Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1897 — PRESIDENT HAS CARE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PRESIDENT HAS CARE

-NO EASY TASK TO BE THE HEAD OF THIS REPUBLIC. Four Years Oar Chief Executive ' la the Greatest Barden Bearer of the Nation—Mast Suppress All Personal Inclination and Assume Dignity. ’ Troubles of His Own. > Washington correspondence:

TO be a President of the United States is by no means an easy task, and there is probably no man in the vast republic jftk* who carries such a fgft load of care os the SI chief executive of Hgr the nation. From January till the time ntfKjof his election in NoPHjBB vembor lie has to en'yT dure a physical and 1 mental strain that *®™" KrP would wreck the |Ahjv| constitution of most ]rj| ]l men, and he emerges (it*' from the struggle bearing not only the

palm of victory but also the thousand and one weighty details which are pressed upon him as the presumptive occupant ■of the executive mansion. Front the time of his election till the morning of his inauguration he is the most watched, the most sought, and the most worked man in the country. And the cares already borne are only an intimation of those that come after his inaugural address has been read and he has taken possession of the executive mansion. Not the least of the things which require the attention of the new occupant of the executive mansion is the care which must be taken not to say or do anything that would not be in accordance with the dignity and traditions of the great office he is endeavoring to fill. As in great things so it is with innumerable small affairs. He must many times a day ask himself the question if this or that suggested action is in keeping with the dignity of the President of the United States. Personal impulses by the thousand must be suppressed. The man must to a great extent make himself over. Almost without exception every American who has occupied the presidential office has risen to it, risen in character and dignity and manner, no matter how much below it he was at the outset. It is an office which demands that a man shall sink himself and become almost another entity. The wonder is that so many of our Presidents have retained their personal characteristics and habits, their naturalness and simplicity, while in office. All the tendency is in the other direction. Unconsciously to the man himself he is drawn out of himself. He ceases to be as his friends knew him, as he knew himself, as he takes on a new consciousness. He is “the President.” This fact he is never permitted to forget. It follows him everywhere. It bobs up impertinently at the simplest dinner in a country house as well as in a cabinet meeting at the executive mansion. In monarchical countries sovereigns are reared. They are to the manner born. From infancy they are trained to be rulers. They approach gradually, step by step, the station which we thrust a man into almost without ■warning. It is a fact ■that the greatest, most stupendous transition which comes to any man in the world is to him whom the people of the United States take from his law office or bis home or his modest official station and thrust into the presidential chair. A distinguished foreigner said not long ago: “It is amazing that you get as good Presidents as you do, and it is a remarkable thing that your public men are adaptable enough to rise so easily and naturally' to the heights of your sovereignty. But they cannot be happy.” This foreigner was right. Probably not one President in ten is happy while in office. A Weight of Care. As if this were not enough, our political system makes the President the center of party activity, of personal ambition and desire. Not only must all appointments be made theoretically by him as chief executive, but actually by him in person. Before making them he must »ee and talk with all the interested persons, no matter how great their number. If they come again and again, for the avowed purpose of “bringing the pressure of persistency,” they must be seen and mollified. Crossroads politician*! must bave access to the ruler of the American people about seven-by-nine postofflees. The President must keep open house to all the Senators and Representatives in Congress, of whom there are something like 450, and the most of whom are professional office broken. Through all this the President is expected to maintain his dignity and his equanimity, keep his patience unruffled and his sense of justice and of the fitness of things unwarped. During the whole four years of his administration he bears upon hie shoulders the responsibilities and cares of the nation. In the case of moot Presidents there is no cessation of toil. The cares of the chief executive are rarely dropped when he leaves the office. They accompany him to the social function, they are Us constant companion as he attempts to enjoy a few days’ outing, they ate hie most intimate associates even in his family circle, and they even follow him into bis bed chamber and there minister to the discomforts of his slumber. Americans are not always a considerate people, but it is doubtful if they ever had a better chance to see themselves as they really are than in the book which ex- President Benjamin Harrison has just published, in which he devotes a chapter to telling of his own experiences in the tour years he passed in the White House. There seems to be no danger of the chief magistrate of the nation forgetting that he is, in the most literal sense of the words, a public servant, paid by the public for the public to enjoy at its leisure. During the first three weeks of his term the President of these United States has to shake hands with not less than 40,000 of his fellow citizens. If any one has ever seen the Auditorium when 10,000 persons have been packed into it, and will multiply that number by four and contemplate shaking hands with all of them, he will form a notion of what infinite nuisances hand-shaking folk can make of themselves if you can only get enough of them together. Mr. Harrison records that every one who ever had to undergo the ordeal suffered acute physical torture until President Hayes discovered tjat if he reached forward and grasped the hand of M approaching "shaker” before the

“shaker” had a chance to grasp his and squeeze it to show his good will he could escape serious discomfort and all actual pain. President McKinley—the Ohio man is fertile in resource —lias another way; he holds his hand level with his waist with the back of it up and in this attitude it is only possible to get a firm grip on the fingers, which does not hurt nearly as much as pinching the rest of the hand. But the handshaking lasts through the term, though not in such exorbitant quantities, it is not the only trouble. The letter writing fiend gets in his direful work—to the extent of some SOO letters a day. They ask all sorts of things, from an autograph for a log cabin quilt to the loan of money enough to buy a poor girl a piano. Then, if the President is not prompt to send them ail they have requested, they write again to tell him what a mean man they have now learned he is. Private citizens take their turn with charitable and religious organizations in liegging for money, and a woman in North Calolina telegraphed one morning: “I have six little children and they want to throw me out of the house. I have nowhere to go. I want protection.” The autograph collector is numerously in evidence —scores of them every day of the 1.4151 which make up a presidential term. A pile of cards and a bushel basket full of albums are the first things that greet a chief magistrate’s satiated eyes every morning when he comes into his office. Then there is the man who wishes to have the opinion of the President of the United States on the best method of keeping calcimine from coming off on the clothing, or the woman who has just discovered a new process for fried cakes or sally lunn, and is willing to involve the White House cook in her joys. Think of four years of that sort of thing!