From the age of 17
I had never even witnessed the excitement attending a Presidential
campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of
them was I eligible as a voter.
Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to suppose that
errors of judgment must have occurred. Even had they not, differences
of opinion between the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict
performance of his duties, and writers and debaters must have arisen.
It is not necessarily evidence of blunder on the part of the Executive
because there are these differences of views. Mistakes have been made,
as all can see and I admit, but it seems to me oftener in the selections
made of the assistants appointed to aid in carrying out the various
duties of administering the Government--in nearly every case selected
without a personal acquaintance with the appointee, but upon
recommendations of the representatives chosen directly by the people.
It is impossible, where so many trusts are to be allotted, that the
right parties should be chosen in every instance. History shows that no
Administration from the time of Washington to the present has been free
from these mistakes. But I leave comparisons to history, claiming only
that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do
what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best
interests of the whole people.
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