The Yale expositor., 1900-05-25
HEROES in POLITICS
SHERMAN THE ONLY WARRIOR
TO RESIST.
Taylor Also Preferred Private Life to
the white House, But Yielded -
Some Conspicuous Successes azd Fall
ures.

the popular heroes OF this country, one
who would not accept the nomination
for the presidency, was Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman. Repeatedly he
was urged to be a candidate and ear
nestly besought Ito save our party" by
becoming a standard bearer; but no
arguments that were presented, no in
ducements that could be made, infiu-
enced his decision. His reply to all
such proposals was that he was not a
politician; that he could not become
one; did not want the place, and, final
ly, when his patience was exhausted
with the opportunities of those who
assured him that he would be elected
il he would run, he roared out his last
emphatic, mo, let me hear no more of
| 1t. l will not accept the Office"
Every other American over whose
head has been suspended this tempta-
ton has succumbed and welcomed the
opportunity to be the recipient Of this
! greatest of civic honors. If there be an
exception Gen. Taylor would represent,
in a measure, that exception. He OBJ
jected and then protested that he did
not want the office, but finally permit
ted himself to become a candidate and
was elected to fill the Office. His can
didacy was not furthered by himself in
any way. When urged by a delegation
of visiting statesmen to visit the north
for electioneering purposes his reply
was:
Il would not go across yon ferry to
influence the public choice or to secure
my election. have never aspired to
the presidency; if the people elect me
Of their own free choice my humble
services are at their disposal. If
they elect some other candidate shall
not be in the slightest degree morti-
fed"
Taylor deplored the necessity that
compelled him to resign his commits
sion in the army, and his election did
not compensate him for the severance
of ties that bound him to his comrades
in arms. and the life he loved. Mrs.
Taylor had shared with her husband
his frontiev life, and had for a quarter
of century practically lived in tent,
his happy comrade and caretaker. She
used all her influence to prevent a con-
sideration of the proposition made to
her husband, and when he had reached
the conclusion that he should accept
the call of his countrymen, she sadly
pointed out to him that his acquired
habits as an army officer would not
permit him to live under the restraints
| G.
eddy expressed the fear that if elected
his life would be shortened by reason
of the new responsibilities put upon
him. When Taylor's untimely death
occurred year and four months after
his election, there were sincere mourn
ers among those who had known of
Mrs. Tayors opposition ito the plot"
as she had termed it, to take her hus-
band from the army and nominate him
for the place which had, in a sense,
cost him his life.
Jackson was the first military man
after Washington's time, who became
president by reason of his services in
the field. He was volunteer soldier.
whose great success in arms had made
him hero in the west and southwest,
and whose nomination was due to this
fact. II was political issue that per-
suaded him to go into politics.
Gen. William Henry Harrison was
the next military hero who reached the
presidency by way of the battlefield
His unfitness for the Office was such
that one month of worry and respon-
sibility in 1t killed him.
Gen. Grants military reputation car
ried him into the white house, and no
more eloquent judgment has been
passed upon his fitness for the place OF
chief magistrate, or his success in per-
forming it's duties, than the place as
signed him in history There he is
ranked as one Of the greatest generals
of modern times, and the statement
made regarding his presidency is
usually the simple announcement that
he was twice elected to fill the office
His fame rests on his achievements as
a soldier. No distinctly military man
can hope to add laurels to his crown
by becoming president of the United
States. The truth that they do not is
attested by the history OF every soldier
who has held the position.
Military men who have been candi-
dates, and been defeated as such, have
injured their military prestige without
gaining anything in the popular esti-
nation. Among these defeated presi-
Dental candidates have been Gen. Win
field Scott, Gen. George B. McClel-
Ian, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock. All
these men bitterly regretted having
run for the Office, an Office for which
not one of them had the training OF
the temperament to fll with distinc-
ton.
The naval branch of the national
military service was not represented In
the list of presidential candidates IN
tn Admiral Dewey offered himself a.
such.