The Washington herald., 1914-03-24
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Curious Fact Concerning American
ex-Presidents.
Cwritten Expressly for The Herald)
BY DIR. z. j. EDWARDS.

written Expressly for The Herald.)
By DIR. e. }. EDWARDS.
A year or two after Abram g. Hewitt
finished his term as mayor OF New York
City I spent an hour with him at a time
when he was disposed to be reminiscent
and reflective. ] asked him IL he remem-
bered a conversation he had In 1852 as
We rode together from his Washington
home, near jackson Square, to the Capt.
tol. Mr.. Hewitt was at that time a mem
ber OF Congress. He asked me to what
referred and I said to him that I had
called his attention to a paragraph which
had appeared in a newspaper In which
Mr.. Hewitt was recommended as a DEM
ocratic candidate for the Presidential
nomination of 1884.
"Do you remember what you said To
me when J called your attention to this
paragraph" / asked him.
He said that he had not the slightest
recollection. then told him that he said:
81 am the last man who ought to enter
the White House as President. The re-
sponsibilities and annoyances and con-
fusion would kill me within three months
They killed President William Henry
Harrison in one
Mr.. Hewitt smiled grimly and then
said:
mo doubt / thought so then. But
I now know that any man of consciens
tious purpose who Is able to serve as
mayor OF New York for two years with
out breaking down completely would be
able to live through a Presidential term.
II am astonished sometimes when I
think of the mental and physical strain
endured during my term as mayor of
New York. In my opinion. II mayor
is absolutely conscientious and is anxious
to be something more than mere figure
head. the Office Is the most trying one
any American citizen can hold"
He was silent for a few moments and,
thought. was about to revert to some
Of the grievous annoyances and the diff
ficult encounters with the bosses which
were part OF his experiences as a
mayor Instead of that ne spoke OF an
entirely different matter, saying: Il won
der II IL has ever occurred to any one
but myself what a brief term of life the
great majority of ou= Presidents. at least
since 1850. had after they retired from
the White House. This thought occurred
to me one day and so forcibly that l de-
termined to look into the histories of ex-
Presidents. / found to my establishment
that while with the exception OF Monroe,
all OF the Presidents between Jefferson
and Van Buren lived several years after
their retirement from the Presidency
strange mortality appeared to cut short
the lives Of almost all Of those who
served in that office after James r. Polk
died.
Monroe lived only a few years after
he retired. and / have been told that one
Of the chief causes of his early death was
the sense of humiliation that he should
have been compelled to rely somewhat
upon the benefaction Of others for his
support
polk lived only a short time after he
retired from the Presidency. Millard
Fillmore survived longer than almost
all the others. remember to have seen
Martin Van Buren, early in 1862. He was
then vigorous. although he had been
twenty-one years out Of the Presidency
Andrew johnson had only short time
to live after he retired from the Presi-
dency. Gen. Grant retired in 1871 and
died In 1855. Arthur lived little over
year after he retired. in 1855. Presi-
dent Hayes lived twelve years
II find myself wondering whether the
very great strain TO which a President Is
subject. at least in these later days of
their strength. don't know whether
this is so or not. but l do know that the
average years remaining for an ex-Presi-
dent Of the United States, at least since
1850 have been not much over ten. Did
YOU ever think how few the number OF
living ex-Presidents has been? That
thought has very often occurred to me"
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards will tell
"What Might Have Happened TO Col.
Watterson."
Copyright. 1914