambition and those of his
friends for him wrecked in the Chicago
convention. Aud one Of the most promi-
nent democrats of New York city. in speak
ing OF the catastTophes contained within
this brief period, said to the writer that
they furnished dramatic and almost pathetic
illustration OF the proverb that the Senate
ia not a staircase to the presidency.
In a speech which Roscoe Conkling de-
Iysred in the Senate in 1871, he spoke of this
strange circumstance not as superstition,
Init as a fact. He said: "The Senate breeds
unhealthy candidates for the presidency"
And be also intimated that in spite of that,
it was the hot house of presidential ambi-
ton. He himself was to realize the truth
of bis assertion five years later, and he could
have cast his eye about the Senate and seen
there before him, listening to his words. a
score Of men, each OF whom had the eye OF
ambition fixed upon the executive mansion
at the other end of Pennsylvania avenue.
Gen. Logan once chatting with COM
psny Of associates IN the Senate, said to
them that there was not a man who heard
his voice, except one who had served Ia the
confederate army, who did not have a
secret notion and yearning hope that the
presidency might some day be his. but, u
said he, at is my opinion that if any OF you
get there you will have to get out Of the
Sanaee flrst.n
This remark led to some examination into
history, and it was then found that history
furnished most remarkable illustration of
Coukling's assertion that the Senate breeds
unhealthy candidates for the presidency.
Adams and jefferson were in the Senate,
but only as its presiding officer; they were
not senators. Madison and Monroe went
from the cabinets OF their predecessors into
the presidential Office. Andrew Jackson
had been a member of the Senate, but ii
seems as though by that singular intuition
which characterized his political life, he,
even ia that early day. well understood that
he had the presidency in mind and should
not remain in the Senate chamber. He re-
signed his Office there, retired to his estate
in Tennessee and then awaited with serenity
the summons which he was sure would to
the white house come.
Martin Van Buren, had been a senator,
but be had also served after he held that
Office as Secretary OF State, minister to
England and Vice President. William
Henry Harrison would probably have failed
TO receive the nomination for President in
1910 had he at that time been a member of
the Senate. His term In that body had ex-
PRED some years before, and he was living
In practical retirement, holding a petty
Office in Ohio when his party chose MIN.
Polk was also practioing his profession in
Nashville when he was elected. Gen. Tay-
Tor was a planter in Louisiana. Franklin
Pierce, beyond all question, would have
been unthought of for tbs presidential
nomination had he not retired to private
life some years before when his term in tbs
Senate was ended. James Buchanan had
post as minister to England to take the
presidency.
Abraham Lincoln had been chosen x
play thei politics necessary to secure the
prize elected senator III place of Lyman
Irumoull, but he seems to have realized
that the Senate was a deadly place for pres
idsntial ambition to flourish in, and be
therefore remained in private life. Grant
never held elective office until chosen Pres
ldent. Hayes went from the governorshlI
OF ohio TO the white house. Garfield wa
member Of the House when elected Prea
denT. Cleveland was governor of New
York, and Harrison had been out of the
senate year when. he was nominated tol
the presidency,
That Is the record and it shows that NJ
man was ever chosen President from tht
senate chamber. And striking as this reck
ora IS, 1t ls less impressive than another
winch may well supplement it.
In lS40 the indications pointed to
victory for the Wing party at tn,
national election. Therefore most esrnes
eiort was made to secure the nomination
OF mis- party for Henry Clay. then a member
ol the Senate, yet in spite OF his popularity
dud the mighty enthusiasm into which tn,
AlenVlon OF his name threw a great body Of
eoers. he was passed by. The convention
reused to take senator, but they ok il
US place the clerk of petty court in Ohio
zen darrl' ION, and made him President
III 1914 Mr.. Clay became a candidate
Dlt the country then went to the private
CITIZEN Polk, permitting Clay to remain
Totll death called him, in the Senate cha M
Der, In lS48 when his party won he wa
sun left In the Senate.
NO democrat OF his generation had greater
Mnuence In the Senate than Lewis Cas-
onu when his party nominated him for thu
pIoSluency In lS4S 1t seemed TO many of the
snrewdest politicians in the land as though
Als election was already assured Yet Mr.