Political Ambition Quotes
From a 2009 interview.
William Gibbs McAdoo was a contender for the presidential nomination. As an attorney he was urged not to represent any rich or large corporate clients lest his image be tarnished. He asked if he had to remain poor all his life:
This is an important quotation because it was believed by most of the Founding Fathers and the American public until relatively recently. Presidential candidates would not think of publicly campaigning. The view was that anyone who was ambitious for power and authority should not be trusted with it. The idea was first stated by Plato and has been a major view of Western politics since. Many still believe it, but no one has come up with a practical alternative in a large jurisdiction where there is no way to know about the possible candidates without their initiative. Earlier American presidential candidates, although they did not campaign as we know it, got associates to do their campaigning for them. At Presidential nominating conventions, candidates would not even attend. Abraham Lincoln for example never attended the convention at which he got nominated, but he had associates lining up delagates and he was managing their efforts behind the scenes.
Stimson had been a key member of the Theodore Roosevelt national administration, and Roosevelt, before he became Vice President and then President had been a very popular governor of NY. Stimson, although a brilliant administrator, and statesman was a bit stuffy and aloof and was a terrible campaigner. He thought it immodest to refer to himself in public or to talk about his record. See {589269}. So the Republicans tried to tie him to Roosevelt who was still very popular. See {589268}. It was not enough. Stimson lost.
Citizen of U. S. & Israel
