Letters and Literary Memorials of Samuel J. Tilden, v. 1Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones)
History
Letters and Literary Memorials of Samuel J. Tilden, v. 1
Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones)
Tilden, Samuel J. (Samuel Jones), 1814-1886
Senator Wright yielded very reluctantly to the irresistible pressure
of both divisions of his party that he should accept the nomination
tendered him for Governor at the fall election of 1844. It was apparent
to the friends of Mr. Polk that he could not carry the State of New
York without the support of the friends of Mr. Van Buren and Wright,
and no less of a sacrifice than the transfer of Mr. Wright from the
Senate to the Governorship could make the State reasonably secure for
the Presidential ticket. How reluctantly Mr. Wright yielded to this
pressure is not to be measured solely by his far-sighted doubt of its
policy and of the advantages of a victory for the Slavery-Extension
party at that time. He had other reasons of a domestic nature presented
some three years before in a most pathetic and touching letter
addressed to Mr. Tilden's father.[5]
The logic of the situation presented by Mr. Wright's nomination for
Governor in 1844 required that he should by his election save the
Presidential ticket and then "succeed President Polk in 1848 or retire
from public life," and Mr. Marcy to defeat Mr. Wright's re-election
as Governor, or himself retire from public life. It was practically
to engage in such a duel that Mr. Wright went to Albany and took the
oath of office on the 1st of January, 1845. He had in his favor a great
parliamentary reputation, and a character for wisdom, probity, and
political sagacity, enjoyed in a superior degree by no other American
statesman of his generation.
On the other hand, he had to contend with an administration in whose
eyes all these virtues, when enlisted against slavery, were regarded
only as so many additional reasons for crushing their possessor. He
had also to contend with a very considerable number who still called
themselves Democrats, but who had deserted the party from mistrust of
the success of its financial policy, and who were impatient to recover
some sort of party standing.
Mr. Tilden engaged in this canvass for President Polk with more zeal
than in any other except, perhaps, the last, in which he was himself a
candidate, and in both instances was betrayed by his party.
Not the least efficient of his services in this campaign was the
establishment of the _Daily News_ in connection with John L. O'Sullivan.
O'SULLIVAN'S PLAN AND ESTIMATE IN REGARD TO THE "MORNING NEWS."
"_July 13, 1844._
"Outline of plan of arrangement for the paper between S. J. Tilden and
J. L. O'S.--proposed by me.
"J. L. O'S.
"1. The entire concern to be owned in equal halves by S. J. T. and J.
L. O'S.
"2. Any disagreement of opinion ever arising, if requiring a decision,
and irreconcilable by discussion, to be determined by reference to B.
F. B. or some other friend, unprejudiced in the matter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account