September 2, 2025 • 20 mins
After the American Civil War, John R. Lynch, a former slave from Mississippi, embarked on an extraordinary political journey starting in 1869 as Justice of the Peace and later becoming a Mississippi State Representative. At just 26 years old, he was elected to the US Congress in 1873, where he actively championed several important bills, including a pivotal debate supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1875, aimed at ending discrimination in public accommodations. In 1884, Lynch made history as the first African American nominated for the position of Temporary Chairman of the Republican National Convention in Chicago, following a stirring speech by Theodore Roosevelt. His service continued during the Spanish-American War as he held roles such as Treasury Auditor and Paymaster. After joining the Regular Army in 1901, Lynch served in various locations, including the United States, Cuba, and the Philippines, before retiring in 1911. He married Cora Williams and settled in Chicago, where he practiced law and engaged in real estate. Upon his death in Chicago in 1939 at the age of 92, he was honored with a military burial in Arlington National Cemetery, a testament to his dual legacy as a Congressman and veteran. In his later years, Lynch authored a significant work, The Facts of Reconstruction, along with several articles that challenged the prevailing Dunning School historiography, which minimized the contributions of African Americans during Reconstruction. Drawing from his firsthand experiences in Reconstruction-era governments, Lynchs book serves as an essential primary source for understanding this transformative period in American history. (Introduction by Guero and Wikipedia.)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twenty two of the Facts of Reconstruction. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Guerto The Facts of Reconstruction by John R. Lynch,
(00:21):
Chapter twenty two. The National Campaign of eighteen eighty four.
When the forty seventh Congress expired March fourth, eighteen eighty three,
I returned to my home at Natchez, Mississippi. Eighteen eighty
four was the year of the presidential election. Early in
the year, it was made clear that there was to
(00:44):
be a bitter fight for the presidential nomination. President Arthur
was a candidate to succeed himself, but mister Blaine, it
was conceded, would be the leading candidate. Before the convention.
Senator John Sherman was also a candidate. It was generally
believed that Senator Edmonds of Vermont would get a majority
(01:07):
of the delegates from the New England states. Mister Blaine
was weaker in his own section New England than in
any other part of the country except the South. The South, however,
had somewhat relented in its opposition to him as previously stated,
in consequence of which he had a stronger support from
(01:28):
that section than in any of his previous contests for
the nomination. To this fact may be attributed his nomination
by the Convention. That support, it was believed, was due
more to a deference to public opinion at the North,
the section that must be depended upon to elect the ticket,
(01:49):
than confidence in mister Blaine. The delegation from my own state, Mississippi, was,
with one exception, solid in its support of President Arthur.
The one exception was Honorable H. C. Powers, one of
the delegates from the first District. Two active, aggressive, able,
(02:11):
and brilliant young men had just entered the field of
national politics, both of them having been elected delegates to
this convention. Those men were Theodore Roosevelt of New York
and H. C. Lodge of Massachusetts. Both were vigorously opposed
to the nomination of mister Blaine. Roosevelt's election as a
(02:34):
delegate from New York was in the nature of a
national surprise. Mister Blaine was believed to be very strong
in that state. The public, therefore, was not prepared for
the announcement that Theodore Roosevelt an anti Blaine Man had
defeated Senator Warner Miller, the able and popular leader of
(02:55):
the Blaine forces in that state, as delegate to the
National Convention from the state at large. The Blame leaders
were brought to a realization of the fact that, in
consequence of their unexpected defeat in New York, it was
absolutely necessary in order to make sure of the nomination
of their candidate to retain the support they had among
(03:18):
the Southern delegates. With that end in view, the National Committee,
in which the Blain Men had a majority, selected a
Southern man, Honorable Powell Clayton of Arkansas, for temporary chairmen
of the Convention. The anti Blaine Men, under the leadership
of Missrs Roosevelt Lodge, Whore, Hannah, George William Curtis, and others,
(03:46):
decided to select another Southern man to run against Clayton.
For that purpose, a conference was held composed of many
of the active supporters of Arthur Sherman and Edmunds to
select the man to put up against Clayton. I did
not attend the conference. Senator Whore suggested my name and
(04:09):
insisted that I was the man best fitted for the position.
After a brief discussion, it was decided unanimously to select me.
A committee was appointed, of which ex Governor Pinchback of
Louisiana was chairman, to wait on me and inform me
of what had been done, and to assist upon my
(04:30):
acceptance of the distinguished honor which had thus been conferred
upon me. Another committee was appointed, of which Honorable M. A.
Hannah of Ohio was chairman, to poll the convention to
find out the strength of the movement. This committee subsequently
reported that Clayton would be defeated and Lynch elected by
(04:53):
a majority of about thirty five votes. For two reasons,
I had some doubt about the propriety of allowing my
name to be thus used. First, I doubted the wisdom
of the movement. It had been the uniform custom to
allow the National Committee to select the temporary chairman of
(05:14):
the Convention, and I was inclined to the opinion that
a departure from that custom might not be a wise step. Second,
I did not think it could possibly win. My opinion
was that a number of delegates that might otherwise vote
for me could not be induced to vote in favor
of breaking what had been a custom since the organization
(05:37):
of the party. I did not come to a definite
decision until the morning of the day that the Convention
was to be organized. Just before that body was called
to order, I decided to confer with Major William mc
kinley and Honorable M. A. Hannah of Ohio and act
upon their advice. Mc kinley was for Blamee and Hannah
(06:01):
was for Sherman. But my confidence in the two men
was such that I believed their advice would not be
influenced by their personal preference for the presidential nomination. I
did not know at that time that mister Hannah had
taken an active part in the deliberations of the conference
that resulted in my selection for temporary Chairman of the Convention.
(06:25):
I first consulted Major mc kinley. I had served with
him in Congress and had become very much attached to him.
He frankly stated that since he was a blame man,
he would be obliged to vote against me. But he
told me that this was an opportunity that comes to
a man but once in a lifetime. If you decline,
(06:46):
he said, the anti blame men will probably put up
some one else who would no doubt receive the same
vote that you would. Receive if it is possible for
them to elect any one. I know of no man
I would rather have them thus honor than you. While
therefore I shall vote against you and hope you will
(07:07):
not be elected, simply because I am a blain Man,
and a vote for you means a vote against Blaine,
I shall not advise you to decline the use of
your name. I then approached mister Hannah, who appeared to
be surprised that I hesitated about consenting to the use
of my name. We have you elected, he said, by
(07:29):
a majority of about thirty five. You cannot decline the
use of your name for two reasons. First, since we
know we have the votes necessary to elect you, should
you now decline, the public would never believe otherwise than
that you had been improperly influenced. This you cannot afford.
(07:50):
In the second place, it would not be treating us fairly.
We have selected you in perfect good faith, with the
expectation that you would allow your name to be thus used,
or if not, you would have declined in ample time
to enable us to reconvene and select some one else.
To decline now on the eve of the election, when
(08:12):
it is impossible for us. To confer and agree upon
another man for the position would be manifestly unfair to us,
as well as to your own candidate for the presidential nomination,
whose chances may be injuriously affected thereby. This argument was
both impressive and effective. I then and there decided to
(08:35):
allow my name to be used. I learned afterwards that
it was under the direction and management of mister Hannah
that the Convention had been so carefully and accurately polled,
that his poll was entirely correct was demonstrated by the result.
This also established the fact that as an organizer, mister
(08:56):
Hannah was a master, which was subsequently proved when he
managed mister mc kinley's campaign both for the nomination and
election to the presidency. In eighteen ninety six, When the
Convention was called to order and the announcement was made
that the National Committee had selected Honorable Powell Clayton of
(09:16):
Arkansas for temporary Chairman of the Convention, an attractive young
man in the Massachusetts delegation was recognized by the chair.
He gave his name as H. C. Lodge. He said,
he rose to place the name of another gentleman in nomination,
and after making a neat and appropriate speech in commendation
(09:38):
of his candidate, a speech that created a very favorable impression.
He named ex Congressman John R. Lynch of Mississippi, whom
he believed to be a suitable man for the position.
The ball was then opened. This was an indication of
a combination of the field against Blaine. Any speeches were
(10:00):
made on both sides, but they were temperate in tone
and free from bitterness. Among those that spoke in support
of my candidacy were misters Theodore Roosevelt and George William
Curtis of New York. When the debate was over, the
chairmen directed that the states be called in alphabetical order,
(10:22):
the role of the delegates from each state to be called,
so as to allow each individual delegate to cast his
own vote. When Mississippi was reached, I joined with H. C. Powers,
the Blain member of the delegation, in voting for Clayton.
The result was just about what mister Hannah said it
(10:43):
would be. The Blain men were discouraged and the anti
Blain Men were jubilant. It was claimed by the latter,
and apprehended by the former, that it was indicative of
mister Blaine's defeat for the nomination. It certainly looked that way,
but the result of the election for the temporary chairmanship
(11:03):
proved to be misleading. Mister Hannah's poll was not to
find out how many delegates would vote for the nomination
of mister Blaine, but how many would vote for Lynch
for temporary chairman. On that point, his poll was substantially accurate.
It was assumed that every blain Man would vote for
mister Clayton. This is where the mistake was made. It
(11:27):
turned out that there were some blain Men, especially from
the South, that voted for Lynch. The result therefore was
not as it was hoped it would be an accurate
test of the strength of the Blaine and anti Blaine
forces in the Convention. Since my election had not been anticipated,
(11:48):
at least by me, my speech of acceptance was necessarily brief.
I presided over the deliberations of the Convention the greater
part of two days, when Honorable John B. Henderson of
Missouri was introduced as the permanent chairman. This is the
same Henderson who, as a Republican United States Senator from Missouri,
(12:11):
voted against the conviction of President Andrew Johnson who had
been impeached by the House of Representatives for high crimes
and misdemeanors in office. The Democratic Senators needed but seven
votes from the Republican side of the chamber to prevent conviction.
They succeeded in getting the exact number, Senator Henderson being one,
(12:34):
He appears to have been the only one of that
number that politically survived that act. All others soon passed
into political oblivion, although several of them subsequently identified themselves
with the Democratic Party. While it may be said that
Senator Henderson survived the act, it is true that his
(12:55):
election as a delegate to the National Republican Convention of
eighteen eighty five and his selection as the permanent chairman
thereof are the only prominent illustrations of that fact. During
the deliberations of the convention, mister Bishop, one of the
delegates from Massachusetts, introduced a resolution to change the basis
(13:18):
of representation in future national conventions of the party. His
plan was to make the number of Republican votes caste counted,
certified and returned at the last preceding national election the
basis of representation in succeeding national conventions. Honorable W. O.
(13:41):
Bradley of Kentucky led off in a very able, eloquent,
and convincing speech in opposition to the resolution. The colored
delegates from the South selected me to present their side
of the question. For that purpose, I was recognized by
the Chair and spoke against the resolution. In the first place,
(14:05):
I called attention to the fact that if elections were
fair and the official count honest in every state, the
probabilities were that there would be no occasion for the
proposed change. That the change proposed would result in a
material reduction in the representation in future conventions, chiefly from
(14:26):
Southern states. Was because the greater part of the Republican
votes in some of said states were suppressed by violence
or nullified by fraud. The effect of the change proposed
would be simply to make such questionable methods the basis
of representation in future Republican national conventions. This, I claimed,
(14:50):
the Republican Party could not afford to do. At the
conclusion of my remarks, the resolution was withdrawn by its author,
mister Bishop, who came over to my seat and congratulated
me upon the way in which I had presented the case,
stating at the same time that my speech had convinced
him that his proposition was a mistake. After a hotly
(15:14):
contested fight, mister Blaine was finally nominated. Senator John A.
Logan of Illinois was named as the candidate for vice president.
It looked as if the time had at least come
when the brilliant statesman from Maine would have the acme
of his ambition completely realized. I was honored by the
(15:36):
delegation from my state with being made a member of
the National Committee and also a member of the committee
that was named to wait on mister Blaine and notify
him officially of his nomination. The notification committee went all
the way to mister Blaine's home, Augusta Mayne, to discharge
that duty. The ceremony of notification took place in mister
(16:01):
Blaine's front yard. The weather was fine. The notification speech
was delivered by the chairman, Senator Henderson, to which mister
Blaine briefly responded, promising to make a more lengthy reply
in the form of a letter of acceptance. At the
conclusion of the ceremony, he called me to one side
(16:22):
and asked what was the outlook in Mississippi. I informed
him that he could easily carry the state by a
substantial majority if he could have a fair election and
an honest count, but that under the existing order of
things this would not be possible, and that the state
would be returned against him. Oh no, he replied, you
(16:46):
are mistaken about that. Mister Lamar will see that I
get a fair count in Mississippi. I confess that this
remark surprised me very much. Mister Blaine, I replied, you
may understand the political situation in Mississippi better than I do,
but I know whereof I speak When I say that
(17:08):
mister Lamar would not if he could and could not
if he would secure you a fair count in Mississippi,
the state will be returned against you. You will find,
he said, that you are mistaken. Mister Lamar will see
that I get a fair count in Mississippi. Mister Lamar
(17:29):
not only made an aggressive campaign against mister Blaine, but
it was chiefly through his influence and efforts that the
state was returned against mister Blaine by a very large majority.
And yet no one who knew mister Lamar could justly
accuse him of being an ingrate. He was essentially an
(17:50):
appreciative man, as he never failed to demonstrate whenever and
wherever it was possible for him to do so. No
one knew better than did mister Lamar that he was
under deep and lasting obligations to mister Blaine. But it
seems that with all his wisdom and political sagacity and foresight,
(18:12):
mister Blaine was unable to distinguish between a personal and
a political obligation. Mister Lamar felt that what mister Blaine
had done for him was personal, not political, and that
if his Lamar's hardy was in any respect, that the
beneficiary thereof it was merely incidental. At any rate, it
(18:34):
was utterly impossible for him to serve mister Blaine in
a political way. Had he made the effort to do so,
he not only would have subjected himself to the accusation
of party treachery, but it would have resulted in his
own political downfall. To expect any ambitious man to make
such a sacrifice as this was contrary to human nature.
(18:59):
The truth was that mister Blaine had been chiefly instrumental
in bringing about a condition of affairs at the South
which made it impossible for any of his Democratic or
Republican friends in that section to be of any material
service to him at the time he most needed them,
and yet he could not see this until it was
(19:21):
too late. In spite of this, he would have been
elected but for the fact that he lost the pivotal
state of New York by a small plurality about eleven
hundred and forty seven, the reasons for which have been
given in a previous chapter. It is therefore sad but
true that, by his own act, this able and brilliant
(19:43):
statesman like Henry Clay, died without having reached the acme
of his ambition, the presidency of the United States. End
of Chapter twenty two. Recording by Guido
Chapter twenty two of the Facts of Reconstruction. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Guerto The Facts of Reconstruction by John R. Lynch,
(00:21):
Chapter twenty two. The National Campaign of eighteen eighty four.
When the forty seventh Congress expired March fourth, eighteen eighty three,
I returned to my home at Natchez, Mississippi. Eighteen eighty
four was the year of the presidential election. Early in
the year, it was made clear that there was to
(00:44):
be a bitter fight for the presidential nomination. President Arthur
was a candidate to succeed himself, but mister Blaine, it
was conceded, would be the leading candidate. Before the convention.
Senator John Sherman was also a candidate. It was generally
believed that Senator Edmonds of Vermont would get a majority
(01:07):
of the delegates from the New England states. Mister Blaine
was weaker in his own section New England than in
any other part of the country except the South. The South, however,
had somewhat relented in its opposition to him as previously stated,
in consequence of which he had a stronger support from
(01:28):
that section than in any of his previous contests for
the nomination. To this fact may be attributed his nomination
by the Convention. That support, it was believed, was due
more to a deference to public opinion at the North,
the section that must be depended upon to elect the ticket,
(01:49):
than confidence in mister Blaine. The delegation from my own state, Mississippi, was,
with one exception, solid in its support of President Arthur.
The one exception was Honorable H. C. Powers, one of
the delegates from the first District. Two active, aggressive, able,
(02:11):
and brilliant young men had just entered the field of
national politics, both of them having been elected delegates to
this convention. Those men were Theodore Roosevelt of New York
and H. C. Lodge of Massachusetts. Both were vigorously opposed
to the nomination of mister Blaine. Roosevelt's election as a
(02:34):
delegate from New York was in the nature of a
national surprise. Mister Blaine was believed to be very strong
in that state. The public, therefore, was not prepared for
the announcement that Theodore Roosevelt an anti Blaine Man had
defeated Senator Warner Miller, the able and popular leader of
(02:55):
the Blaine forces in that state, as delegate to the
National Convention from the state at large. The Blame leaders
were brought to a realization of the fact that, in
consequence of their unexpected defeat in New York, it was
absolutely necessary in order to make sure of the nomination
of their candidate to retain the support they had among
(03:18):
the Southern delegates. With that end in view, the National Committee,
in which the Blain Men had a majority, selected a
Southern man, Honorable Powell Clayton of Arkansas, for temporary chairmen
of the Convention. The anti Blaine Men, under the leadership
of Missrs Roosevelt Lodge, Whore, Hannah, George William Curtis, and others,
(03:46):
decided to select another Southern man to run against Clayton.
For that purpose, a conference was held composed of many
of the active supporters of Arthur Sherman and Edmunds to
select the man to put up against Clayton. I did
not attend the conference. Senator Whore suggested my name and
(04:09):
insisted that I was the man best fitted for the position.
After a brief discussion, it was decided unanimously to select me.
A committee was appointed, of which ex Governor Pinchback of
Louisiana was chairman, to wait on me and inform me
of what had been done, and to assist upon my
(04:30):
acceptance of the distinguished honor which had thus been conferred
upon me. Another committee was appointed, of which Honorable M. A.
Hannah of Ohio was chairman, to poll the convention to
find out the strength of the movement. This committee subsequently
reported that Clayton would be defeated and Lynch elected by
(04:53):
a majority of about thirty five votes. For two reasons,
I had some doubt about the propriety of allowing my
name to be thus used. First, I doubted the wisdom
of the movement. It had been the uniform custom to
allow the National Committee to select the temporary chairman of
(05:14):
the Convention, and I was inclined to the opinion that
a departure from that custom might not be a wise step. Second,
I did not think it could possibly win. My opinion
was that a number of delegates that might otherwise vote
for me could not be induced to vote in favor
of breaking what had been a custom since the organization
(05:37):
of the party. I did not come to a definite
decision until the morning of the day that the Convention
was to be organized. Just before that body was called
to order, I decided to confer with Major William mc
kinley and Honorable M. A. Hannah of Ohio and act
upon their advice. Mc kinley was for Blamee and Hannah
(06:01):
was for Sherman. But my confidence in the two men
was such that I believed their advice would not be
influenced by their personal preference for the presidential nomination. I
did not know at that time that mister Hannah had
taken an active part in the deliberations of the conference
that resulted in my selection for temporary Chairman of the Convention.
(06:25):
I first consulted Major mc kinley. I had served with
him in Congress and had become very much attached to him.
He frankly stated that since he was a blame man,
he would be obliged to vote against me. But he
told me that this was an opportunity that comes to
a man but once in a lifetime. If you decline,
(06:46):
he said, the anti blame men will probably put up
some one else who would no doubt receive the same
vote that you would. Receive if it is possible for
them to elect any one. I know of no man
I would rather have them thus honor than you. While
therefore I shall vote against you and hope you will
(07:07):
not be elected, simply because I am a blain Man,
and a vote for you means a vote against Blaine,
I shall not advise you to decline the use of
your name. I then approached mister Hannah, who appeared to
be surprised that I hesitated about consenting to the use
of my name. We have you elected, he said, by
(07:29):
a majority of about thirty five. You cannot decline the
use of your name for two reasons. First, since we
know we have the votes necessary to elect you, should
you now decline, the public would never believe otherwise than
that you had been improperly influenced. This you cannot afford.
(07:50):
In the second place, it would not be treating us fairly.
We have selected you in perfect good faith, with the
expectation that you would allow your name to be thus used,
or if not, you would have declined in ample time
to enable us to reconvene and select some one else.
To decline now on the eve of the election, when
(08:12):
it is impossible for us. To confer and agree upon
another man for the position would be manifestly unfair to us,
as well as to your own candidate for the presidential nomination,
whose chances may be injuriously affected thereby. This argument was
both impressive and effective. I then and there decided to
(08:35):
allow my name to be used. I learned afterwards that
it was under the direction and management of mister Hannah
that the Convention had been so carefully and accurately polled,
that his poll was entirely correct was demonstrated by the result.
This also established the fact that as an organizer, mister
(08:56):
Hannah was a master, which was subsequently proved when he
managed mister mc kinley's campaign both for the nomination and
election to the presidency. In eighteen ninety six, When the
Convention was called to order and the announcement was made
that the National Committee had selected Honorable Powell Clayton of
(09:16):
Arkansas for temporary Chairman of the Convention, an attractive young
man in the Massachusetts delegation was recognized by the chair.
He gave his name as H. C. Lodge. He said,
he rose to place the name of another gentleman in nomination,
and after making a neat and appropriate speech in commendation
(09:38):
of his candidate, a speech that created a very favorable impression.
He named ex Congressman John R. Lynch of Mississippi, whom
he believed to be a suitable man for the position.
The ball was then opened. This was an indication of
a combination of the field against Blaine. Any speeches were
(10:00):
made on both sides, but they were temperate in tone
and free from bitterness. Among those that spoke in support
of my candidacy were misters Theodore Roosevelt and George William
Curtis of New York. When the debate was over, the
chairmen directed that the states be called in alphabetical order,
(10:22):
the role of the delegates from each state to be called,
so as to allow each individual delegate to cast his
own vote. When Mississippi was reached, I joined with H. C. Powers,
the Blain member of the delegation, in voting for Clayton.
The result was just about what mister Hannah said it
(10:43):
would be. The Blain men were discouraged and the anti
Blain Men were jubilant. It was claimed by the latter,
and apprehended by the former, that it was indicative of
mister Blaine's defeat for the nomination. It certainly looked that way,
but the result of the election for the temporary chairmanship
(11:03):
proved to be misleading. Mister Hannah's poll was not to
find out how many delegates would vote for the nomination
of mister Blaine, but how many would vote for Lynch
for temporary chairman. On that point, his poll was substantially accurate.
It was assumed that every blain Man would vote for
mister Clayton. This is where the mistake was made. It
(11:27):
turned out that there were some blain Men, especially from
the South, that voted for Lynch. The result therefore was
not as it was hoped it would be an accurate
test of the strength of the Blaine and anti Blaine
forces in the Convention. Since my election had not been anticipated,
(11:48):
at least by me, my speech of acceptance was necessarily brief.
I presided over the deliberations of the Convention the greater
part of two days, when Honorable John B. Henderson of
Missouri was introduced as the permanent chairman. This is the
same Henderson who, as a Republican United States Senator from Missouri,
(12:11):
voted against the conviction of President Andrew Johnson who had
been impeached by the House of Representatives for high crimes
and misdemeanors in office. The Democratic Senators needed but seven
votes from the Republican side of the chamber to prevent conviction.
They succeeded in getting the exact number, Senator Henderson being one,
(12:34):
He appears to have been the only one of that
number that politically survived that act. All others soon passed
into political oblivion, although several of them subsequently identified themselves
with the Democratic Party. While it may be said that
Senator Henderson survived the act, it is true that his
(12:55):
election as a delegate to the National Republican Convention of
eighteen eighty five and his selection as the permanent chairman
thereof are the only prominent illustrations of that fact. During
the deliberations of the convention, mister Bishop, one of the
delegates from Massachusetts, introduced a resolution to change the basis
(13:18):
of representation in future national conventions of the party. His
plan was to make the number of Republican votes caste counted,
certified and returned at the last preceding national election the
basis of representation in succeeding national conventions. Honorable W. O.
(13:41):
Bradley of Kentucky led off in a very able, eloquent,
and convincing speech in opposition to the resolution. The colored
delegates from the South selected me to present their side
of the question. For that purpose, I was recognized by
the Chair and spoke against the resolution. In the first place,
(14:05):
I called attention to the fact that if elections were
fair and the official count honest in every state, the
probabilities were that there would be no occasion for the
proposed change. That the change proposed would result in a
material reduction in the representation in future conventions, chiefly from
(14:26):
Southern states. Was because the greater part of the Republican
votes in some of said states were suppressed by violence
or nullified by fraud. The effect of the change proposed
would be simply to make such questionable methods the basis
of representation in future Republican national conventions. This, I claimed,
(14:50):
the Republican Party could not afford to do. At the
conclusion of my remarks, the resolution was withdrawn by its author,
mister Bishop, who came over to my seat and congratulated
me upon the way in which I had presented the case,
stating at the same time that my speech had convinced
him that his proposition was a mistake. After a hotly
(15:14):
contested fight, mister Blaine was finally nominated. Senator John A.
Logan of Illinois was named as the candidate for vice president.
It looked as if the time had at least come
when the brilliant statesman from Maine would have the acme
of his ambition completely realized. I was honored by the
(15:36):
delegation from my state with being made a member of
the National Committee and also a member of the committee
that was named to wait on mister Blaine and notify
him officially of his nomination. The notification committee went all
the way to mister Blaine's home, Augusta Mayne, to discharge
that duty. The ceremony of notification took place in mister
(16:01):
Blaine's front yard. The weather was fine. The notification speech
was delivered by the chairman, Senator Henderson, to which mister
Blaine briefly responded, promising to make a more lengthy reply
in the form of a letter of acceptance. At the
conclusion of the ceremony, he called me to one side
(16:22):
and asked what was the outlook in Mississippi. I informed
him that he could easily carry the state by a
substantial majority if he could have a fair election and
an honest count, but that under the existing order of
things this would not be possible, and that the state
would be returned against him. Oh no, he replied, you
(16:46):
are mistaken about that. Mister Lamar will see that I
get a fair count in Mississippi. I confess that this
remark surprised me very much. Mister Blaine, I replied, you
may understand the political situation in Mississippi better than I do,
but I know whereof I speak When I say that
(17:08):
mister Lamar would not if he could and could not
if he would secure you a fair count in Mississippi,
the state will be returned against you. You will find,
he said, that you are mistaken. Mister Lamar will see
that I get a fair count in Mississippi. Mister Lamar
(17:29):
not only made an aggressive campaign against mister Blaine, but
it was chiefly through his influence and efforts that the
state was returned against mister Blaine by a very large majority.
And yet no one who knew mister Lamar could justly
accuse him of being an ingrate. He was essentially an
(17:50):
appreciative man, as he never failed to demonstrate whenever and
wherever it was possible for him to do so. No
one knew better than did mister Lamar that he was
under deep and lasting obligations to mister Blaine. But it
seems that with all his wisdom and political sagacity and foresight,
(18:12):
mister Blaine was unable to distinguish between a personal and
a political obligation. Mister Lamar felt that what mister Blaine
had done for him was personal, not political, and that
if his Lamar's hardy was in any respect, that the
beneficiary thereof it was merely incidental. At any rate, it
(18:34):
was utterly impossible for him to serve mister Blaine in
a political way. Had he made the effort to do so,
he not only would have subjected himself to the accusation
of party treachery, but it would have resulted in his
own political downfall. To expect any ambitious man to make
such a sacrifice as this was contrary to human nature.
(18:59):
The truth was that mister Blaine had been chiefly instrumental
in bringing about a condition of affairs at the South
which made it impossible for any of his Democratic or
Republican friends in that section to be of any material
service to him at the time he most needed them,
and yet he could not see this until it was
(19:21):
too late. In spite of this, he would have been
elected but for the fact that he lost the pivotal
state of New York by a small plurality about eleven
hundred and forty seven, the reasons for which have been
given in a previous chapter. It is therefore sad but
true that, by his own act, this able and brilliant
(19:43):
statesman like Henry Clay, died without having reached the acme
of his ambition, the presidency of the United States. End
of Chapter twenty two. Recording by Guido
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