Show little bandwagon band wagon journeys by L T MERILL ca E 1028 1928 western newspaper Nowa paper union i 12 clays presidential disappointments T may be a good deal of com e ady dy in a national convention but buck back of the hie blare did hullabaloo frequently lie sonic disappointment and shattered eted hopes for men whose lifelong aspiration has been election to the highest ollice office in the land such was the live tragedy of bialke ot of webster of clay of cryan bryan men who all repeatedly strove for the honor and lost so some e of our greatest statesmen never have risen to the highest eseau the position to which their talents and genius tn untitled titled them thus with the groat great triumvirate who mho dominated congressional politics tor for three decades prior to the civil war webster clay and calhoun acry ei cry one of them was of presidential caliber every one of them nurtured presidential ambit ambitions tons but all of them largely because of the tha and strength of their statesmanship were thrust aside by their parties for lesser men whose chief merit wa that theli their colorless politics had stirred no antagonism and made them more aval available lable 1 I would rather be right than be president henry clay Is report ei to hae baie said nevertheless lie he accepted repeated rejections by his party with utmost disappointment in 1824 probably the votes of but a single state louisiana Loul stana prevented clay from being president no candidate in that year won a majority in the electoral college the election from among the three who stood highest e 1 in n t lie e electoral vote had to be ba esron t thrown i n into the house of represents thes there clay was speaker and the most influential and popular member lack of only four electoral votes prevented him film from being among tile the three presidential candidates to be voted upon in the house though destined not to be president he proved to be the president maker in that year scar still further disappointments were in store tor for tile the kentuckian Kentuck lan its statement about preferring rightness to election was made only a short time before the first whig national convention of 1839 at harrisburg pa ila but when that body by shrewd ma of new york politicians pushed clay aide abide and nominated the simple old hero of tippecanoe IG general I 1 n clays rage was unbounded but cla clay was loyal ional to his party to the extent of stumping for barrison f though he declined a proffered place in the old heros cabinet in order to be independent of his politics four years later after harrison had died and whig policies had gone askew under the apostate regime of 0 president tyler clay was unanimously nominated by the lahl whigs s in 1844 at a most enthusiastic convention but the election was to prove the melancholy truth of his plaint that lie be was permitted to run only in the years when defeat was sure the victory of the democrats with poll polk n dark horse candidate of mediocre reputation and talents compared with clays stunned the whigs A national wall went through the land clays wisconsin biographer cart carl schurz writes tears flowed in abundance from the eyes of men and women in the cities and villages the business places were almost deserted for a day or two people gathering together in groups to discuss in low tones what had happened neither did the victorious democrats indulge in the usual demonstrations of triumph h there was a feeling as if a great wrong had been done many despaired of the republic sincerely believing that the experiment of popular government had failed forever clay shared these gloomy views declaring the late blow that has fallen upon our country Is very heavy and bewailing that it would be a long time ere the people would recover from the corrupting influence and effects of Jackson Jacksonl Ism sm after this defeat clay withdrew with to his country estate ashland where he received constant demonstrations of the affection affect lon of his party but another war hero was to block his path again cen zachary taylor a southern planter who never had voted in his bis life and had bad no political talents was nominated by the whig con of 1818 1843 solely because of popularity be had won in the mexican war clays own state kentucky figured strongly in the movement for taylor again clay considered he had bad been betrayed by his friends it was a bitter disappointment to the old man then in his seventy first year the limit of clays magnanimity and patience had been reached and he be refused to support this new old hero as lie had supported general harrlson harrison eight years earlier resident president P taylor like garrison parr lson died in office and the whigs suffered new re reverses ve with a democratic defeat at the end of the term of millard fill more who as taylors taylora vice president succeeded him clay wracked cracked by consumption and I 1 burdened by disappointment lived to se serve r ve his party and his country by brin bringing ing forth one last great legislative compromise in an effort to post i pone civil war and save the union |