The Washington herald., 1908-02-09

Adams was willing to eoncede.
Andrew Jackson. who was not consid-
cred as of importance. turned out to be
the most formidable candidate of all
With the overthrow OF Federalism,
Democracy was gaining among the peo-
pie. Jackson was the sort of man the
great mass of people liked. He did
things, while the other men were looked
upon as theorists The hero of New
Orleans was not man OF education or
culture, bat he POSSESSED a keen knowl-
edge of the people and had many quail
hcations-far more than his rivals would
admit-for the Presidency
The fourth candidate was William II.
Crawford, of Georgia, who had been Sac
retary of the Treasury. Though not
highly educated he knew the art Of pol
ities and was personally popular. he re-
lied on his personal popularity to carry
him through, but when the ballot was
taken he was third on the list. There
being no choice the election was thrown
into the House and only the three highest
candidates We're eligible. Clay threw
his votes to Adams, and the latter was
elected
Jackson. who led the list in 1924. was
easily elected in 1S2S Henry Clay ran
against him a second time IN 1892. but
the people had no hesitancy in deciding
between a man who had positive views
and did things and a political trimmer
t Because the wives of Cabinet ministers
would not recognize socially the wife of
/ Secretary Eaton. who had been Peggy
O'Neil, and with whom the tongue OF
J scandal had been busy and because
! Jackson could not force them 70 do So
| the Cabinet was reorganized. In this
| contest Van Buren,, his Secretary Of
State, had stood by the President and
Mrs, Eaton AS a reward he was sent 20
Great Britain as our Minister Out of
spite, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun had
this nomination rejected and in retalia-
ton Jackson had him nominated Vice
President Then when he was ready 20
step down he secured the election OF Van
Buren to succeed himself and his triumph
was complete.
Against Van Buren, the Wings had no
single candidate ana again there was q
free field for all. Webster William Henry
Harrison, Willie F. Mangum. and Hugh
l. White, Of Tennessee, all ran in the
Whig interest All were able men, but
Van Buren easily won.
In 1870 the Democracy again nominated
Van Buren, and this time the Wings got
together. Al national convention held
in Harrisburg, Pa. delegates met from
all over the country. Clay was again
the favOTite and had majority OF the
delegates. but the convention adopted the
unit rule requiring each State 10 cast its
vote as a whole This defeated Clay. and
il WAS a terrible blow TO him. for he
knew that this time he could have been
elected. There were many persons, how
ever, who liked him personally. but de-
Cidedly disagreed with his vacillating
policy. One of Clay's particular friends
In the convention was John Tyler. Of
Virginia. When Harrison was nominated
Tyler burst into tears. This greatly af-
fected the convention. and when il came
to nominating "A Vice President Tyler
was given this as a sort of consolation
prize for Clay. Harrison was elected. but
died after one month of service and Tyler
came to the Presidency.
From the year 1870 dates a new era in
national Organization. The natianal con-
vention was now a fixed institution with
all parties. The Whig party adopted the
majority rule. and that has been the case
with most political parties. but the Dem
ocratic party has adhered to the rule that
nominees must have a two-thirds vote.
and this has made wonderful influence
on our history. As result, the nominees
have almost always been compromise
men.
In 1S4 the Democratic party was in bad
shape in some respects, but had an is
sue-the annexation Of TeXas-that prom
ised we'll for success. The leading can
didates for the nomination were Van
Buren and Cass. Van Buren led on sew
eral ballots. but when it was seen that
he could not get the necessary twO-thirds,
his votes began to go to Cass. The op-
ponents of the latter succeeded in fore
ing an adjournment, and fixed up a deal
over night by which the nomination went
to James X. Polk, the first dark horse
candidate in Presidential politics.
Clay was nominated by the Wings. He
might have won but for the appearance
Of third candidate. This was James G.
Birney. who had run as the candidate Of
the Liberty party in 1870 and had re-
ceiyed 7059 votes, Now the anti-slavery
interest had grown. aud he received e.
90, of which l5,000 came from New York
State. and were drawn almost exclusively
from the Whig party. BY this Whig
loss Polk carried the State by 800 plu-
rality and was elected.
In the campaign of 1915 Cass. who had
finally won the nomination from the
Democracy. was pitted against Taylor,
the successful general who was absolutely
without experience in public affairs hay
ing spent all his mature years in the
army. He was nominated by the Wings
over Clay purely on his military record.
and they did not even give him a plat
form TO stand on. Taylor was elected
His death brought Fillmore to the White
House, who was a genuine Whig, but
/ belonged to the Clay wing, which favored
the compromises Of 1880.
In 1870 there was another bitter struggle
for the Presidency. Gen. Scott now
came forth as the leader OF the
Wings. There was big contest
for the Democratic nomination. Cass
Buchanan, Marcy. and Douglas were all
aspirants, but again the two-thirds rule
was an obstacle. Cass had a majority
Of the delegates. but another dark horse
was nominated IN the person or FRANKLIN
Pierce, OF New Hampshire. He won
easily, although there was a free soil di-
version under Hale, which captured many
Democratic votes, and many Wings also.
Scott received more votes than Taylor
had done four years before. but he made
a poor showing of electoral votes.
In 1856 the Democrats nominated Buch-
anan. The majority of the Republicans
wanted Seward, who was the most con-
not available" because as governor OF