The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-11-13

IA 80
Of Man Most Likely to Win.
From The Worlds Work for November. Pub
fished in The Progressive Farmer by special
permissiOn.l
Accidents, circumstances beyond
human control, and unlooked-for
events have done more to seat most
of our Presidents and to bar ADLER
a~spirants than all c~alculable infu-
ences and qualities. Hardly n OF
the great leaders who had already
left his impress on our legislation
and our public policy has been elected
since the earlier days of the Consti-
tuion. With the exception of Jack
son, w. 81. Harrison, and Grant,
none of the generally popular men
has succeeded, and of these Harri-
sons was the popularity of an idea,
and Grants of a military hero. In
fact, the history of nominating con-
ventions and of elections shows that
a man who has won only a moderate
degree of fame and then waited for
some happy turn of fortune has had
by far the best chance of success.
To go back as far as the first cleo
ton of Jefferson-Burr and Jefer-
son received an equal number of
electoral votes. Then, of course, the
man who received the largest num-
Der of electoral votes became Presi-
dent, and. the man who received the
next largest number, Vice President.
There was no choice in the Electoral
College, and the election was thrown
into the House of Representatives,
where doubtless Jefferson would
have failed of the first place had not
an unexpected influence been brought
to bear upon the contest. Hamilton,
leader of the Federalists, and the
last man from whom Jefferson could
hope for help, preferred Jefferson as
the less of two evils. HamiltOn's
purpose was not accomplished by
directly securing Federalist votes
for Jefferson, but the Federalist rep
resentatives from Vermont and the
two from Maryland voted blank bal
lots, so that in the final ballot it ap-
peared that ten States, a majority of
those voting, had given Jefferson
their ballots. There is no stranger,
more dramatic episodein our political
history than that Jefferson, the
founder of the Republican party, as
the Democratic party was then called,
owed it to Hamilton, who was the
perSonifcation of all that he opposed
in political theory, that he succeeded
John Adams n'the Presidency.
CLAY's FIRST FAILURE.
Madison and Monroe were, in sue
cesBion, the predetermined heirs to
Jeferson's political estate but John
Quincy Adams, who followed Mon
roe, was in some respects an acct
dental President. There were four
candidates for the Office in 1924
Adams. Jackson, Crawford, and
Clay. jackson had a majority of
the popular vote but there being no
choice in the Electoral College the
election again went to the House,
which, under the Constitution, was
to select one from the three candi-
dates who had received the three
largest votes. These were Adams,
Jackson, and Crawford. Adams was
the final choice Of the House, but he
A~+o5 ~, 1101A1o. 70 ~ho4 eoon0n6 at
the moment a comparatively trifing
matter. The State legislatures at
that time selected the presidential
electors for the States. By what
Clay's friends termed outright po-
itical dishonesty, the legislature of
Louisiana seized or made an oppor-
tunity during the absence of Clay's
supporters from that body to vote
for the presidential electors. These
electors voted in the College, three
for jackson and two for Adams,
whereas, had the election taken
place when Clay's friends were pres
ent, the five electors would all have
voted for Clay. and their votes in
the Electoral College would have
made Clay's electoral vote greater
than Crawford's. He, then, instead
of Crawford, would have been a can
didate before the House and in that
event it is quite certain that Clay
would have been elected President
by the House, of which he was at
that time easily the most popular
member. Thus robbed of uccess
the friends of Clay in the House, act