Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-01
MOODS OF OUR PRESIDENTS.
With Few Exceptions, the Executives
of the Nation We're Grave Men.

III VI OOh hLSlOGlN -.
With Few Exceptions. the Executives
of the Nation We're Grave Men.
1t is remarkable how little the ten
doncy to humor has been developed in
thu men who have been Presidents of
the United States. We 10 not SO much
refer to exhibitions Of humor in office:
that. of course. is not 10 be expected.
He must be bubbling over with Il sense
of humor. is WAS our single humoriSt.
President Abraham Lincoln. who could
give ven under such conditions. If it
had not been for Lincoln we might
nave followed the heading of this article
after the name of the historian who
wrote of snakes in Ireland by saving:
There has been no humor in orr
Presidents" and we might have gone
further and said that there has been
no humor in the character of any of
them. before or after they left the office.
The heaviest responsibility that ever
rested upon Il President might well
have weighed down Lincoln. He ap
pcarcd To find il necessary 10 relieve
himself Of this burden by III occasional
joke. He ncvcr tested officially: he was
carefully mindful Of the prOprieties in
this respect upon ali occasions. but nc
enjoyed relaxation from this kind of
etiquette When he vas ~ Of the public
eye. and Il good deal of what he said
at such times has one into print and
into the oral traditions of our people.
probably much of il not without en-
belliShment and eXaggeration.
Washington was the gravcSt man of
the whole nation. Tie tradition of him
is that he was never known to laugh.
and seldom seer to smile. He did q
allow that familiarity which must pre-
cede joking. There * Il story If his
nearly whitening Il man with " look
WHo once venturCd To slap him on the
back. He was brevity embodied. John
Adams was impulsive and iraSciblc.
but too much in earnest 10 he humOr-
Gus. Jefferson was Il thcOriSt who was
intent upon promoting human equality
in 4 way that did not admit of joking.
Madison and Monroe We're NirginianS
educated 10 craftsmanship. and carry
49, PA' W. Will
them. of which dignity formed Il con
siderable part. John Quincy Adams
carried the stern Puritan methods into
his public life. Jackson was Il fighter.
and his method of fighting had no fun
in it. Van Buren, was smooth. courte-
Gus. conciliating in manner but certain
ly not knowingly comical. William
| .Ianrt- IIarriG.p t-ac I'm ,a.-nI n,J
overweighted in the month he was in
Office: Webster made Il joke of the seri-
BUSINESS with which he carried the old
Romans into his single message. Tyler
was cross. sour. always in trouble. in
his term of office. ok was another
Puritan, modified ny partiSanShip. Tay-
Tor WAS Il mater-of-fact old fighter.
striving with immaculate seriousness to
do his duty. Fillmore was thorough
ly practical in his tastes and tendencies.
Pierce WAS one of the most genial and
gentlemanly of our Presidents. bat he
has left no mark of humorous tendency.
Buchanan took himself with the cX-
INT possible seriousness on all his
way TO becoming an old public func-
tionary. Andrew Johnson had his head
turned by his intense eagcrncsS To have
his W way. and he could not rccog-
nize hUmOr when he saw it,. Grant *
thought to have had some grim sense
of humor. but there is no record of il.
Hayes WAS thoroughly respectable, and
humor was not in his program for this
purpose. Garfield WAS versatile. but n
taste for fun was q anon his ac-
complishments. Cleveland has always
taken his private and public affairs
with entire ~s0berncsS. Benjamin lIar-
riSon was our third Puritan President.
Polk over again. with Folks politics
reversed. but riyaling Polk in earnest
devotion to ~partiSluShip.
The SOhcrncSS of Our long line of
Presidents is singular. They seem TO
have taken their tone from Washing
ton. while in Office. and il was Il good
model. but it ~ remarkable that Il
succession of mon through loo years
should have had SO little tendency To
the humorous IT, their native compost
ton. Lincoln is unique among them al
in this quality.-Boston Herald.