The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-10-27
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKng. Director.
Washington, d. @. n
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.
Their Results.

and emotions of them, and the types
of men they have thrown into the
highest office, few facts stand out
sharp and unmistakable.
1t is clear. for examplej that our
presidents have been of two types
Many of them, and perhaps most them,
have been commonplace politicians,
chosen by politicians largely because
of their negative qualities A few of
them have been men of marked per-
sonalitX and intellect, and these al
ways seem to have arrived either by
accident or by reason of the fact that
their unusual qualities were not
known. If we get president of large
I caliber it is not because of the system
by which he is-chosen, but in spite of
it.
Until the time of Andrew Jackson
we were ruled by an aristocracy. The
men who won the revolution and
founded the nation did not believe in
the capacity Nof the people to rule.
They believed in a strong central gov
eminent, administered by men of
brains and conscience, in the interests
of all classes. Washington, Adams
and jefferson were notable examples
of this type of man. They were all
men who had personality and ability
and who were chosen by their peers
for that reason.
jackson was the first of our politi-
cian-presidents. He was nominated by
sort of outlaw popular convention
and elected by an immense NQpular
vote, to the distress and afnazement
of the aristocratic clique. Jackson, as
sonality and brains, but he was a man
of~the people, fun of personal and par
tisan prejudices and animosities. He
was the father of practical politics as
we know it, of the Spells System and
of the political machine. After his
death the machine he created fell into
less able hands, other machines were
game was on.
The Jackson Revolution.
jackson, a strong man, had snatch
ed the power away from the aristo-
cratic clique, and, theoretically he
had put it in the hands of all the peo-
| pie. But practically he had created a
system by which weak and unscrupu-
| lous men could WELD that power
Bosses and demagogues began spring
! ing up all over the country. Never
great men and seldom good men, their
| one great desire was to place in office
men who were not any stronger than
| they Hence came our political con-
ventions, carefully managed from be-
| hind the scenes, at which the polttl-
| clans strive nightly, and usually with
success, to~nominate men whom they
can manage after election
! Occasionally they make a mistake
Lincoln was such a mistake. His rep
utation before he was elected was that
of a shrewd country politician. He
| had played practical politics with Skill
and had been q staunch party man.
| He had shown himself amenable to
| party discipline and had not an
nounced any radical or original views
! on anything. He was chosen by the
| politicians at a convention in direct
/ defiance of popular will. because the
politicians believed he was safe"
! After he got office Lincoln display
| ed several qualities which no one had
suspected him of possessing He de-
yeloped n fine conscience, for one
| thing, which hesitated to make COM
promises with expediency. For an
| other thing, he showed a far-reach1ng
sympathy which extended even to his
worst enemies; and unlike most presi-
I dents he developed no symptoms OF
! big-head. He was not carried away
by ambition or by any conviction
that he was an inspired superman- AS
a result, a tremendous opposition to
| him among the politicians developed,
| and he was elected for the second
time in the face of that opposition,
| largely because of a victory in the
/ field which came at the crucial mo-
ment.
| CIeveand, another man of .undoubted
| ability, was also chosen under the mis-
apprehension that he was small man
He also aroused an opposition which
finally destroyed his Influence. Roosev
welt, a man far less stable and clear
sighted than either of the other two,
but a born leader none the less, sue
ceeded to the presidency by accident.
Other cases VIII readily suggest them-
selves to the readers of this series
Never has a superior man been de-
| liberately chosen for the presidency by
! the political powers that be.
Another fact which seems pretty
clear is that these few superior men
who have slipped thru the gaps in the
political feLce. have been largely rel
sponsible for the constructive measures
which have kept the political ma
chinery working. 1t would take the
space of a book to consider this ques-
| ton adequately, and no doubt many
| exceptions would be found to the above
| statement yet it seems in general to
be borne out by this brief review of
American politics. If you will con-
slider the administration of the typical
machine-made presidents, who were
chosen by the politicians and for the
politicians. you will observe that they
usually bore one of two characters. II
| such a president is in harmony with
his congress, it usually proceeds tic
enact a mass of partisan legislation
the product of many compromises
out any clear direction or consistency
Such administrations produce the
enormous pork barrel bills for PEN
sions and rivers and harbors Such
administrations produce our worst and
most unavoidable tariff and taxation
bills. Few constructive measures CT
lasting merit can b. traced to them.
Strong Men Did the Work.
Every man of personality, -coura &c
and Intelligence who has held the
presidency, on the other hand, has
done something of permanent value
Without the fortunate accidents which
bring sach men to power. it is hard tc
see how the national machinery would
nave been kept running, much less
now any progress would have beer
made. Lincoln abolished slavery ane
, made the Union a permanent thing
, undoubtedly the two greatest achieve
| ments of any president. What would
have happened If Mcclellan or Thad-
I dassc ,,