OCR Text |
Show FIVE MINUTE CHATS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS Dy JAMES MORGAN r " JAMES A. GARFIELD O Q 1831 Nov. 19, James Abram Garfield, born at Orange, Ohio. 1858-61 President of Hiram College. 1858 Married Lucretia Rudolph. 1860 Member of Ohio Senato. 1861 Colonel in Ohio Volunteers. Volun-teers. 1862 Brigadier General. 1863 Major General. 1863-80 In Congress. 1880 Elected to the United States Senate. 1880 lune 7, nominated for President by Republican Convention at Chicago. November, elected President, Presi-dent, On Q JAMES ABKAM GARFIELD was the latest and, it is fairly safe to say, the last of the presidents born and bred In log cabins. Notwithstanding that humble state, he was one of the half-dozen scholarly men who have sat In the presidential chair. Garfield Is the only president who was present at his own nomination. The presidential lightning struck him as he sat in his seat in that most extraordinary ex-traordinary and exciting national convention con-vention which met at Chicago in 1SS0. All the "Stalwart" clans, believing with a St. Louis editor that there was "one more president in the blooly shirt," seized upon the great name of Grant, and under the banner of the "Hero of a. s- j i James A. Garfield. Appomattox" they rallied against the "Half Breeds" who followed "the Plumed Knight," James G. Blaine of Maine.K The rival champions in that remarkable remark-able tournament at Chicago were Ros-soe Ros-soe Conkling, chieftain of the "Stalwarts," "Stal-warts," and James A. Garfield of Ohio, the spokesman of the "Half Breeds," although he was restrained from directly di-rectly supporting Blaine by the instructions instruc-tions of his state in favor of the nomination nomi-nation of John Sherman. Conkling, a handsome fop, carefully studied the right moment to make his theatrical entry upon the stage the first day, drawing the applause as lie advanced down the aisle with his "grandiloquent swell, his majestic supereminent, overpowering, over-powering, turkey gobbler strut," which Blaine had held up to the laughter of congress years before In a never-to-be-forgiven speech. The next day Garfield Gar-field took his revenge by entering while Conkling was speaking, and the welcoming wel-coming cheers drowned the voice of lie indignant speaker. On the third day the two came to grips In a de-hate de-hate and the Ohioan scored on the New Yorker. While the gallery still was cheering cheer-ing the victor in that round, Conkling wrote on the margin of a newspaper and sent to Garfield a mocking suggestion sugges-tion that he was playing to the gallery gal-lery In his own interest: "I congratulate congrat-ulate you on being a dark horse I" In truth Garfield could not rise in the convention without helping himself him-self more than he helped Sherman, who never had a chance to win. As ballot after ballot was taken, it became be-came plain that neither the- "immortal 306" who followed Grant nor the deafening deaf-ening cheers which his name evoked could overcome the prejudice against a third term in the White House, and It was made equally plain that this "Old Guard" never would surrender to Blaine. A new candidate was necessary if j the convention was not to fall to I pieces in factions. One solitary vote1 for GHrfleld on most of the ballots had ! continued to point the finger of destiny des-tiny at him. Wisconsin pointed all her fingers in his direction when her delegation dele-gation broke to him on the thirty-fourth thirty-fourth ballot. Garfield rose witti pallid face and dry lips to a point of order. But Sen-! ator Hoar of Massachusetts, who was In the chair, rapped him down. In two : more ballots he was nominated by a ' combination of the Blaine and Sherman Sher-man men. In the midst of the uproar the nominee nomi-nee sat limp and perspiring in his seat. "Get me out of here," he faintly whispered whis-pered to his seatmate, Ex-Governor Voster of Ohio. j ASSASSINATION OF GARFIELD O Q 1881 March 4, James A. Garfield, Gar-field, inaugurated 20th president, aged fifty. Mar. 23, sent to senate the nomination of federal officers In New York City. May 16, the senate con. firmed the nominations. May 17, Senators Conkling Conk-ling and Piatt resigned. July 2, Garfield shot by Charles J. Guiteau at Washington. Sept 6. Removed to Elberon N,. J., Sept. 19, died, aged fifty. 1882 June 30, Guiteau hanged. O Q JAMES A. GARFIELD fell a sacrifice sacri-fice to the spirit of faction and of the spoils system. Although this gentle, gen-tle, kindly man was not of the heroic stuff that martyrs are made of, his blood became the seed of better things In our politics. Rarely If ever has a president taken up the burden of the office with a larger larg-er measure of good will from the people, peo-ple, regardless of party and of faction, fac-tion, than flowed out to Garfield as he stood on the. steps of the capitol in the sunshine of his Inaugural day, the picture of robust American manhood in Its prime. His first kiss, after kissing kiss-ing the Bible in the presence of a multitude of witnesses, was for the aged mother, who, in a forest hut, had started him on his way to the, White House and who held a place oi honor beside the schoolmate sweetheart who had been his faithful companion all along the road. " 'One thing though lackest yet,' and that is a slight ossification of the heart," John Hay had written to the president-elect. This lack was fatal. Had his heart been harder, Garfield would have made his administration wholly his own, lifting it above factions, fac-tions, and he might have lived through a prosperous term. Instead, he remained re-mained his few months in the White House what he had been in congress, a lieutenant of Blaine, whom he appointed ap-pointed to the secretaryship of state "with the love of a comradeship of eighteen years" and who became at once the power behind the throne. The only president to step directly from the capitol to the White House, he was without executive experience or tastes. His whole training had been to debate and compromise, not to act or decide on his sole responsibility. Garfield himself was rather indifferent indiffer-ent to factions, liking to get along with all men. He appreciated Conkling's reluctant but timely support in the campaign and invited him out to Mentor Men-tor in the winter to talk over the New York patronage. He thought of inviting invit-ing him into the cabinet itself, until Blaine whispered no. Less than three weeks after he took his seat, Garfield told the senator that he was not yet ready to consider the question of filling the New York offices. of-fices. Only 4S hours afterward, he filled fill-ed them, nominating for the highest of those offices Blaine's best friend and Conkling's worst enemy in New York. With Garfield's hand, Blaine had thrown down the gauntlet to the haughty chieftain of the "Stalwart" clan and a duel of factions was on In blind fury. The administration succeeded suc-ceeded in beating Conkling in the senate, sen-ate, where he opposed the confirmation confirma-tion of the offensive nominee. But the senator and his colleague. Thomas C. Lucretia R. Garfield. Piatt, resigned their seats and appealed appeal-ed to the New York legislature to reelect re-elect them as a vindication of their course. When the conflict was bitterest and when the "Stalwarts" were losing at Albany, a disappointed place hunter at Washington, Charles J. Guiteau, conceived con-ceived the mad idea of saving the situation sit-uation with a pistol shot, and he posted tiimself at the railway station, where his victim was to take a train fur Massachusetts. Mas-sachusetts. The president was going back to Williams college, the goal of his struggling youth, and was smiling like a boy otf for a vacation as he entered the waiting room at the railway rail-way station with Blaine at his side. In two Hashes of a revolver be fell. ! (Copyright, by James Morgan |