The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-02-01

Roosevelt who determined that his good
friend, William Howard Taft should be his sue
cessor, kept the speaker from coming any nearer
to the White House than that.
Uncle Joes" successor was Champ Clark Of
Missouri who probably came as near to winning
the Presidency as any speaker who ever just
missed it. At the Democratic national convention
in Baltimore in 1912 he led the field for % ball
lots and had clear majority on eight But the
Democratic two-thirds rule prevented his nomina-
ton on any of the eight. Then the vote swung
to Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and he was
nominated II on any Of those eight ballots Clark
could have mustered enough votes to have given
him the necessary two-thirds, he would have
been President. For every one knows the result
Of the election of 1922 Democratic victory
after 20 straight years of Republican rule.
But If speakers Of the house have not Jared
so well In aspiring TO the Presidency, they have
been somewhat more successful In reaching the
second highest executive Office. Two of them
have been vice presidents. Schuyler Colfax of
Indiana, after a six-year service as speaker, was
Grants running mate in 1869 and, as vice presi-
dent, presided over the United States senate from
1869 to 1873. The next speaker to yacate the
rostrum of one house Of the national legislature
to mount to the other was John Nance Garner
of Texas, elected speaker by the Seventy-second
congress in 1882, only to move over to the senate
slide had made the Texan vice president
To Pennsylvania, Frederick A. C. Mullen
berg, goes the honor of having been the first
speaker of the house of representatives under the
new government established by the adoption of
the Constitution on September II, 1887 and its
ratification the next year. He took office on
April i, 1889, and served two years, when he was
succeeded by Connecticuts lone contribution to
the history of the speakership. This was Jona-
han Truur mil he of %t,o
Revolution who gave him the nickname which is
one of the symbolical names for the United
States-"Brother Jonathan"
After Trumbull, Muhlenberg served another
two-year term and was succeeded by Jonathan
Dayton of New Jersey who served two terms
Dayton's chief claim to fame is that in 1907 he
was arrested for completely in Aaron Burrs trea-
sonable conspiracy but he released on bail
and never tried on the charge. Theodore Sedge-
wick was Massachusetts first speaker, veteran
of the Revolution, who later studied theology and
the law and made the latter his profession He
was the first speaker to serve in the new capital
of Washington, presiding over the house when it
first convened there on November IL, 1900. A
few weeks later he was succeeded by North
Cardinals first speaker, Nathaniel Macon, who
held the chair from 1901 to 1907.
After Macon came another Bay Stater-Joseph
Bradley Varnum. Revolutionary war veteran
who was reelected. then was succeeded by the
Mil Boy of the Slashes." Henry Clay of Ken
lucky. Clay was first elected speaker in 1911,
he was reelected in 1913, resigned from
gress in 1914 and was succeeded as speaker by
Langdon Cheves of South Carolina, who presided
over the Thirteenth congress. But the next con-
gress found Clay again in the house and again
speaker He was reelected in 1917 and again In
1919. but resigned once more in 1920.
John W. Taylor of New York 1.-THE first from
that statel was the next speaker and after him
Philip p. Barbour of Virginia talso first from his
state). In 1924 Clay was back in the house
again and again elected speaker, this time serv-
ing his last term In that office For now began
his repeated attempts to become President. Fail
ing the first time, he made secretary OF state
in the cabinet of John Quincy Adams which
caused the adherents of Andrew Jackson whom
Adams had defeated TO renew their anguished
cries of Bargain and corruption, J" The implica-
ton that Clay's portfolio in the Adams cabi-
net his price for throwing his influence to the
Massachusetts, man when the election of 1924
was decided in the house of representatives. I'm
able to use the speakership as springboard TO
the Presidency, Clay was again elected to the
senate, in which he remained most of the time
until his death in 1852, having in the meantime
made two more unsuccessful attempts to get to
the White House.
After the Kentuekian's last term as speaker
John W. Taylor of New York served another
term. He was succeeded by Andrew Stevenson,