Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-24
Interesting "reminiscences Of
National Contests
Recalled. ,A,ojt
Some Men Who HIVE Been President
and Some Who Did Not Get There
Executives rs Orators--Mc-
kinley and Reed.

| EtINtS IoI INC itepuDllCdn pTeSlhenllul
nomination. It becomes highly Interesting
to mentally speculate regarding the quail
locations that chiefly contribute to the
attainment of complete success in such
/ % laudablc Notwithstanding election,
says Julius Chambers in the Brooklyn
Eagle, who continues:
Forensic ability has secured nomina-
lions from hodC divided conventions; but
never has a man famous as an orator at
tainod the White Housed
Not going back any further than our
own memories Will serve, most of rs can
recall Stephen a. Douglas. He was
much more finished orator than Lincoln.
He had seen Webster and Clay. who had
staked their ambitions to he at the head
of this country. II Edward EveIitt had
tried to be president, nobody knew the
fact But the plain "rail-splittcr of his
own state swept Douglas out OF public
life A. h. Mcclure says that Lincoln
was nominated by a convention in which
two-thrds of the delegates We're for
Seward" In the second contest with LIN
coin, Mcclellan wasn't an orator.
In tn" struggle between Grant and Sey-
mour, the oratoty Of the Democratic can
didate was a mild character, but he
had a fine presence on the rostrum and
talked with readiness and ease.
Horace Greeley would have been fine
orator had ne possessed a voice; but the
high falsetto key in which he always
spoke nj first amused and then annoyed
MS hearers. The silent enan Of Appomat-
tox was elected
Tilden was fine talker before court
Of Judges sitting in banc, despite his in
significant figure. Whether or not lie
thought himself an orator would be HARD
to guess. But the countryman from Ohio.
named Hayes. got the Waite House job.
Hayes had been a capable soldier. He
never had been trapped, although ne had
been up against several Of the clever
est tacticians Of the Confederacy. He was
rarely listened 10 with attention when IN
the House OF Representatives. Ben. But
tier THE holy terror" dominated that
legislative body most of the time Hayes
vas there, and was wont to sit upon"
Garfield and Hayes whenever he pleased.
Blaine had been suggested At Cincinnati
by Ingersoll but was defeated
, Garfield thought himself an orator but
, he wasn't one in any sens eof the word
f He could talk, as could benjamin Harrl-
son. but at that time there was half a
, dozen clever men on the floor of Con-
gress. Hancock was a soldier and never
made a speech during the campaign. The
New York Sun disposed Of him by an
nouncing his weight as go pounds.
The Cleveland Blaine contest OF 1891
brought to the front the most magnetic
orator in public life this generation has
known. Webster may have been more
ponderous Clay may have been moro log
ical and scholarly; hut Blaine had a voice
that wasr delight 70 the ear. He was
keen at fence. quick to divine a thrust
and 10 anticipate 1t; popular in the same
character. And yet he was defeated on
the very ground where he ought % have
been invulnerable. \ lot OF fussy par
I sons secured an appointment for an au-
I dience; their spokesman intertected into
his few remarks" a passing reference
to Rum. komansm and Rebellion" which
Blaine didn't hear. A World reporter
was the only scribe who caught the words
and printed them. That the language was
used never was denied: but Blaine was
caught mapping and failed to denounce
; the speakers attack upon faith To
which his own family belonged He could
70 and would have rebuked Burchard in a
I way that would have made capital for
2 the candidate had he been up to his usual
t mental a!ertness: but hts splendid ora
e tory during that campaign didn't save
t. Blaine. Cleveland. who couldn't he de-
+ scribe as an orator by his widest ad-
mrer. was chosen President by a narrow
n popular plurality OF 22,00J. The electoral
, College stood 30 10 49, But the orator
I was bowled out, which is what I set out
, to show
n BENJAMIN Harrison probably was tbs
n nearest approach to an orator OF any
- man who has gone TO the White Hous,
. in our day. He was not regarded as
brilliant talker in the Senate. for he wa.
overshadowed by the traditions of tn,
place. Couklin had left the chamber
j years before yet, he was remembered
f So was ingalls,. But Harrison, while il
i the Senate never attempted an oratOrica
n flight; he did not raise his voice" OF
e speak with the impassioned fervor. III
I always was cold, calm, calculating as {
= ratchet wheel. He was the same wheI
President and after he retired to privat,
life. Ingersoll understood him and told
Harrison the steely truth about himself
Is Thurman who was on the ticket viii
= Cleveland had record for oratory of tn,
3 old school. but he went down to defeat
II Candidates were reversed in 1892. wher
\ Cleveland was chosen over Harrison. re
II nominated, but oratory. such as It was
I got a black eve that time.
: William Mckinley wasn't an orator II
any Of the senses that IngerSon, Blaine
or COnklin was. He prepared his speeches
with elaborate care and when addressing
= the House always chung to his notes. II
: my press gallery experience between 1871
q and 1895, | probably heard Mckinley speal
y at length a dozen or more times. ! heard
: his speech OF acceptance at Canton. HI
u always impressed listener with hi
earnestness and that Is the best that car
be said for his oratory.
, But, opposed to him. was born orator
- This country hasn't known, in our gener
alton, anything exactly like Bryan's won
- derful mastery Of the human voice. In
gorsoll had spurts Of eloquence; Balm
= had much of the sympathetic quality o
- voice. hut neither man can stand com
. parlson with Bryan as an orator I lis
= tened to- the Grown of Thorns' speed
IT at Chcago--a memorable outburst from
a dull Sky that drove nearly every dele
gate In the Convention Hall to him as
shower In an open field sends crow
- scurrying to the nearest shed for shelter
= And yet, during a trip made with Brya
-, in hts car, | heard many finer specm linen
- of true and emotional oratory than wa
that great and compelling rampage a
, Chicago Although republican Ia priz
IL as one of my choicest possessions
~ stpnOcrap hic cony OF a te,, rninutea spepc