細節
MCKINLEY, WILLIAM, President. Autograph letter signed ("Wm. McKinley Jr.") as a member of the House of Representatives, to Allen Carnes of Canton, Ohio; Washington, D.C., 5 February 1882. 4 pages, 4to, written in dark ink on rectos only of 4 sheets stationery, each page with imprinted "House of Representatives heading."
DID MCKINLEY PROMISE NOT TO RUN?
An unusually long, strongly worded letter to a young lawyer and political aide regarding politics in his home district, expecially an allegation that he had promised not to seek re-election in 1882. "...The alleged promise ought to be stamped out at once....Such of my friends who have taken the trouble to write me about it I have replied [to,] denying any promise in the newspapers over his own signature, nor has he appeared in any interview declaring that such a promise was made. It does seem to me that until he puts himself on record alleging the promise, I am not called upon to rush out after the unfounded stories of his friends, and that a declaration of my friends that no such promise was made, is as strong and credible as the declaration of his friends that one was made. If the Districts were fixed I could feel differently. How is the best form to put the promise business at rest. Should I write...or be interviewed(?) The story of the interview with Laubie would require some space to fully tell...." McKinley details points he would like made on his behalf, especially that his associate, Mr. Aultman, "...never assured Laubie or anybody else that the campaign of 1880, would be McKinley's last effort... never made any promise with Laubie express or implied on this subject. He declined to make any promise or stipulation for McKinley...." Cautioning patience, McKinley counsels, "Let the Editor of the Rep [The Repository] keep his hatchet sharp ...for the next fray. Make the Aultman statement terse, pointed and full of genuine ring....The Buckeye [an opposition paper?] only 'decorates me with its censure'..."
McKinley's autograph letters of this length, especially on political matters, are rare.
DID MCKINLEY PROMISE NOT TO RUN?
An unusually long, strongly worded letter to a young lawyer and political aide regarding politics in his home district, expecially an allegation that he had promised not to seek re-election in 1882. "...The alleged promise ought to be stamped out at once....Such of my friends who have taken the trouble to write me about it I have replied [to,] denying any promise in the newspapers over his own signature, nor has he appeared in any interview declaring that such a promise was made. It does seem to me that until he puts himself on record alleging the promise, I am not called upon to rush out after the unfounded stories of his friends, and that a declaration of my friends that no such promise was made, is as strong and credible as the declaration of his friends that one was made. If the Districts were fixed I could feel differently. How is the best form to put the promise business at rest. Should I write...or be interviewed(?) The story of the interview with Laubie would require some space to fully tell...." McKinley details points he would like made on his behalf, especially that his associate, Mr. Aultman, "...never assured Laubie or anybody else that the campaign of 1880, would be McKinley's last effort... never made any promise with Laubie express or implied on this subject. He declined to make any promise or stipulation for McKinley...." Cautioning patience, McKinley counsels, "Let the Editor of the Rep [The Repository] keep his hatchet sharp ...for the next fray. Make the Aultman statement terse, pointed and full of genuine ring....The Buckeye [an opposition paper?] only 'decorates me with its censure'..."
McKinley's autograph letters of this length, especially on political matters, are rare.