The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-10-20
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC !. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, d. G.
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.
The McKinIcy-Bryan Race of 1900.

/
nate President Mckinley, and that the
Democrats would again follow the
leadership of Mr.. Bryan. McKinley's
denomination was made certain be-
cause of the great prosperity which
blessed the country, because of the
successful issue of the war with Spain,
and because of the perfection of the
organization of the Republican party
under Mr.. Hanna and the coterie of
Republican senators that stood with
the administration, Bryans renomi-
nation was made certain by his popu-
larity with the rank and file of his
party, Notwithstanding the bitter and
intense opposition of the gold" Demo-
Gratis.
The denomination. OF Bryan in 1900
is the only instance of the renomina-
ton of an unsuccessful candidate for
president in the campaign next after
his defeat. Jackson was a candidate
in 1928 after his defeat in 1924 but
as he had the plurality of both Dopu-
lar and electoral votes in the first race,
and as there were no party nominal
lions then, his case is not a precedent.
Henry Clay was three tkmes a candi-
date for president, but only once was
he the recognized nominee of a party,
and that was in the campaign after the
one in which he was defeated for the
| Wing nomination by General Har-
rison. Grover Cleveland was norni-
mated in 1892 after his defeat in 1888,
but as he had served one term in the
White House he could not be consid-
cred wholly unsuccessful candidate.
No man who has met defeat at every
turn of his career in national politics
has been able long to retain the lead
ership of one of the two great parties
with the single exception of Mr.. Bryan.
New Factors in Politics.
Between the presidential campaign
of 1896 and 1900 things had happened
which were to change the whole
course of American national life.
War was declared on Spain, and in
less than four months it was over.
The American victory was complete
and the United States had suddenly
become world power" in the sense
that the phrase is used in European
cha ncellories.
AS the result of the war the United
States found itself in the possession
of several things it had never had be-
fore. There were the colonies-the
Philippines, Porto Rico and Guam.
There was the protectorate-Cuba.
There was the church lands question.
There was the extra-territorial tariff
problem and the question. Does the
Constitution follow the Flag" Inlad- |
dition to these new things, the nation
also had a new crop of war heroes. |
Chief among these was Theodore
u
Dewey, Schley, Sampson and Lieuten- |
ant Hobson. Mr.. Bryan had endeav- |
Tored to become a war hero, too. but |
the regiment which ne commanded |
was not permitted to get further away
than Tampa.
How Dewey Quecred Himself.
- Admiral Dewey was the great naval |
a candidate for president. He made |
the fatal mistake of taking the first |
mention" as seriously as il it had1
been call from the notification COM |
mittee of a national convention. He |
accepted nomination in advance of |
its being offered, and was promptly |
laughed into oblivion. Sampson and |
Schley were involved in a controversy |
that removed both of them from the |
hero class Gen. Joe Wheeler had |
been a rebel general and was out |
of the question politically. Gen. Nell |
son A Miles and Col William ]. Bryan |
did not get to the front.
Thus it happened that when two |
years had gone by and the country |
faced another quadrennial struggle |
for the presidency, it found that the |
war with Spain had produced but one |
genuine war hero who had lasted. I
That was Colonel Roosevelt. He
hadn't been, high in command in the |
army, but he had organized a pictur- |
esque regiment and had done many |
picturesque things. He had actually |
participated in a battle and had prov |
ed his eagerness to fight.
The Republicans of New York state |
had taken him up and had elected |
him governor, not so much because |
they wanted him, but because he was |
the on5g man who could win. As has |
happened since, the Republican bosses
found that a governor so selected |
might be entirely too self -willed to |
rule the roost at Albany to suit the |
orga nization. In those days the will !
of Thomas c. Platt was law in the
Republican organization in New York !
state. Not even Mr.. Roosevelt openly |
opposed it then. But Plat knew that |
he could not hold Roosevelt down, so
he decided. to got rid of him. He |
would kick him upstairs.
Putting Roosevelt in the Waste
Basket.
Therefore ne went to the Repub- |
lican convention at Philadelphia with |
his plans all laid. The domination of !
Mckinley was assured, altho there |
was a little Roosevelt talk from the |
western states, states that had gone |
for Bryan four years before. Hanna |
and his senatorial coterie ruled every |
thing. There were Plat and Quay, !
Fairbanks and Allison, Depew and i
Foraker, Wolcott and Lodge; and the |
convention was going as they directed. |
Hanna wanted Cornelius n. Bliss or
Senator Allison nominated for vice |
pESSiQents ICS nav
ing having died in office. Plat took |
Quay into his scheme. They must get |
rid of Roosevelt. So they organized |
the willing westerners and began
whooping it up for Roosevelt for sec
ond place The dangerous man was
to be buried alive in the vice presi- |
dency.
Colonel Roosevelt was already a !
candidate for president for the cam
paign of 1904. He believed that his
interests could be advanced more
readily if he remained governor of
New York than If he were made vice |
presfdent.--He protested with earnest
ness and vehemence. He fought as
hard as he possibly could but the en-
thusiasm for the one war hero who
had weathered the storms of two years
was so great that it could not be over
come. More especially when managed
by two veteran manipulators like Platt