Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-08-26
MEN WHO DECLINED.
POLITICIANS WHO REFUSED TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

PRE5lDENl OF TIE UNI ED D IAIES. . snas Wright New York Senator, Re-
 fused Both Presidency and Vice Presi-
 dency In 1s44-The Gases of Washing
 ton and Jefferson.
 Every now and then somebody rises to remark oraeularly that no man ever declined the presidency of the United States. This is mistake It is well known that two presidents, Washington and Jefferson. refused to be candidates for third term, but it is probably not so we'll known that two American states men of great ability and famous in their day actually refused the presiden- cy itself. And this, too. when it was within their reach. and not, as in the case of MT Whitney and some others who would put away the crown, mere possibility.
 In 1844 Martin Van Buren was the popular Democratic candidate for the nomination of that year. He was rot altogether acceptable to the south be- cause of his known opposition to the an- QoARbAOA OA AOAhoS Out WHICH tuo A6luO- cratic convention assembled at Balti- more in May it was found that Van Blu ren had a clear majority of the delega- tion over all other candidates But the two-thirds rule, which even then had become a Democratic tradition, having first been adopted in 1889, doomed him to defeat. and the politicians cast around for an available candidate in Van Bu- ren's place.
 They at once pitched upon Silas Wright, senator from New York, who was himself an ardent supporter of Van Buren. If Senator Wright had said the word, or had even been silent, he could have had the nomination, but he utterly and absolutely refused to permit his name to go before the convention. In writing to friend who was member of the convention he said, "If it were proper could tell you, with the most perfect truth, that I have never been vain enough to dream of the office of president in connection with my own name, and were not Mir. Van Buren the candidate of our state should find just as little difficulty as I now do in telling you that l am not and cannot, under any circumstances, be a candidate before your convention for that office
 This letter, read to the convention, was final, and the next thing done was to nominate James K. Polk. Then, in spite of every protest. Wright was nomi- mated for the vice presidency. This hon. or he peremptorily declined. and the national committee placed George M Dallas name on the ticket instead of his. History records that Polk and Dal- las were elected, as Wright would un- doubtedly have been had he suffered his name to have been used by the conyen- tion In fact, Wright elected the ticket, for he resigned his seat in the senate for the express purpose of accepting the nomination for the governorship of New York, canvassed that state most thor oughly and carried it for himself and the national ticket. So here we have the example of nIan-and he was 8 very great man-who refused both the presi- dency and the vice presidency.
 Almost a similar state of affairs oc- cured in 1852. General Cass, 1t will be remembered, had been defeated by General Taylor in l848, and he was the most prominent candidate for the Demo cratic nomination in 1852 In the con vention, however, he could not com mand the two-thirds vote, and the man. agers commenced to cast about for an available substitute. The Virginians set their eyes on Daniel S. Dickinson of New York, at that time a senator, as Wright had been before him. On the thirty y-fourth- ballot the Virginia dele gation cast their votes for Dickinson, and he, being member of the conven- tion, at once arose and in & strain of eloqnence seldom heard on such an oc- casion forbade the use of his name. He had come there, he said, instructed to vote for General Cass and to procure his nomination, and no temptation could induce him to depart from that course.
 His splendid self abnegation did not secure the nomination of General Cass, for on the next ballot the Virginians voted for Franklin Pierce and he was nominated A few months later he was elected by an overwhelming vote, carry ing all the states but four. There are moral lessons for statesmen in these historic instances and much food for reflection. Cautiously enough, both these self denying men were New York poll ticians Chicago Times Herald.
 Miniature Tower of Babel
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