The Coolidge examiner., 1936-07-24
DRAFTED

l. been talk of drafting" some
candidate. However, there have
been only two instances in our po-
litical history when man was CIV
en- the nomination against his will
and in both cases the drafted candi-
date was defeated in the election.
These two men were Horatio Sey-
mour aud Charles O'Conor, both
from the state of New York.
In 1868 one of the issues raised
by the Democrats was a demand
for the payment of the war debt in
paper money issued for this pur-
pose. It's chief advocate was
George H. Pendleton of Cincinnati
and the appeal of the "Ohio Idea,"
as his infationary scheme was
called, was so great in the agricul-
tural West that Pendleton was the
logical candidate for the Presiden-
tial nomination.
But Horatio Seymour, the Civil
war governor of New York, was
opposed to both the "Ohio Idea"
and the candidacy of its chief sup
porter. AS chairman of the con-
vention he was able to prevent Pen
dleton's nomination but he couldn't
keep the imitation plank out of
the platform.
After many ballots and some
confusion it turned to Seymour
and, although he shouted from the
platform Your candidate can
not be!", the delegates went right
ahead and nominated him, giving
him Gen. Francis P. Blair for
running mate.
Although Seymour polled 2,7O9,-
213 popular votes to 3,015,071 for
Gen. U. S. Grant, the Republican
nominee, and carried eight states,
the electoral vote stood 214 for
Grant and 80 for Seymour.
Four years later a peculiar po-
Etical situation resulted in another
case of drafting" A faction of
the Republican party, dissatisfied
with the Grant administration and
his denomination, held another con-
vention in Cincinnati and chose
Horace Greeley for President and
B. Gratz Brown of Missouri for
vice-president. When the Demo
Gratis met in Baltimore they de-
cided that fusion ticket might
defeat Grant so they also nomi-
mated Greeley and Brown and ac-
cepted the platform of the Gin
cinnati convention.
But this action offended the ''old
line" Democrats so they held
convention in Louisville, KY. For
President they selected Charles
O'Conor, a distinguished New York
lawyer who had won the deep af-
fection of the South by his efforts
to secure the release of Jefferson
Davis from prison at Fortress Mon
roe and to defend him against the
charge of treason. O'Conor was
nominated on the first ballot by a
vote of 600 to four and for their
vice-president they named John
Quincy Adams of Massachusetts.
Immediately after the balloting
O'Conor was notified by telegraph
of his nomination and at once de-
clined to accept it. The convention
was thrown into an uproar and an
attempt was mace to give the hon.
or to the permanent chairman,
James Lyon of Virginia, but he
refused. So the convention adopt
ed a resolution reiterating the Sc
lection of O'Conor and Adams and
Immediately adjourned. In the
election which followed O'Conor
and Adams received %, 489 votes
scattered through % states. This
was not an impressive showing but
the "Greeleyites'' did little better
and the $4,000 had the satisfaction
of knowing that they had been true
to plank in their platform which
read I'VE welcome an eternal mi
nority under the banner inscribed
with our principles rather than
an almighty and everlasting ma
jority purchased by their abandon
ment."