New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-12-28
ROOSEVELT EXPLAINS ATTITUDE ON TFARDTERM QUESTION

4. head OF a great railway system made
preparations for a more ambitious effort.
looking toward the control of the dele
cations from Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska
Colorado and California against me- lie
was very powerful man financially. but
his power politically was much more
| limited, and he did not really understand
his own limitations or the situation Itself
whereas | did. He could not have Sc
cured a delegate against me from Iowa.
| Nebraska or Kansas. In Colorado ana
California he could have made fight,
but even there | think he would have
! been completely beaten. However, long
before the time for the convention came
around it was recognized that 1t was
hopeless TO make any opposition TO my
nomination The effort was abandoned
and was nominated unanimously. Judge
Parker was nominated by the Democrats
against me- Practically all the metro
politan newspapers of largest circulation
were against me; in New York CITY
| fifteen out of every sixteen copies or
papers issued were hostile to me. ! won
by a popular majority of about 2,5COoo
1 and I'm the Electoral College carried $50
votes against 1856 1t was by far the
largest popular majority ever hitherto
given any Presidential candidate.
THE THIRD-TERM QUESTION.
Ny opponents during the campaign mad
laid much stress upon my supposed per-
sonal ambition and intention to use the
office Of President to perpetuate myself
/ In power / did not say anything Oh the
subject prior to the election. as ! did not
wish TO say anything that could be con-
| strued into a promise offered as a consld-
Grafton i'm order to secure votes. But On
election night, after the returns were ~,
| issued the following statement: Tho
wise custom which limits the President to
| two terms regards the substance and not
! the form. and under no circumstances
/ will I be a candidate for or accept an
/ other nomination
/ The reason for my choice of the exact
phraseology used was twofold. In the
..-st place. many OF my supporters were
/ insisting that as had served only three
and a half years of my first term. coming
! i'm from the Nice-Presidency when Presi-
! dent Mckinley was killed, | had really
had only one elective term, 50 that the
/ third term custom did not apply TO me,
and | wished to repudiate this suggestion.
believed then (and ] believe now the
third-:erm custom or tradition to be
wholesome. and therefore ! was deter
mined to regard it's substance. refusing to
audible over the words usually employed
70 express it, on the other hand, | did
not wish simply and specifically to say
that ! would not be a candidate FOR the
q, zoos hac1tSa If I had SppCt-
fed the year when would no; DC a can-
didate it would have been widely accepted
as meaning that I intended to be can
aIdate some other year; and | had 10
such intention. and had no idea that |
would ever be a candidate again. certain
newspaper men did ask me II | intended
- apply my prohibition to 1872 ana
answered that / was not thinking Of lsl-'
nor of 1870 nor of 1870. and that | must
decline to say anything whatever except
what appeared IN my statement
The Presidency is great Office, and
the power OF the President can be et-
fectively used 10 secure a denomination
especially If the President has the sup
port Of certain great political and imam
cial interests. 1t is for this reason, ana
this reason alone, that the wholesome
/ principle Of continuing in office. 80 long
as he is willing to serve, an incum-
bent who has proved capable is not
applicable to the Presidency. Therefore
the American people have wisely es-
tablished a custom against allowing any
man 10 hold that Office for more than
two consecutive terms But avery shred
OF power which a President exercises
I'll. al, u. hfn
he has once left office. An eX-Presi-
dent stands precisely i'm the position OF
any other private citizen. and has not
one particle more power to secure
nomination or election than If he had
never held the Office at all-indeed he
probably has less because of the very fact
that he has held the office Therefore. the
reasoning on which the anti-third term
custom is based has no application what
ever to an eX-President and no application
whatever TO anything except consecutive
terms. AS a barrier OF precaution
against more than two consecutive terms
the custom embodies valuable principle.
Applied i'm any other way, II becomes
a mere formula. and, Ike all formulas,
potential source OF mischievous con-
fusion. Having this in mind. ! regarded
the custom as applying practically II
not just as much. 10 a President who
had been seven and a half years in
office as to one who had been eight
years in office. and therefore in the
teeth OF a practically unanimous demand
from my own party that | accept an
other nomination, and the reasonable
certainty that the nomination would be
ratified at the polls. ] felt that the sub
stance of the custom applied to me IN
1908 ON the other hand, ii had no APP
plication whatever TO any human be-
ing save where il was invoked in the
case OF a man desiring third con-
secutye term.
THE PEOPLE CAN BE TRUSTED.
Having given sucn substantial proof of
my own regard for the custom, | deem
IL duty TO add this comment on II. ]
believe that il is well to have a custom
of this kind, TO be generally observed. but
that ii would be very unwise TO have it
definitely hardened into a constitutional
prohibition. 1t is not desirable ordinarily
that man should stay in Office twelve
consecutive years as President; but most