Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-08-22
PRE-EMPTlVE BIDDING FOR
THE PRESIDENCY
Daily Letter by Frederic J. Haskio

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22:- In the
game of auction bridge there is what
| Is known as the pre-emptive bid. 1t
consists OF the bidders calling on
his first bid, the maximum strength
of his hand, perhaps a bit more,
| with the idea of estoppiug either of
his adversaries from making a de-
Iclaratlon that might lead to a sue
cessful final bid. 1t is fine strategy
when it works, as 1t does. rather
| frequently.
! In the game of national politics as
1t is played leading up to the 1924
presidential nominations and cleo
tion, there is a situation such that
lshrewd political observers are look
ing for what is the equivalent of q
lpre-emptiVe bid at auction. Calvin
Coolidge, President by virtue of the
sudden and unexpected death OF
Warren G. Harding, is the one who
has the opportunity of making this
iplay.
| He may be said to have made it
should he, in announcing his candi-
dacy for the Republican nomination
for the Presidency state definitely
that in the event OF his nomination
land election he will not be a candi-
date in 1928 to succeed himself.
Politicians agree that such an an
lnouncement made before the cam
paign for the 1924 nomination has
become a wide-open fight. with
numerous candidates duly entered
and committed to a life or death
struggle, would tend to lessen op-
position to Mr.. Coolidge's nomina-
Z 4 10 l,t I'M
some of the other prospective can
didates out of the running In that
event it might we'll be termed a
lpre-emptiye bid for the Presidency.
There IS sound reasoning back Of
the theory that President Coolidge
will adopt this strategy. Without
doubt he will be a candidate to sue
ceed himself. This is even more
certain than that Harding would
have been a candidate had he lived.
Being a candidate, the President will
naturally seek to make his nomina-
ton as certain as possible. If he were
to be a candidate with the idea of
making still another race in 1928,
the i<ht for the control of the Re-
publican Convention next year would
be far more strenuous, and probably
he We're to declare his intention to
be content with serving the uneom-
pleted term of the late President
Harding, with one term in his own
right.
Moreover, President Coolidge may
be assumed to understand the tenn
per of the American people and to
realize that it would be an extreme
Il III
other election after he had been CIV
en- four years and nineteen months in
the White House. The third term
tradition would undoubtedly initiate
against any such consummation.
Precedent In Roosevelt's Action
There is precedent, also, for Pres
ident Coolidge to follow in such a
manoeuver. When Theodore Roose-
welt as Vice President succeeded
Mckinley he said several times that
he would regard the uncompleted
term as his first tSrm and on the
evening of election day in 1904 he
announced formally that he would
not be candidate in 1908 for what
might fairly be considered a third
term.
Roosevelt was not without op-
position for the 1904 nomination.
but the opposition never assumed
formidable proportions. Shrewd pol
Iiticians attributed this chiefly to his
having let It be known among the
rarty leaders that he would not be
a candidate four years later. for
that meant that 1908 would be a
e-for-all contest in which every
other prospective candidate would
lhave a much better chance than ne
would have in bucking Roosevelt in
1904.
During the last year of Roose-
velt's administration it was common
gossip that he regretted having plac-
ed himself on record in such a way
that he could not make the race for
another term, but no one ever came
forward that would assert that he
had heard Roosevelt express any
lsuch regret. He favored William
Howard Taft as his successor AID it
was no secret that the power Of the
Federal organization was being used
to elect delegates to the National
Convention who would support Taft
Some of these delegates were in
lstructed for Roosevelt and as re-
result the report was started that
Roosevelt wss really planning to
take tfse nomination at the last
moment.