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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1920)
THE UMAnA, inunauAi, AriULi l, izu. FORMER SOLDIER PRESIDENTS ALL BUSINESS MEN Majority of Them Noted for Achievements Toward Pre venting War During Term of Office. By FRASER EDWARDS. Growing strength of sentiment for Gen. John J. Pershing as the com promise candidate best suited to al lay the danger to the republican party from the strife which has grown up between the candidates who have been actively seeking the nomination has served to call at tention to other leaders in our wars of the past, who have gone from the battlefield to the White House. Of all the soldiers who have been elected the chief civil' magistrate of the country; riot one has been chosen on , his . military record ftlone, and in addition to the spectac ular prominence accorded a mili tary leader in time of war each one of these soldier candidates were made their party standard- bearer be cause of some quality brought out under the acid test of war aside from purely military ability. In General Pershing's case this quality prominently brought out dur ing the war was business ability the successful management of Amer ica's greatest business enterprise, the A. E. F. This quality added to his world knowledge, and Europe's rec ognition of his ability and his sound Americanism, are points which will weigh heavily in his favor when, it becomes necessary to bring forward, a compromise candidate at Chicago, as now it seems certain will be nec essary. . History records that though our former soldier presidents have all been men of firmness; not one of them have been sword-rattlers and most of them have been noted for achievements toward preventing war while in office. The War for Independence gave us President Washington, the war of 1812 gave us Fresident Jackson, the Indian wars gave us President Wil liam Henry Harrison, the Mexican war gave us Presidents Taylor and Pierce, the Civil war gave us Presi dent Grant and the Spanish war gave us President Roosevelt. Lincoln, Garfield, Hayes, Benja min Harrison (md McKinley were former soldiers, and though they had long records in civil life the glamor hanging over their former service to their country on the battlefield was a tower of strength to their candidacies. -George Washington, whom the British refused to honor with a military title and persisted in dub bing "mister" until he had wrested from them their most valuable colonies, was chosen the first presi dent because in war he had demon strated a moral force and person ality which caused him to tower above all Americans of his time. Demanded Western Man. While it was the battle of New Orleans that loomed first in the mind of the voter when Andrew Jackson's name was mentioned in his winning campaign of 1828, there was another consideration largely responsible for the election of this red-headed Tenneseean. The west ern expansion of the country and the admittance of new states but recently erected out of the wilder ness had brought about a funda mental change in the attitud of the people toward the government. There was a demand for a man who knew the problems of the then western part of the country, just as the west today is demanding a man who understands its problems and has no western man among the sug gested compromise candidates ex cept Pershing of Nebraska. At any rate Jackson, the soldier, won in 1823. No .one like him had been prominent in the government before. He was in every sense a man of the people. Born poor, of Scotch-Irish parents, who had lately come from Ireland, he had had to fight his way since childhood. In him was the spirit of the pioneer, rude, honest and unafraid. Our next soldier president was William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, whose military prestige stood him in great stead. Harrison died a month after taking office. Elect Whig Candidate. The fourth military man to hold the presidency was Gen. Zachary Taylor, who had acquired his repu- . .1 r laiion in ine Mexican war. jne Whigs remembering their success eight years before with General Harrison, made Taylor their candi date because of his martial renown, then sat back and awaited events and the general came out on top. At the next presidential election, that of 1852, two military men were pitted against each other Gens. Franklin Pierce and Winfield Scott. Pierce was elected and was a suc cessful chief executive. The one military man to be badly defeated was Gen. George B. Mc Clellan, the organizer of the Army of the Potomac, who tried to cap italize a grouch in the election of 1864 when he accepted the demo cratic nomination to make a fight against President Lincoln. McClel lan felt he had not been given fair treatment when he had been re moved from command of the army which he had trained-. He received just 21 electoral votes to Lincoln's 212. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of the Civil war, was the unanimous choice of the republicans for presi dent in 1868, though Grant, insofar as he was affiliated with any party, was a democrat, having cast his vote for Buchanan the last time he had gone to the polls. Twice he was elected to the presidency. Grant's nomination in 1668 was made by the republicans in the face of the claim that the civilian army, which had won the war for the union would never vote for a Well officer. The belief that a soldier candidate would re unpopular with civil war service men led the demo crats to nominate Governor Sey mour of New York. But the sol diers voted for Grant and he was overwhelmingly elected. It was under Grant, the soldier, that recon struction was accomplished and the nation cured of the remaining ills of war. Whether Theodore Roosevlt owed his elevation to the presidency to nis achievements as a soldier is open to dispute, yet the manner in which the exploits of the Rough Riders captured the imagination of the na tion was certainly a contributing cause. The catchy alliteration of "Roosevelt's Rough Riders" lent it self to slogan purposes, and the pic ture ot teddy attired in his colonel s uniform, its picturesqueness recall ing the romance of the western plains before civilization had drowned that romance, must have helped to spread his popularity. Certainly no man other than Roosevelt has ever been given such a reception as Perishing has been given everywhere he has appeared since his return to America. That the cheers given him throughout the nation could be translated into votes there is little doubt here. A "" " - . V ii ' ' f V" . . . A Farmer Boy and A World Leader . 4 l TSJ EBRASK A HAS BOTH in John J. Pershing, this state's own candidate for the presidency. , A FARMER BOY who was born in a small Middle Western community; who pent ten' years at the Missouri and Nebraska universities; who has made his home this state for years. A WORLD LEADER who cleaned up the most turbulent island in the Philip .. ' . pines; who led his company to victory up San Juan Hill; who beat the diplomats of Europe at their own game; who ended a world war three years before the most op timistic European expert had hoped. 4 ' , WHAT OTHER CANDIDATE is so well fitted to understand and fulfill the needs of the Middle West? : , . WHAT OTHER CANDIDATE is so well equipped to guide America out of the maze of European complications which remain as our heritage from the world war? 1 From the day when he dropped his job as teacher in a rural school to enter the service of his country John J. Pershing's life history has been one of straggle, of victory over obstacles, of brave and energetic accomplishment a history which parallels those of the men who have built the Middle West Pershing was born poor. He made his own living while he was yet a boy. He fought his way to the position he now occupies step by step, taking no odds from anyone, and triumphing over griefs and disappointments which would have overwhelmed a lesser man. In all but honor, Pershing is still poor poorer than nine Nebraska farmers out of ten. He knows life from the poor man's standpoint; he is familiar with what money means to the citizen of limited resources. Could Nebraska offer the nation only Pershing, the farmer boy and splendid Nebraska citi zen, it would offer enough. Could Nebraska offer only Pershing, the world leader, it would have exceeded the hopes of ,any other state. ' BUT NEBRASKA CAN OFFER MORE. IT CAN OFFER PERSHING, THE FARMER BOY WHO BECAME A WORLD LEADER THE MIDDLE WESTERNER WHO LED THE AMERICAN ARMY TO VICTORY IN THE GREATEST OF WARS THE NEBRASKAN WHO IS FITTED, BETTER THAN AN OTHER AMERICAN CITIZEN, TO BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. V : . ,. NEBRASKA IS GOING TO MAKE THAT OFFER APRIL 20. DO YOUR PART BY GOING TO THE POLLS ON THAT DATE AND HELPING PILE UP THE BIGGEST MAJORITY ON RECORD FOR PERSHING of NEBRASKA for President i; ' Emery Hardy Hardy Furniture Co. C. H. Swallow Arthur S. Raymond Lincoln Drug Co. E. W. Westervelt Ernest Truman Norman B. Curtice E. J. Burkett v, Attorney Chat. A. Lord Lord Auto Co. Geo. W. Fawell, Jr. Edw. L, Sevren Ceo. Holden Western Glass A Paint E. J. Slas" ' 1 - Lincoln Tractor School Christian Herman Real estate W. L. Green Lawyer Geo. Holme First Trust Co. I. F. Searles Searles-Chapln Lbr. Co. Seneca Yule Oakley Cox S. H. Burnham - . First Nat'l. Bank Ell Shire . Mayer Bros. C. E. Reynolds Stanley Henry Ed. M. O'Shea John D. Bushnetl J. A. Soranson M. W. Folsom Neb. Building & Loan Mauel Brother Real Estate R. A. Blckford Real Estate Harvey Rathbone Real Estate l A. RlcketU Lawyer Harold E. McGlasson Don W. Stewart Ros P. Curtis. Ross P. Curtis Co. Robt. M. Joyce Henkle A Joyce E. B. Stephenson Security Mutual Life A. H. Armstrong Armstrong Clothing Co. Or. A. O. Faulkner E. E. Woodward Woodward Brothers Eugene Holland Guy C Chamber Frank Eager Edgar Westervelt Ralph Doyle John Cleveland l J. Dunn City Nat'l Bank Dr. C. F. Ladd Dentist John T. Dorgan Whltebreast Coal Co. Everett Sawyer Cushman Motor Works Palace Theater Ralph P. Wilson Central Hotel John C. Wright M. C Johnson Harrington Realty Co. Chas Olson L. C. Story F. P. Quick B. B. Tucker Lincoln Oldsmobll Co. W. T. Irons A. R. Talbot A. H. Buckstaff L. M. Ward W. M. Leonard Leans L. B. Howey -City Nat'l. Bank I. F. Raymond Raymond Bro (.-Clarke Sam Foster Foster Lumber Co. L. C. Burr Lawyer J. Cass Cornell Cornell-Searles August Schmidt W. R. McGeachlm P. A. Fredrlckson Frank Glllen Glllen 4. Boney Walton G. Roberta Roberts Undertaker Wonderland Theater A. G. Hebb Hebb Motor Co. 4 This advertisement paitTfor by the above named Nebraska citizens DESERTER SAYS HE WAS TIRED OF PRIVATES LIFE Minister's Son Is Located After Search of Two Years Wanted Excitement in Air Service, He Said. Washington, March 31. "I got tired of being a private," was the burden of the explanation given to day by Henry Blakeley MacLeod, 20, son of Rev. Dr. Malcolm James MacLeod, of the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, on Fifth avenue, Nw York, whose disappearance from the army two years ago pros trated his mother with grief and caused a world-wide search. The search proved futile and nothing was heard of the musing young stu dent, who abandoned Princeton uni versity to enlist, until he got into some difficulty in Richmond, Va.. and appealed to his father to extri cate him. Since his father brought him here yesterday and turned him over to the War department to "take his medicine" for leavimr his regiment without permission to seek adven ture, in the air service, Henry has been as care free as a bird. He is under observation" at the Walter Reed general hospital here, but has the run of the place and apparently is enjoying every minute of the day. Tired of Being Private. "I got so tired of being a private in the infantry; I wanted to go into aviation," he repeated. "They would not transfer me, so I left the 49th when it was ordered to Camo Uo- ton. I tried to enlist in the aviatioij corps, both the American and Cana dian, but they wouldn't have me, so I started to travel over the country. "I enlisted in the army on March 6, 1918, and was sent to the 49th infantry, which was doing guard duty at Camp Merritt, but I wanted to go into aviation and applied for a transfer. A long time afterward it came back disapproved. "When we were ordered to Camp Upton I decided to leave the regi ment and try to get into aviation anyway. We were supposed to leave Camp Merritt for Camp Upton on June 27. I waited until after the final roll call and inspection and then went to another part of the camp, where I waited until after my company had left the camp. "As 60on as I could I left, too, and went to Cleveland, where I tried to enlist in the aviation corps, but they wouldn't have me. "When the American aviation of ficials rejected me I went to Mon treal, where I tried to get into the Canadian aviation corps, but they wouldn't have me because I was an American. It was getting cold, so I decided to go south, where no one knew me. Was in Marine School. "I left California last fall and went to New Orleans, where I took a course in the merchant marine school, run by the shipping board. I made one trip to Tampico, Mexico, on,, the steamer Mandeville, but when we returned to New Orleans I left her and started north again. "I got into a little trouble at Richmond, Va., and then I wrote to father, who came down and got me out of it and brought me to Wash ington." Young MacLeod displayed re ticence only regarding the entangle ment at Richmond, which was re sponsible, for his family revealing his whereabouts to his father, wiio haa given him up as dead. Passport to Denmark. Washington. D. C, March 31. (Special Telegram.) Through the request of Congressman Evans, Mrs. Peter Jensen of South .Sioux City has been granted a passport to visit Denmark. Her contemplated date of sailing is May 6. rnoTO-ri.ws. AM1'8EMKTS. NEW SHOW TODAY i OUR MONARCHS OF MELODY Melange of Mirth, Music and Melody DAVE MANLEY "Leave the Hall' Monolof ua BROUGHTON & TURNER "Just Landed" ORIGINAL THREE REGALS "The Villas Blacksmith Shop" PHOTOPLAY ATTRACTION "TARNISHED REPUTATIONS" Featuring DOLORES CASSINELLI Mack Sennett Comedy Paths Weekly "OMAHA'S FUN CENTER" tf&-m m S"T7m Daily Mat. 15-2S-80c 4J5'S Evngs., 25-50-7SC. SI Tint Clorloui. Gmttrln. Selntlllitlas Speetaele tla aai nru isbaav Musical i nc uvLiitn vnuvn Buries,. w&Xtr Billy Arlington Pall M-'l Trio: Ballet rt Allied Nitleae 11 Beauty Choroi ef levety Crokttn 72 LADIES' DIME MATINEE WEEK DAYS Hal. tut. A Wk. : Rose Srdoli'a "London Bellri" PHOTO-PLAYS. Daily Matinee . 2:15 IMi Bill IN tfAWQSVIVVC Every Evening 8ll5 ALEXANDER CARR; EDITH CLIFFORD: "THE RAINBOW COCKTAIL"; Hlckey Broi.; Sara Hearn; Rudlnoff; lihlkawa Bros.: Toplei ef the Day; Klnogrami, PHOTO-PLAYS. 24th & Farnam Three Big Stars! aaiaaiiaHaaa aaiaaM aHavaaaBBiaM DBSTII1 FARDOM LOUISE GLAUM ENID MARKEY in a virile, dramatic masterpiece of Alaskan adventure and romance "THE IRON STRAIN" A Thomas H. Ince Production You're sure to like it! r asxm H5 I T 1 I I nm sbJ - ' ii a in 7aa wvvTt notr Miornnwu t rc i . ! IIUsH'."- r 'i- tj 1 1 "The Great Air Robbery" t the Grand Theater TODAY AND TOMORROW Now Playing The Picture With a Soul! "THE 5AGEBRUSHER" trom the Novel By EMERSON HOUGH A picture you'll always remember! Last Showing Today ANITA STEWART in "The Fighting Shepherdess" m