The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-16
PRES'T BY ACCIDENT
q 80 s. ~ - To- F17E.E n -
A Study Of the Six Men Who Have
Succeeded to the Presi-
: dency Thus.
How Theodore Roosevelt Seems
Likely to Set At Naught
ss5s83slss $3.50 . sy;sss3
the Precedents.
From The Journal Bureau. .Room IL. Post Build.

L ing, Warrington. 90 iIs II 80 35FTs Iss i
washington, July 16-Theodore Roose-
velt is the sixth American vice president
VINO has succeeded to She presidency.
Five Of the number, lie among them, came
into this high office thru the untimelyI
death OF men regularly elected. The
sixth, Martin Van sRslren, served four
years as vice president and was then
nominated nc to the presidency and elected,
the only case Of the kinds in history An
drew Johnson's troubles with his party
and with congress rendered him unayail-
able as candidate Tor the nomination in |
1868. but ohm Tyler Millward Fillmore
and Chester A. Arthur wanted to sue
ceed themselves for a full term Of four
years and bent all their energies, without
avail. to- that end. III, Should Roosevelt be
nominated and elected next year, which
there is now no reason to doubt his will |
also be the only case Of Its kind in
American history. SsgsdEtS ssst.
Van Buren, was one Of the most skill !
ful politicians Of his day. and learned |
politics In New YORK, then relatively t
more important factor In the life of the |
nation than to-day Y After serving as |
state senator and attorney general he |
came to the United States senate, after
which he was governor; and then sec
rotary of state under jackson. In 1892
he was elected vice president on the dem
.ocrat1e ticket, serving for the full term
OF four years, and In 1886 was elected
president by that parfN He was renonn-
mated in 1910 and I'm 1874, but was de-
feated at the polls both times On no
other occasion has vice president been,
his party's nominee for first place 81
Tyler was elected vice president by the
wings in 1910, with William Henry Har- !
r1son, whom he succeeded on the Iatter's
death IN April 1871. The leading events
| Of his administration were a bitter quar-
rel with the whig leaders, the veto Of
the HscaI bank bills, notwithstanding the
resignation Of nearly all of his cabinet. |
and the veto Of the protective bill. His
4 policy forfeited the confidence of his
party, which therefore could NOT consider
| him as. candidate for the presidential
nomination in 1874. Tyler meditated re-
venge and accepted the presidential nom
i nation Of the democrats, but soon with
1 drew from the contest, a disappointed
/ man. @ 49,
1 Fillmore was elected a whig vice presi
4 dent in 1S4S, with Zachary Taylor, sue
ceed1ng to the presidency when TAYLOR
4 died, In 1850. He voluntarily retired at
/ the end of his term, altho greatly desir-
i Ing to be his own successors One thing
4 that contributed to his downfall as all
1 pol1t1cal leader was the fact that both
houses or congress were controlled by the.
opposition party during the two years he
was president, and he was, therefore, I'M
able In the short time allotted him to
make a record. His disappointment led
him to run for theF presidency on the
4 National American ticket In 1855, against
4 Buchanan. IS - 10 ia
It is hardly necessary to discuss Andrew
Il Johnson. Probably President Iincolr
never made greater political mistake
than when he opposed the denomination
OF Hannibal Hamlth for the vice presi
4 dency In 1864, and favored the nomina. i
ton Of Johnson = time, however,
this seemed the course. johnson
was a war r demearat ia az military gov-
made a good record. Lincoln thought
It would be good idea to put him on the
| ticket in 1864 as the candidate for vice
president. The nomination was expected
to win the favor of the war democrats,
and no doubt it did secure many Of theirsI
votes Tor the republican electors. But
| IN the. end 1T proved a, stupendous blum
der, for Johnson's state rights convic-
| lions placed him as president hopelessly
| at variance with his party on the ques-
| ton Of reconstruction and almost led to
his impeachment. His nomination for
the presidency in 1868 by any party was
out Of the question: III
i General Arthur served almost four wears
as president, succeeding Garfield He
was greatly desired to be@tfe nominee of
| his party in: 1884, and went to.atheAC Chi
cago convention with IA strong follow
ing, but Blaine defeated him: AT bottom
Arthur's weakness 3laytsin his inability to
| grasp the big affairs of the presidency
with firm hand. :. Not having been
brought UP in public lifesand being rtain-
| fully unfamiliar with the problems which
beset the statesmen OF his tine,s he did
not acquit himself in office in a way to
command the full confidence and respect
Of the public. He made no serious blum
ders, but at the sameTtime he did moth
Ing to stamp himself as man Of affairs
1 He. excelled as a society leader and has
been called ''the finest gentleman who
ever was PRESIDENT; but beyond that he
had no striking characteristics. s. 4
! When the movement to nominate Roses
welt for the vice presidency was put under
way in Philadelphia in 1900. he .remon-
strated, for he knew that the nnoyern emit
was not friendly, but came from those
i who wanted to blight his public career
II it could have been known that Presi-
dent Mckinley would not serve out a
4 second term, Senator Fairbanks would
! have been nominated for second place.
for the Roosevelt boom did not become
really serious until after. Fairbanks had
i declined to permit the; use of his name
i Then Roosevelt's enemies set up the plot
which carried the convention off it's feet,
land against his, earnest protest made him
4 McKinley's running mate.
i It was believed by Roosevelt, and BY
part In The Philadelphia convention, that
4 the vice presidency led into a blind alley.
land the history Of sixty years, or since
i ,Tyler's time, seemed to confirm it. ( The
4 prevailing opinion was that Roosevelt
after a4 serving as vice. president, would
find himself heavily handicapped if he
were to aspire to the presidency.
II 1t is Rooseve1t's strong personality that
4 is to break this old rule In the past. can
4 didates for vice president have been nom
i mated because they lige9 in certain states.
\ or because they were lin position to con-
i tribute literally to campaign funds Both
Il of these reasons, for instance. led to the
& nomination of Hobart In 1896. Mckinley
4 being from the middle west, it was de-
81 sirable to take candidate for second
X place from the east, and Hobart was se-
4 lected because Of his wealth and of his
u Liability to influence other wealthy men. In
4 1900 ROosevelt's nomination was made the
Ieasier because of the geographical argu-
q Iment, he, too, being from-the east. Sim
4 ilarly, next year, Roosevelt being from
the east the second place on the ticket
will be filed by some man from the mid
die west.
The policy Of choosing vice presidents
because of their location or wealth nearly
!, always meant that the question Of fit
ness and ability was overlooked; and 50
it happened that when these vice presi-
dents succeeded to the presidency, as they
ometines did. they were not strong
a enough men to command the entire con-
a fidence of the country Their admins
4 trations were either colorless, like Fill