Evening star., 1936-05-19
Not a Candidate.

National Convention former President
Herbert Hoover announces that he is
not a candidate for the presidential
nomination. This, indeed, has been the
position of the former President for
many months. He has insisted again and
again that his sole interest in the CAM
paign is to arouse the country to the
dangers which confront it from the
Roosevelt New Deal. That he has done
much so to arouse the country many
will testify. His speeches, broadcast
from one end of the land to the other,
have been mastery discussions of the
issues of the day, with vein of biting
sarcasm
Mr.. Hoover as a potential candidate
for the presidential nomination, how
ever, has continued in the discussions
of the future of the Republican party.
Whether his present announcement will
put final quietus on these discussions
so far as they affect Mr.. Hoover is
questionable. Certainly Mr.. Hoover has
refrained from seeking delegates to the
national convention instructed to vote
for his nomination for President. Never
theless, Mr.. Hoover has not said he would
decline the nomination If it came to him.
And that, after all, is the sole statement
that puts an end to all rumors that
possible contender for the nomination
may yet be found in the race.
The announcement of Mr.. Hoover that
he is not candidate was made in entire
good faith. And as such it will be
accepted by his friends. He says also
that he is mot opposing any Of the
candidates" Doubtless this part Of his
statement was made in answer to re-
ports he was ready to form an alliance
with Senator William e. Borah and
others to prevent the nomination Of
Gov. Alfred NJ Landon of Kansas.
MIR. Hoover, however, sets considerable
store by the fact that the great ma
jority of the delegates to the Republican
National Convention are "uninstructed."
unpledged by action Of convention or
primary to any Of the aspirants for the
presidential nomination. They will be
sent to the convention, he says, to find
the right thing to do for the country in
the crisis which confronts it. For
months Mr.. Hoover has contended that
the delegates to the national convention
should be Of the highest type and they
should be left free to use their best
judgment in the selection of a presi-
Dental candidate. His wish for an
"uninstructed" group of delegates has
been fulfilled.
Mr.. Hoover's immediate predecessor
in the White House, the late Calvin
Coolidge. announced a year before the
Republican National Convention con-
vened in 1928: II do not choose to run"
For year the country debated the intent
of that announcement. On the one hand
it was held that Mr. Coolidge had taken
himself definitely out of the race. On
the other it was argued that II Mr..
Coolidge had no desire to re-enter the
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and more specific language. Whatever
he may have had in mind, the Coolidge
announcement prevented his renomina-
ton, and probably nothing else could
have done. 50.
What the Republican National Con-
vention may do next month when it
meets in Cleveland is still in the lap
Of the gods. What meeting of un-.
instructed minds will bring forth in the
nature of candidates remains to be
seen. Some shudder at the thought.
Despite the efforts of Mr.. Hoover, in
many States preferences have been ex-
pressed for specific candidates, and it
Is increasingly likely that the delegates,
after all, will listen to the advice Of the
people.