The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-16
'CLEARYY' S GROWTH
POLITICAL CAREER OF MANKATo
sCHGoLMAsTEaEs A LESSON TO
PRACTICAL POLITICIANS
FIRST VICTORY LAUGHED AT
Since Then The SeecndsDistrict Mem
bcr Has Rather Surprised the
Old Hands by His Methods
of Doing Things.
FROM THE GLOBE BUREAU,
washington. ID. a..

WASHINGTON, Dec. ia very unique
political career is that OF James Thomp-
son McCleary, Republican congressman
from Mankato, in the Second district of
Minnesota. He is the pedagogue in poll.
tics His is probably the only case On
record where "a man leaves the school
room for the halls of congress. Until
he was forty years old he did not know
practical politics from cotton bedticks
He never had run fer an office, and had
no more thought of running for congress
than he had of doing a foot race with
the Empire State Express. He had writ
ten about politics and civics, and was
as full Of theories about government
as a college graduate. He had written
a Manual of Civics9 and .E'Studies in
Civics,' but if anyone had suggested his
running a primary or fixing a slate he
would have done derisive grin. But
in 1892 Destiny picked him. up like a
straw in a WhiriWind and set him down
in Washington as d member of the lower
branch of congress. Destiny set him the
task Of working out a few of his theories,
and doing business with the officeseeker.
! 1t was up to him to make good, and con-
sidering the fact that he is now beginning
on his fifth consecutive congress, it must
be presumed that he has not fallen down.
Lind Fooled the Wise Ones
McCleary's boom was started as a joke.
be presumed that he has not fallen down.
Former Gov. John Lind had represented
the Second district, and it was supposed
up to the last minute that he would be
a candidate for denomination. But poit-
ical conditions were becoming unsettled,
and Lind decide it would be good time
to go on the waiting list and let someone
else be defeated. Unfortunately for the
old party workers and bosses, Lind did
not take them into his sconfidence, and
when he pulled out at8the last minute
and announced that he would not stand
as a candidate, they We're left all up
in the air." Several of the old boys
wanted it for themselves, but they could
not agree on who Was. best entitled to
it. While the talkcwas on a few Of
the old students of McCleary, who was
professor of history and civics at the
state normal schoolgfat4 Mankato, began
to talk jestingly about Mac" as a can
didate. The papers took it up, and the
joke spread
But it did not worry the old party
workers. They We're willing that the
normal alumni should .shave their joke;
they would take caFee of the convention.
But before the convention came to order
it was found that Mac had a lot OF
friends among the business men of the
district and when it was too late, the
bosses discovered that the McCleary boom
had passed the joking stage. His friends
came to the convention all ''a-whooping,"
and, being the only thing in the district
which was united, the McCleary move
ment swept everything 4cheerfully before
it. He was nominated and elected
The "FIuke'' Stuck.
OF course, there were lot of sore
politicians about, and they said it was
only "f1uke," and that he would be
but One-term man. Who and what
was he, they demanded. What had he
done for the party? So they went out
after his scalp. But wnen. the next con-
vention came around McCleary's friends
were out in earnest. They had learned
the value of organization and they set
to work to build up their own machine.
They won; and since then McCleary has
had things his own way. His subsequent
nominations have been by reclamation.
In the sound money campaign Hanna
found McCleary one Of his best cam
paigners. His old habits of study and
his familiarity with the subject enabled
him to get right at the heart of a subject,
which most of the practical politicians
could only skim. He did yeoman service
for the party.
If McCleary ever retires from politics
some university should secure him for
the chair of theoretical politics applied.
There are few who have had lis training.