The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-05-23
Dramatic Incidents In
Presidential Nominations
LContinued from Page Al

klnley by Czolgocz. a counterpart OF
Guiteau. who had killed that other
great Ohioan. Garfield. about twenty
years previous, elevated Roosevelt.
who q been sincerely reluctant to
accept a nomination for the vice presi-
to a position which he had never
dreamed of reaching. President Nc
kinley was shot and fatally wounded
as he was having a reception at the
Pan-American exhibition at Buffalo,
September 6. just about six months
after his second Inauguration.
And here may be mentioned a Curl
presidents who died in office. three of
them by assassination. had served but
a small fraction of their terms. Nc
kinley was in%augurated March 4, 1901,
and died September IA: Garfield was
inaururated March 4. 1881. shot July
2, and died September 49,. but from
the hour of his wound was not able
to perform the functions of president
the administration being practically
without an official chief. Lincoln was
inaugurated March 4. 1865. shot the
evening of April IA. and died before
the dawn of dav April Is. a little more
than n month after the beginning
of his second term and while all who
had supported the union cause were
wild with acclaim by reason of the
ending of the civil war. Taylor had
served only about sixteen months of
ms term when he died July 4, 1850.
Harrison had served exactly one
month of his term when he died sud-
denly. April 4. 1871.
mus TYLER, Fillmore. Johnson. Ar
thur and Roosevelt served practically
full terms as president on accoun OF
TN death of presidents: and it is also
curious that the only vice president
mus promoted and who was nomin-
ated and elected to serve a full sue
ceeding term, was Theodore Roose-
Welt!
Succeeding conventions were rather
'~uneVentful. Free silver enthusiasm
had passed. Bryan had beer twice
defeated. Alton B.. Parker. nominate
ed in 1904 by the democrats, could
hardly be called an opponent of the
aggressive and fiery Roosevelt, who
Mad 336 electoral votes to Parker's
l40. the total vote falling off nearly
of four years before.
one of the phenomena of these
years, 1t is proper here to mention,
was the rapid augmentation of the
socialist vote. The first socialist can
dldate for the presidency. Charles B.
Matchett, in 1896. received 33,545
votes: in 1900, Eugene V. Debs had
AoOr LSpo a tVs,( I 4. anN
in 1908, 418.5SO.
Taft's nomination as the republican
candidate in 1908 is admitted TO have
been due to the fact that he was the
cholce of Roosevelt. who strained all
legitimate powers of his administra-
ton to accomplish this cnd. TO the
urpris of everybody except himself.
Bryan was again the candidate of the
democrats. Free silver was dead but
Bryan, minus free silver. was much
more alive as a candidate than any
other, Parker in 1904 having fallen
more than 100000 o votes short of the
vote of Bryan both in 1896 and 1900.
In the contest of 1908 he notably in
creased his former popular vote and
mad l62 electors. which was twenty
two more than Parker had in 1904.
Taft having 321 electors. which was
fifteen fewer than the number sup
porting Roosevelt in 1904. though his
popular vote $4,000 more than that
of Roosevelt, it being 7,678.790 to
.6,409,099 for Bryan.