Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-04-08
FiUe Minutes A Day
18th Our Presidents

By LANIES MORGAN.

Jackson left the presidential chair
the most popular mar who has ever
sat in it. with Roosevelt the only re-
firing President to approach him IN
Jefferson. no other president what
ever has been tempted with a real
chance to prolOng his power to a
third election, and no other since his
day, with the exception of Roosevelt.
has dictated or could ave dictated
the choice of his successor. The al
most idolatrous loyalty of his fol-
lowers gave point to the common
saying that fifty ear after his death
the Democrats still were voting for
Jackson.
Jackson found politics In the par
lors of the few and he left 1t in the
corner grocery and the crossroads
postofice, where it more properly be-
longs IL we are to have a democracy.
The new type of politician that arose
was not always more selfish or cor
rupt than the old, but it was noisier
and more open in its methods. Pop
ular government a not be carried
on in a whisper and it is always an
enemy to decorum.
The devotees of this passionate,
self-willed idol of the people, laying
plans to keep themselves in power by
the prestige of Jacksonis magic name
after he himself should be gone, set
UP the first or our now too familiar
political machines. A Kitchen Cab
met" composed of the intimateS OF
the President, was at the head or
this organization, and a newspaper
organ, fostered by government adj
vertising, was it's m%outhpiece. n
it invented the national convention,
with a general system of nominating
conventions, for the purpose OF car
rying out its objects.
The Constitution intended hat
members of the electoral college IN
their wisdom should choose the Pres
ident, free from all outside pressure
or influence. But 1t was preposterous
that this great office, with its I'M
mense powers, should be left at the
absolute disposal of a few men In q
secret e~onclave, and the electoral
college never has been more than a
Punch and Judy show.
At first the electors were nominate
ed and instructed by little groups OF
managing politicians; next the NOM
ination of presidential candidates
was made by congressional caucuses
and after that by state legislatures.
The Jacksonian revolution, in giving
birth to nominating conventions,
brought the choice nearer the people.
Not hat the people yet choose
their presidential nominees. A md
chine does that, but its
Is tempered by the latent power OF
the people. =
Nevertheless the introduction OF
the convention was followed by d
distinct decline In the quality OF the
presidents it produced. The noml-
nation of Lincoln seemed at last TO
vindicate and glorify 1t. Alas, the
| irony of thai exception is that ne,
too. was nominated under the i'm
preston that he was a medlocrlty III
comparison with Seward.
Jackson had hardly more tnan
seated himself in the White House
than his favor for the succession zen
upon his secretary of state, Martin
Van Buren, of New York. "Matty,'
as the old President fondly called MS
political heir, was a clever pollticlan,
with ingratiating manners, ana pelnS
q widoWer without n women 1olh
TO complicate the situation for him.
he was free to advance himself In the
approval of his chief by the ready
social recognition which he bestowed
upon Peggy O'Neal Eaton, when she
was being cruelty tossed about by a
tempest In q s o'clock teapot.
At first Jackson wanted only one
term for himself, when he intended
to give way to his favorite. AS
usual. when the time came, he was
! in need of ~vindication in the form or
a reelection, and he decided to give
Van Buren, the vice presidency as a
stepping stone to the White Hous
four years later.
The legislature of the Presidents
own state, being opposed to Van
Buren,. the usual method of nominal
ton by legislature was dlscardeu'
Moreover, there vas need OF obtain
ing some semblance of a more popu-
lar selection for this rubber-stamp
| candidate, and the first Democratic
| national convention was called
! fresh from the people" as Jackson
| said-to nominate not a president
but a candidate fol- vice president
! Four years afterward another con-
yentfon ratified Jackson's selection
| of Van Buren, as his successor In tne
| presidency, which was duly followeo
bv a ratification at the polls.
The last president in seventy years
| TO see a man of his own CHOOSING
| succeed him, the aged leader retired
TO his farm, the Hermitage, where ne
| enioyed through his few remaining
wears. though haunted by poverty
and debt, such an unbroken CONTINUE
ance of the peoples confidence anc
affection as has sweetened the re-
i of no other president since
Jefferson.
downright, 1920, by James Morgan,
published by special arrangement
with The Mcclure Newspaper syn