| Show little band bandwagon wagon journeys by L T MERRILL a 1928 western newspaper andoni 13 webster 3 presidential aspirations HARDLY ARDLY lessenger less eager tor for presidential honors than alian henry clay was that other illustrious member of the whig party daniel webster though on two occasions he be had to play second fiddle to clay it was true with web ster as with the great compromiser from tennessee that too many mill tary heroes were the chief stumbling blocks to liis ills presidential ambit ambitions lons clay was as passed over three times by ills party for old generals web ster bad to stand aside four our times while military men of mediocre ocre political ical ability become became the nominees of ills nl party arid and the lie biting irony of it in websters case was that on two occasions lie thrust away from him what would have bare meant a term in the white louse elouse alien he refused to accept proffered nominations for the vice presidency As tle the lincoln douglas debates made lincoln nn an inevitable republican candidate in 1800 so daniel websters famous reply to senator hayne of south carolina in 0 on the subject of nullification marked him a at t one once as a presidential possibility with na tion wide fame however he stepped aside in 1832 for clay the latter lat s defeat ambitions whetted het tea websters ambitions for 1830 1836 but in that year gen william henry harrison got the nomination on the strength of ills his military reputation webster was confident conS dent of the nomination roar four years later 1 I think I 1 shall he be the whig nominee he declared cut but thurlow weed astute new york political boss expressed doubt it looks to me like harrison he said and ll lI arrison it was when asked whether he would be a running mate on the ticket with the general in 1 1840 webster proudly declined had find he been willing to run ma he would have been president a month after the inauguration for old tip died within that short time after assuming office the nearest webster came to being president that year was waa in helping harrison revise ills his inauguration address killing off a number of the roman proconsuls pro consuls with which the hero of tippecanoe had filled his speech webster declared tie lie was not a candidate in 1844 but in 1843 1848 he hod had ghigli hi h hopes of tt inning the coveted p prize again lie be thought he had ii 11 within ills his grasp but again thurl weed prophesied to him that nn another oilier old soldier gen zachary taylor would get the nomination wily why taylor Is an illiterate frontier colonel who voted for forty years 1 webster exclaimed in sur prise once more it was proposed that he be accept the vice presidential nomination and once more webster declined his eyes firmly fixed on the higher prize again the Pies president ident died while in office and daniel webster would have been president had he been content to take second place on the ticket F four our years later webster still fondly cherished the hope of being the whig nominee but yet another military man blocked the way gen winfield scott was the whig standard bearer in 1852 and webster whose famous seventh of march speech with its compromising attitude on slavery had alienated large groups of northern supporters polled only 32 votes out of a total of in the convention clay when thrust aside for harrison in nevertheless supported him in his election canvass but he balked at supporting taylor webster who had supported both lson and taylor finally balked at supporting scott the great new england orator took his final convention defeat with almost funereal solemnity it may have been his death blow for he left washington soon afterward and died a few weeks later on his farm in massachusetts chu ebu the whig party was dying too and in the next campaign was to appear the newborn new born republican party chat chal tending slavery rising to victory in its second campaign and beginning a long and for the most part successful dual struggle with the democratic party which up to that time had bad had little really effective opposition tor for the presidency |
