The Washington herald., 1908-08-31


tennessee. held a mass meeting at Mary
-iIIe early in the year 1S23 they little
.bourht that their action was TO revo-
11tionize The methods OF choosing Presi-
lent Of the United States that they were
10 be responsible for the beginning Of 1
,oIitical party organizations in this coun-
". or that they were TO take the drst
step In the movement which succeeded
2 obtaining recognition Of the fact that
tnv man has right TO aspire 20 the
Bfce OF President. whether trained or \
y unframed in statecraft- These vitality 4
important things which directly resulted I
rom the Blount County mass meeting I
became issues in the campaign Of lS2i I
and caused that contest 10 be the first
N which the American nation selected
President. according 70 the general
methods still obtaining
This BIourt County mass meeting
started al the trouble Il refused 70
be bound by the then recognized rules
hat President must be selected from
among those schooled in statecraft and
experienced in administration Every
President up 20 that time had been
man directly connected with the separa-
zion from England and the formation Of
Ire TeDaL-L- AL-l-e- ---t N"'--1---a-~--
Each President had been either Vice Presi-
dent OF a Cabinet officer IN the admin
Isrrarfon preceding his selection The
people had practically nothing TO say
In the matter OF choosing electors. and
such thing as popular Interest in
Presidential campaign was unknown
Furthermore. with the exception Of the
four years of John Adams adminlstra-
rHHrI emf rrn p
been a Vi-Elniau and a representative
o. an exclusive clique which set much
store by book culture. however demo
cratic they may have been In their the
ores of government
The idea OF the succession 70 the Presi-
dencv was firmly fixed in the minds Of
the politicians Il happened that four
candidates appeared on the horizon They
were John Quincy Adams. OF Massachu-
sets. Secretary Of state, William Il.
Crawford. Of Georgia. Secretary Of the
Treasury John C. Calhoun Of South
Carolina. Secretary Of War. and Henry
Clay. Of Kentucky, Speaker Of the House
OF Representatives- So it appeared that
The country was safe. whatever the out.
come. for every one Of the aspirants was
& trained statesman Of prominence in tbs
administration
Then this BIouut County mass rneetirs
appeared on the scene Il pow-wowsJ
awhile one FIRST Monday and thel
adopted resolution formally NOMINATING
for President of the United States An
drew jackson. Of Tennessee. Thus org
mated what would be known iu twen
1isth century political nomenclature a
.-ra Tennessee Idea Andrew Jackso
had been a great soldier Everybody rec
uruized that fact and everybody praise
him for the strategy Of the Horsesh0
and the military genius OF the Battle q
%-x Orleans. But DEE had little or r
experience fr sta-ecraft- uotwitIstauC
ing a short service -u both houses {
Congress. The conservatives all over -h
country held up their hands in 6t q
holy horror and cried ogt- This man
not ri 20 be President He is uldiE0ifie'
Re can't speak French He doesn't Euo
The classics He wouldn't know how
act at a dinne- party lie IS unspe1.
able"
For a time the three members Of y OF
-1e-s Cabinet and the Speaker Of q
House. who were running for Presider
: declined o. uay much attention % q
Jackson candidacy which was regard
as a joke At this time. II must be 2
wembe-ed- there was only one part
The old Federal party organization h
- disappeared and Monroe had receiV
every vote but one in the electoral Cd
Iege Of 1S90 The Democratic party E
everything its own way
The Tennessee Idea was crystaIIized
q set Of resolutions passed by the ST.
legislature. and sent 90 the leEislatui
Fl other States for approval, denounci
King Caucus presidential nominate
rad been dictated by the C0ngressio1
caucus. but the method was already
e1mfnE unpopular The Tennessee ID
spread. and with its spread the Tennes.
candidate became stronger The hero
- New Orleans appealed To- the pcpu
idea. even # he was unpopular with
statesmen
Early in 1924. King Caucus made
last stand. only s5 of the 81 members
Congress attending the UeetIuE- wh
sdlemuIy declared William II. Crawfo
Secretary of the Treasury 20 be
regular Democratic nominee for Pr
dent ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS was
official name Of The party. although cit
name was used r7pularly- The old C
servatIve organization made a firm ST
for Crawford. He had the support
Thomas jefferson. the founder Of
party. % President Monroe. and all Of
uIrra-couse-vaJlve forces But Jac6sC
strength began To be apparent and 81
Of the practical politicians Of the f
were not slow 10 recognize the fact
Jackson convention was held at Har
burg. Pa which adopted a resy
ton denounrinE the scheme Of
cassion 10 the Presidency by q Cab
officer George = Dallas was then
in pennsylvania and he handed
state over 20 Jackson Whereupou
Hcun. whose main strength had beer
Pennsylvania. withdrew from the
and was accepted by everybody as
Gidate for Vice President
Jackson was hailed as the "PeoI
Candidate on the one side. and
uouuced as an aUdacious and presu
rI0us Ignora mus on the other There v
then tvyeuty-four States in the Ur
In ten Of these. Presidential electors
! chosen by the popular vote for a ger
I ticket. fn the fashion now uriver'
prevailing. In seven, the electors
voted on by districts And in the O
seven. the electors were chosen by
legislatures and the people had no
for President AT all These States
New York. Delaware. Georgia. L,
lana. South Carolina. Vermont. and
diana
TIE Jackson people began. a great
. and cry against the appointment Of e
ors by legislatures. and demanded
the people have a voice In Preside
elections. As a matter Of fact. I'd 10
time the people had never shown