Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26

Written for The Evening Star
Hell never amount to anything, for he
Il big mans son. He might, If he had half
d chance. but he is overshadowed complete
ly by his fathers reputation. Besides, as
the son of his father. his head has been
turned probably and he'll never try to cut
much of figure
Remarks like this, often heard when the
son uf an eminent man Is under discussion.
Indicate accurately the public attitude to-
ward the youngster whose father has maze
q name and a place in the world for him
self This Is especially true If the father is
President of the United States. But the
facts do not Justify the attitude.
Strictly speaking. only twenty-one Presi-
dents sons, concerning whom there are
available records. have grown to manhood.
Six observation-disclosures Madison, Jack
son. Polk. Buchanan Ga bachelor) and Nc
Kinley-left no children. Two-Jene son
and Alonroe-left daughters only. President
johnson had two sons. bu, both dleu peiOt
he wa President. and so do not count Inc
sons of thirteen PreSidentS-John Adams,
John Quincy Adams, Van Buren,, William
Henry Harrison, Tyler, Taylor. fllimore,
Lincoln, Grant. Hayes. GARFIELD, arthur ana
BENJAMIN Harrison-have lived 10 man :
estate. The sons of Cleveland and Roose-
Welt are still boys.
OF the twenty-one Presidents sons who
have reached manhood nine have buikeo
large in the public eye on their own ac,
count and all but one or TWO nave stoou
well among those who knew them pest
have been solid substantial citizens Inc
prominent nine are John Quincy ADAMS,
Pres dent. diplomatist and representatl. !;
Charles Francis Adams, puphcist a,iu
statesman; Robert Tyler, register OF the
confederate treasury; Richard Taylor VINO
served with distinguished gallantry on tle
confederate side of the c-Vll war JONI, al.
Rirreu prominent in state politics ana !ust
entering national polite wnen ne oieu
Robert Todd Lincoln, cabinet minister, up
Iornatist and president of a world-fanouS
CORPORATION; Frederick Dent Grant, ulpio-
matist and general in the army iehi9 ~ =.
Garfield. lawyer. banker ana p,oIe-sol % %
notifies in a great univers ", ana James ~;
t.artisld state senator, United states clNli
service commissioner and commssioilel VI
cornorations in the Department Oh Noi
merce and Labor ,,ha so
Resides the nine who have CLIMBED SO
,,iyb tbere is John Scott Harrison, "h" hau
Tho uuioue distinction of being the SON vi
one President and the iather Oh alio.i' %!
He was a man of force and with great Iii
fiuence i'm his own state, though he was hot
y nrouinept figure in national sense.
COMMITTING him in, and ne surely naue
good ten. or only one less than hair the
Presidents sons who have reached man
hood. are entitled to be named on the ron OF
honor.
The Greatest Presidents Son.
I-nouesttonably, John Quincy Adams was
the greatest Presidents son. Even Wheh
hoy ha was the closest friend and compah-
ION of his eminent father, with whom ne
went TO France at the age or eleven. A
thirteen he taught English to DE La Lu
zerne. French ambassador. Soon arter'
ward he went to Holland with his tather
Vfs,I ny
he displayed of Batarian antiquities. Al
fifteen he was secretary to his father IN
Russia. He was graduated from hdr'al :, =
at twenty-one, studied law and pracucea II
awhile but soon entered public life. he
served as minister to Portugal, and after
ward to Prussia. Recalled because OF po'
ltical changes, he entered the state legls-
lature and later the House OF Representa-
tives He was inaugurated President In
1S25. and is the only President who ever
sat In Congress after the close OF his term
as chief magistrate. His whole life was
one Of great usefulness to his country, yet
as he tried to lay out middle course be-
tween the conservatism of the old regime
and the radicalism of the new he was at
times condemned impartially by almost
everybody. Possibly his greatest services
were rendered in the negotiation OF treaties
in the ten years from 1879 to 1919. when the
United States was new and stood in need OF
O great treaty-maker.
Charles Francis Adams, the son of John
Quincy, a lawyer by profession, was mem
her of the Massachusetts legislature and
the national Congress. minister to England
member of the Geneva tribunal in lSI1-I2
and ran for President on the free soil ticket
in 1913. His son, Charles Francis, was a
soldieY. In the civil war, coming out a briga-
dier general and later was president of the
Union Pacific railroad.
Van Buren, and Harrison.
There are some who would object to the
a.
list Of Presidents sons who have made good
and it is not so many years since his career
was the subject of frequent newspaper dis
cussion. 1t Is true that he was bon vivan
and something OF a man about town. Also
he was somewhat swept Off his feet by the
edulayion he received as his fathers son
long being known derisively as Prince
John but later he entered upon seriou:
political career. and. being highly effective
speaker. soon made himself a power In New
York Had he not been suddenly cut of
while at sea he would surely have made
himself felt in national affairs.
John Scott Harrison served two terms II
Congress, but the one circumstance tina
made his pane best known to the countr,
at large occurred after his death. Soon af
ter his burial his son. Benjamin Harrison
later TO be President of the United States
went to Cincinnati to search the premise
OF "a medical college there for the body o
O neighbor that had been stolen from
cemetery at North Bend. AT Mr.. Harrison
demand the janitor showed the cadaver
awaiting dissection The first one raise,
from the well was the corpse of his father
John Scott Harrison, his naked body an
snow-white hair bedabbled with blood.
These Two Were Confederates.
The name of Robert Tyler is not well re
membered now, but he was a man of mark
ed ability In many ways. He wrote yer.
well. but preferred the law to literature, ant
after his admission to the bar settled II
Philadelphia. where he established a fin
practice in the days when to be "Philadel
phia lawyer" meant a great deal Whel
the civil war broke out he went south be
came register of the treasury at Richmont
and went down with the confederacy H
lived till 1877, but was never able to recoye
his place In the world. His brother Ma
John Tyler. had a yariegated career as sol
der. politician and writer. but he was no
such "A public figure as Robert.
Richard Taylor, Dick. as he was known
the country over during and long after hi
fathers presidential service, was tru
chip Of the old block. He was born Il
New Orleans. educated in Scotland an,
France, and passed through the Mexican
war with his father. who was then idolize,
as daring general officer. AT Palo Alt,
and Resaca the youngster attained to some
thing like fame because of his own dash
Ing gallantry. After winning considerably
prominence In civil life, he went into tn
confederate service at the breaking out o