Milford chronicle., 1928-09-14
Hsnepe9s speu o Hedeuspsu~A
LITTLE 8AND-WAGON
J0URt.EYS l. r..nsna,,, Pz

LILLE 6faND-WA0UlV
J0URHEYS L. r.mRhn,nr Pz
%spsasp ~p.n O u.tzsH a. k1ez1e -
(G. 1928. Western Newspaper Union.l
12-C!ay's Presidential Dis
appointments
ThEIE may be a good doal Ot
L comedy in a national cOnven-
tiOn, but back of the blare and hull
labalOO frequently lie some disap-
pOintment and shattered hopes for
men whose lifelong aspiration has
been election To the highest ohicG in
the land
Such was the mag ~ ~ l;...ne.
of Webster. of 1.ay. oi ..... .. '..'n
who repeatpdlA SIrovr f"
and lost
Some Ot our greatyal stit,, ~...eiI
never have risen To the highest eX-
ecutive position to which their tai
ents and genius entitled them. Thus
with the great triumvirate who DOM
mated congressional politics for
three decades prior to the Civil
war-Webster, Clay and Calhoun.
Every one of them was of Presi-
Dental caliber, every one of them
nurtured Presidential ambitions,
hut all of them, largely because Of
the pOsitiveness and strength of
their statesmanslIip, were thrust
aside by their parties for lesser
men whose chief merit was that
their cOl0rless politics had stirred
no antagOnisln and made them more
available"
81 would rather be ri%.t than De
President" Henry clay is reported
10 have Sid Nevertheless, he ac-
ceptRd repeated reflections by his
party with utmost disappointment.
In 1924 probably the votes of but
single OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
el Clay from being President 40
candidate in that year won a ma
!oElty in the electoral college The
aiectiOn, from among the three who
st6od highest in the electoral vote,
bad to be thrown into the house Of
representatives. There Clay was
speaker and the most influential
And popular member Lack of only
eOQr electoral votes prevented him
crsm being among the three Presi
&eGtial candidates 10 he voted upop
g tho house.
Though destined mn n bS Frrst
saaat, he proved to he tlls i-',a-- ~
Usker In that year,
St.li further di&tppiiIttil4IIts |
~une in store for the K0nlW,kiun !
s:is statement about pFeferring
vlghtness to election was made only
Il short time before the first Whig |
As g3onal convention in 1899 at Har-
:@x0urg, Pa But when that body,
- shrewd maneuverlRgs of New
York politicians. pushed Clay aside
and nominated the simple old hero
Of Tippecanoe, General Harrisou
9aY's rage was unbOunded
But Clay was loyal to his ia-it.
Ia the extent 0f stunping f,~ va
"a. q. 'i-.-t
erred place in the "old hero's~ cab
net, in order rp he indeppndont Of
lis politics
Four years Iater after llal1'is0n
lad died and Nhig politics had
-one askew under the apostate re-
line of President Tyler, Clay was
unanimously nominated by the
Wigs in 1874 at a most enthusias-
ic convention. But the election
'as to prove the melancholy truth
f his plant that he was permitted
D run only in the vrnrq when de-
eat was sure.
The victory OF The ueaocrulS
18th Polk, dark horse candidate
mediocre reputation and talents
)mpared with Clay's, stunned the
'higs. A national wall went
trough the Land Clay's Wiscon- I
n biOgrapher, Carl Schurz, writes:
'"Tears flowed in abundance from {
le eyes Of men and women. In the '
ties and villages the business
aces were almost deserted for a d
~ or two, people gathered to- b
ether in groups to discuss in low b
mes what had happened. Neither
d the victorious Democrats in s
llge in the usual demonstrations n
triumph. There was a feeling
if great wrong had been t,
me. Many dePaired of W
e republic, sincerely believing e.
at the experiment OF popular gov
nment had failed forever" s,
Clay shared these gloomy Views, M
claring "The late blow that has
lien upon our country is very A
avy" and bewailed that il would nj
a long time ere the people would 6
ecoveF from the cOrrupting infu-
ce and effects Of Jacksonism." Il.
After this defeat Clay Withdrew N
his country estate, Ashland. ~, ~
lere he received constant den
stratihns of the affection Of hi. -
rty e@' @
But another war hero was e. ]"
'ck his path again. Gen. Zach -,
2 Taylor, a southern planter who CI .,l
YER had voted in his life and had MI
political talents, was. nominated
the Wing convention in 184S sole 10
because Of popularity he had won MI
the Mexican war. Clay's own
te, Kentucky, figured strongly IT, sp
movement for Taylor. an
again Clay considered he Aae
N betrayed by his friends. :: MI
S a hitter disappointment to the of
man, then in his seventy-first mS
II. The limit Of Clay's mag Bl
Unity and patience had been we
ched, and he refused to support Sil
5 new 'Old hero" as he had sup
ted General Harrison eight wear,
lier. -
resident Taylor, like Harrison.
d in office. and the Wings suf-
ed new reverses, with a Demo ~
tic defeat at the end Of the term ~
Millard Fillmore, who as Tay. lE
s vice president. succeeded hfrn. IL