"The man whose name I shall place in nomination," he said, "does not
hail from any particular State; he hails from the United States. It is
not necessary to nominate a man that can carry Michigan. Any Republican
can carry Michigan. You should nominate a man that can carry New York.
That man is U.S. Grant."
Mr. Blaine's name was placed in nomination by a delegate from Michigan
by the name of Joy. His effort did not come up to public expectation.
The eloquent speech of Senator Frye, of Maine, who seconded the
nomination, made up in part for the public disappointment in Mr. Joy's
effort. The name of Secretary John Sherman was placed before the
Convention in one of General Garfield's most powerful and convincing
efforts. It is safe to say that the speech delivered by General Garfield
on that occasion made him the nominee of that convention. After drawing
an eloquent and vivid picture of the kind of man that should be made
President,--with the intention of naming John Sherman as the man thus
described,--he asked in a tone of voice that was pitched in a high key:
"Who is that man?"
The response came from different parts of the hall, "Garfield."
And sure enough it was Garfield. After a number of fruitless ballots it
became apparent that neither of the three leading candidates could
possibly be nominated. Very few, if any, of the Grant men would at any
time go to either Blaine or Sherman. Very few, if any, of the Sherman
men would go to Blaine, while Blaine men could not in any considerable
numbers, be induced to go either to Grant or Sherman. While a number of
Sherman men would have supported Grant in preference to Blaine, there
were not enough of them, even with the Grant men, to constitute a
majority. When Garfield's name was suggested as a compromise candidate
he was found to be acceptable to both the Blaine and the Sherman men as
well as to some of the Grant men, who had abandoned all hope of Grant's
nomination. The result was that Garfield was finally made the unanimous
choice of the convention. The New York delegation, being allowed to name
the man for Vice-President, nominated Chester A. Arthur, of that State.
Although General Garfield was nominated as a compromise candidate his
election was by no means a foregone conclusion. The Democrats had
nominated a strong and popular man, General W.S. Hancock, one of the
most brilliant and successful generals in the Union Army. Associated on
the ticket with him was a popular Indiana Democrat, William H. English.
It looked for a while as if Democratic success were reasonably certain,
especially after the September State and Congressional elections in the
State of Maine, the result of which was virtually a Democratic victory.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account