The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-03-25


fight for the right of petition was one OF
the greatest parliamentary battles ever
Waged IN Washington. and the reputation
OF John Quincy Adams would have been
surpasslnSiy great had he never served IN
a higher position than representative from
Massachusetts,.
years In Congress. he was observed one day
IN his seat, overcome by illness. He lad
been smitten BY apoplexy and expired in
tensely active and useful public caree~
After two terms of unexampled excite
ment and party strife, Andrew Jackson re
tired from the presidency. broken in health
and weary with the conflict. He had been
Industrious in office. and had impressed. a
tory as few OF its chief executives have
done. The first official act OF his successor
army 10 attend Mr.. Jackson to his home in
Nashville: After a tiresome journey by
way OF Pittshurg, the Tennessee statssmhn
partially recovered health and strength.
From there he exerted considerable infiu-
country. He entertained with lavish hand.
and his Tennessee home became a shrine
for the lgri rim of JSeks9nIan DTfmm,3iII
his death. I'm lSs5. this picturesque and
unic',e specimen of American political life
continued to be the prophet and law-gfNer
of his country
ACTIVE n POLITICS.
Van Buren, was still in the Nigor CT man.
hood when the administrator came To an
end in 1s4l. With the exception of Wash-
ington. he was up to that time the wealth.
lest of the retiring Presil .nts. and the leis-
ure which was forced upol him gave ample
time for cultivating the art Of politics. he
was. perhaps, both before and after his
presidency, the most subtle and crafty po-
litical leader the Democratic party ever
had. Therefore. Immediately after with
drawing from public life he set resolItciy
to work to secure a renon .nati)n i'm 1914.
lie almost succeeded, and wouii lave done
SO but for the perfidy Lf parry fr.e::ES
whom he implicitly trusted. Though the
organization which had supported him was
split IN twain, he did not ,hen give up lie
game in politics. He accepted the nominal
the satisfaction of seeing the Democrats
hopelessly showed under in ne defeat OF
Ills failure to then become President
odmpened his ambition. for he realized that
he was getting too old To wal for another
ing duties II chosen. The failure of the
Free Soil movement ended Van Puren's
political career. and he spent the remaining
y6aIs or his life at Undertook IN The Hud-
son in an apparently happy and serene old
age. living until the country htd been
plunged into the thrones If civil war.
Ex-President Tyler went 10 Richmond
after his term of ONCE. and was known as
a progressive and public-spirited citizen.
taking great interest in local as well as
secession movement Mr.. Tyler sided with
the people OF Virginia and accepted Office
James K. Polk retired from the presidency
i'm shattered health. and repaired by slow
stages to his home. in Nashville. where he
died a few months later.
Willard Fillmore returned To his home in
Buffalo and engaged in political activity for
honor of a nomination to the presidency by
the American party i'm le56. bat was unsuc-
cessful at the polls. Political sentiment was
the slavery question. and there seemed to
be no longer room for theorists or figure
heads in national affairs.
w DISAPPOINTED MEN.
Franklin Pierce was much embittered by
the party strifes of his tumultuous admins
tration. Inundated by his failure to OBJ
tain the denomination of his party. he went
to Europe and sought forgetfulness in
recreation and travel. He finally returned
to his home i'm Concord. ". H.. and took up
the thankless role of a Southern sympa-
thtzer during the war. He lived to sec his
party disintegrated. slavery abolished and
nearly all the principles repudiated for
which he had struggled. He died, a wiser
if a sadder man, in April, lS9.
James Buchanan left the stormy scenes
in Washington i'm 1861. almost with a broken
heart. No other President has retired from
office so utterly repudiated and detested by
a great part of the people. Withdrawing to
his home in Pennsylvania. he lived i'm Sc
clusion. watching with keenest interest the
terrible drama enacted between the warning
sections Of his country. y few years before
his death. in 1865. Buchanan wrote a defense
of his administration which seemed TO re-
move in a measure the stigma which parti-
san hate had heapeG upon him. F.
Andrew Johnson also retired from the
presidential office under a cloud. BY ma
ture, however, he was not a morbidly Sensi-
tive man. and his life in Knoxville among
his friends was simple, unaffected and dig
mined, a few years later heina he ,h was sso eleete 60
the eX-Presidents to undertake the duties
Of that position.
GRANT IN RETIREMENT.
After eight years in the White House
General Grant took up a life of leisure. His
journey around the world was probably the
greatest ovation ever paid To any man in
ancient or modern times. Grant was es-
s~entially incident. Not that he did not labor
when occasion required. and often with AN
energy unknown TO other men. but he pre-
ferred leisure. and. as ex-President. he
gratiied that bent of his nature TO the full
est extent. 1t has always been a grief 10
his countrymen that the last years OF his
life were overshadowed by poverty brought
on by the treachery of trusted friends, for
otherwise his retirement from public affairs
would have been ideal in every respect.
naiI an hour after listening to GarneldS
inaugural address ex-President Hayes left
Washington and repaired 10 his home in
fremont, o. There he lived the quiet life
of a country gentleman, being content to
ciSdSt III dSIltuliIIdi pufSullS anu III the
study of charitable problems. He cOurted
seclusion and passed his days i'm that most
unostentatious retirement which perfectly
befitted his tastes.
General Arthur had ambitious dreams OF
business coTnbinat ons an the accumuiati)n
of wealth before leaving his public duties.
| But incura bic disease had already fastened
it's hand upon him. and he died a few
months later. comparatively a young man.
This brief review of the after careers OF
American Presidents suggests that their
retirement to private life Is the most nat
ural and withal the most rational arrange
ment. The majority have had ample means
for lives of comfort and repose. \ pension
for some would have been superiiuous. and
the retention of others IN the Senate or
in any public capacity would have been
| embarrassing and dangerous TO subsequent
administrations.