The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1895-12-14
LINCOLN THE ONLY II
AORLSZ

LINCOLN THE ONLY HL
AORZSZ:
n O. States
t Any man VIII o aspires to be Presi
dent of the I'm tied States must SUD
/ press, If he possesses it, the sense O
f humor, because Abraham Lincolr
was the only l,umorist ever elected
to the highest Office within the eff
; of the American people. Strange
: as 1t may appear all the Presidents,
except himself, we're dignifed, and,
IN many insta noes, austere men, bu,
Lincoln, elected ut a time when the
country was n the throes Of a terri
bic civil war and called upon to
carry a grea burden of response
bility, found it necessary to relieve
the tension BY an occasional joke.
Commenting on this fact the Phil
adelPhia Times in very interesting
| manner calls attention to the char
acteristics of the other Presidents.
as follows:
t'Washington was the gravest man
OF the whole nation. The tradition
of him is that he was never known
to laugh, and seldom seen to smile.
re did not allow that familiarity
which must Precede joking. There
is story OF his nearly whitening
man with look who once ventured
to slap him on the back. He was
gravity embodied John Adams was
impulsive and 1rascible, but too
much in earnest to be humorous.
Jefferson was a theorist who was in
tent upon promoting human equali-
ty in way that did not admit of
Joking. Madison and Monroe were
Vlrginlans educated to statesman
ship, and carrying old-fashioned
Virginia ideas with them. of which
dignity formed considerable part. /
John Quincy Adams carried the
stern Puritan methods into his pull
lie life. Jackson was a fighter, and
MS method of fighting had no fun in
t. Van Buren, was smooth, cour
eous, conciliating in manner, but
certainly not knowingly comical
" lillian Henry Harrison was har- =
assed and over-weighted in the h
month ne was in office; Webster f:
made a joke of the seriousness with t.
which he carried the old Romans =. ID
nto his single message. Tyler was
ross, sour, always in trouble IN his -
erm of Office. Polk was another
,uritan, modified by partisanship. cl
aylor was a matter-of-fact old I'll
glitter, striving with immaculate NJ
erlousness to do his duty. Fill oh
lore was thoroughly practical in OF
is tastes and tendencies. Pierce
as one of the most genial and gen ~
emanly OF our. Presidents, but he
as left no mark of humorous ten
ency. Buchanan took himself with ot
'e EXTREMIST possible seriousness toy
all his way to becoming an old 10
lbllc functionary. Andrew John -
IN had his head turned by his in
nse eagerness to have his own way
ia he could not recognize. humor Su
hen he saw it. Grant is thought to
we had some grim sense of humor,
1t there is no record of it. Hayes
IS thoroughly respectable, and hu- an
or was not in his programme for ~,
IS purpose: Garfield was versa Of
e, but taste for fun was not a.
hong his accomplishments. mis-
eveland has always taken his pri- sac sa.e
te and public affairs with entire trat
berness. Benz amln Harrison was hig
r third Puritan President, Polk S
er again, with Folks politics re- bet
wed, but rlvalling Polk in earnest OF i
votion to partisanship. SCR
Of all the candidates spoken of c
either party for the Presidency, 1ae
ed is the only one who has the mer
'utation of being a humorist. s1I5i
ed possesses by far more wit +
m humor, and it is wit of verv
agreeable quality, because it is
'stic and biting and stings instead
amusing the person against whom
S directed. On the other hand
genuine humor there is nothing Att
ell, and can be heartily enjoyed
the individual who may happen
be the subject of it. The whirli- ;dea
of politics may bring about the BEA
:tion of Tom Reed to lie the On; on u
IF magistrate of the United with
ties, but in history he will not be ,o',
ced along with Lincoln as one of mile
humorous Presidents of the A'o"'