The Topeka state journal., 1919-12-11
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, D. G.
PRESIDENTIAL SPECIFICATIONS.

. has become of that seventh son of
| seventh son who can always tell you
I a year ahead who is going to be the
next president?
He is gone, along with the politi-
cal logic upon which he based his
/ judgment. 1t used to be argue'i that
because a man lived in Ohio. had an
irish grandmother, fought in the Civil
war, and had never stated definite
/ opinion about anything, he vas un-
! heatabie. And often he was.
The presidential virtues for a long
/ time, were chiefly negative. OF
course, very early in our history we
| had some remarkable presidents. In
! that day We had an intellectual aris-
! tocracy 1t led us to siiecess in the
revolutionary war, and furnished our
so afterward OF this crew we're
Washington, Adams and Jefferson.
T;ut with the growth of the demo-
cratic idea came the demagoSue, and
the mediocrity in the presidential
chair. The rugged figure of Jackson
stands out-a great demagogu4 but
! Iemaeogue none the less admirable
] il his, courage but terrible n his tg-
norlnce. Then came the Civil WEI,
STRANGELY producing its own genius in
Lincoln, a being unaccoantahie and
unique
After the Civil war, our strange ma
tional sport of presidential politics
reached its highest development.
Presidential candidates were nothing
but pawns used by the great parties
in the game which they played for the
stakes of office and power. Men were
chosen because they were safe"
Mediocrity was a prime qualification.
A man with a marked personality,
marked achievement or marked in
any other way was not wanted. That
brilliant individuality like that of
Cleveland reached the presidency in
spite of this system was an accident
which politicians deplored.
1t is only in the last ger FRA ticn that
the presidency has been rescued from
mediocrity. President Roosevelt
taught the people to regard the pres
ident as their personal representative,
and not merely as the mouthpiece of a
political party, and of the interests
which dominate it. Mr.. Wilson has
carried this idea of the president as
the official interpreter of the public
still further. Both of them have
shown that there is still room in the
presidency for re7l personality.
Another thing which has perished
recently is political oratory Of the old
spread-eagle and sentimental school 1t
is still practiced in the south to some
extent, and in back counties generally;
but it is no longer. as it once was, a
presidential sine qua non. Nc man is
going to win the presidency this time
on the strength of his perorations.
Who will get the nomination is a mys-
terry, but certainly neither of them will
be captured by cross of gold and
crown of thorns" speech.
Thus, while it is hard to pick the
individual who will be the next presi-
dent, it is not hard to pick the type.
he
politician, mediocrity foisted on the
public by his fellow professionals. 1t
VIII not make so much difference
where he lives. A record of public
office will not help him much, but a
record of practical achievement will
help him a great deal. And he will
not be sentim entalist, a tear sQueez-
or, one who weeps and bellows and
waves the flag. The type of the next
president is well represented in the
leading candidates. and men men
toned in connection with the candi-
dacy. Two of these men are especial
ly significant Hoover and McAdoo.
Perhaps neither of them will even run,
but the mere fact that these two have
been widely mentioned for the presi-
dency. and have been more or less ac-
cepted by the people as men of a type
who might make good presidents, is
tremendously significant. 1t is claimed
OF McAdoo that he has brilliant rec
ord as a political executive, but Hoov-
er has been in no way associated with
politics
The fact that a Hoover of unknown
politics had even been mentioned for
the presidency is striking proof that
the public mind of the United States
has changed. Twenty-Five years ago,
when a Prince Albert coat and a wide
black hat, and the ability to thunder
out platitudes in a baritone voice were
al tai -
Hoover would have been as out of
place in politics as a bricklayer in a
cabaret. Here is man who has
wealth and cares nothing for the ma
terial success involved; who shows no
slightest craving for publicity for its
own sake; who does not seem to rep
resent a class or a point of view; who
| has nothing to recommend him for
the job except a capacity for handling
large enterprises and an integrity that
seems not to be questioned by anyone.
He is stranger in our political arena,
there at all is proof that we are chang
ing.
In the forefront of Republican can
didates stands Gen. Leonard Wood, of
another type, but none the less quite
different from the candidate brand of
the past His campaign IS not being
made on the basis of his helms, Il mill
tary hero but upon the claim that he
is a proven executive, a man who gets
things done.
The American president for the next
four years will find his task logically
dividing itself into two great respon-
sibilites-that of meeting the indus
| trial situation at home. and of giving
America its proper international posi-
ton in a re-made world. The indus
| trial situation at home is a matter of
primary interest to the public. 1t is
Observation-Disclosures
SThe George NJ