The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-17
ACCIDENTAL" PRESIDENTS:
 CAUSES OF THEIR DEFEATS
From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald.
 NAIYE Vice Presidents of the United " States have succeeded to the Presidency by the death of the Chief Executive. They were John Tyler Of Virginia, who succeeded William Henry Harrison; Willard Fillmore of New York, who succeeded Zachary Taylor; Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lin coln; Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded James A. Garfield, and Theodore Roose- velt who succeeded William Mckinley.
 Four of these strove to dominate their party and faildA. The fifth is now before the public. Of the four who preceded him all were ambitious to be elected President, but only two succeeded in getting their names placed before the national conven- tion, and they only to be defeated. Tyler. Fillmore and Johnson betrayed and di- vided their party. With the exception of Johnson, all succeeded in turning the gov ernment over to the opposition
 Thus 1t is an historic truth that an "ac- cidental President has never been elected President of the United States. It will be interesting to consider the reasons why.
 John Tyler of Virginia had been a rep resentative in congress, twice governor of Virginia, a member of the United States senate and president pro tempore of that body. He was whig of the extreme Cal houn school. He had opposed Henry Clay on the tariff but had voted for the com promise of 1883. He had been opposed to the establishment of the United States bark and had voted for a resolution of censure on President Jackson for remov- ing the deposits on constitutional grounds
 He had run for Vice President on the whig ticket in 1886 and been defeated re- ceiving forty-seven votes. To reconcile all elements the whigs named him for vice president in 1S4O on the "Tippecanpe and Tyler, too" ticket and he succeeded to the Presidency on the death of Pres dent Harrison in lS41
 Tyler began almost at once to oppose the whigs and started his administration on democratic lines. Nominally he was the whig leader. Henry Clay, quick to seize an opportunity, forced a quarrel on the President. Tyler accepted the gage of battle. The whigs controlled congress but the majority was not large enough to pass bills over the Presidents s veto.
 When the congressional elections came in 1s42 the effect of the division of the party was shown in the ballots. The democrats won control of the house of representatives. But Tylers political star had set. The whigs nominated Henry Clay for President by exclamation, at Baltimore. The democrats did not think of Tyler in connection with the nomina- tion, and chose James K. Polk, who swept the country.
 Willard Fillmore was elected vice pres- ident in 1S4s. when General Zachary Fay Tor. returning from the Mexican war. where he felt he had been treated shab- billy by the democratic party. was enabled by the whigs to appeal to the country.
 Fillmore succeeded to the Presidency with successful career behind him, hav- ing been a representative in congress, controller of the state of New York and the candidate of his party for the gover- norshp.
 As President the wreck of his career came with the signing of the fugitive slave law and the taking of steps to en- force it. While no one questioned the sincerity of his motives, the temporizing with slavery infamed the country. His authority was defed by mobs. and the feeling ran so high that he was regarded as a failure long before the end of his term.
 President Fillmore was a man of great force, much moral courage and breadth of view, but, despite his despatch of an armed force to protect New Mexico In the settlement of the Texas boundary, his checking of the Lopez filibustering expe- dition to Cuba, his sending of Perry to Japan Ringgold to the China seas, Lynch to Africa and Howden and Gibbon to ex-