Disqualification Quotes
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.
He had served as VP with Teddy Roosevelt who was not going to run in 1908 and Fairbanks wanted the job. This statement was made because as the sitting VP he would easily be nominated for the same role and he didn’t want that. TR did not support him however and instead endorsed Taft who with TR’s support won the nomination and the General Election. When TR ran again in 1912 on the Bull Moose ticket, Fairbanks agreed to run as the VP candidate with Charles Evans Hughes and “pay” TR back as Hughes, a brilliant but pompous fellow was expected to win handily with TR’s ex VP—Fairbanks—running with him. However, Hughes and TR split the Republican vote, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the Presidency to the shock of Hughes and Fairbanks. They came in 3rd with TR outpolling them.
