TAYLOR ZACHARY Autograph Letter Signed Z Taylor to John Wint

Sale 2228 - Lot 140

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THE PRESIDENCY? "I NEVER HAD ANY ASPIRATIONS FOR THAT HIGH OFFICE" TAYLOR, ZACHARY. Autograph Letter Signed, "Z. Taylor," to John Winthrop ("My dear Sir"), retained draft, stating that he has never had aspirations to become president, that he would not pursue the presidency if there were a better-qualified candidate, and expressing concern about a controversy partly caused by Winthrop. 2 1/4 pages, 4to, written on a single folded sheet; minor scattered foxing, some bleed-through, docketing on terminal page. Baton Rouge, 10 August 1848

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". . . As to my being a candidate for the presidency I must again repeat I never had any aspirations for that high office, nor have I so now, farther than the wishes of my friends are interested in the matter, who are at liberty to drop me at any time previously to the election, & which they ought to do provided they can take up a more available candidate & one better qualified to serve the country; . . . That high office was created for the benefit of the whole American people, & I can say in all sincerity if I knew the individual who was best qualified to discharge the important connected [sic] with that station, & had power to so [sic], I would most unquestionably devote him to it.
". . . I am satisfied from what you say, that you had no intention to injure me personally or politically; . . .
"Had you fortunately met with Mr. [Alexander C.] Bullitt instead of the Editor of the Delta, & authorized him instead of the latter to publish the conversation which passed between us in relation to a letter written by me to Mr. Clay while I was in Mexico . . . this unfortunate affair never would have occurred. . . .
"But as matters now stand the least said it seems to me the better, as well as forgotten as soon as possible."
A month after receiving the Whig nomination for president and over a year after expressing interest in running for the office, Taylor suggests in the present letter that if there were a better way to prevent the wrong hands from gaining control of the country than by his becoming president, he would step down at once. Taylor expresses a similar thought in his letter to Clay, written on 4 November 1847 from the camp near Monterrey and referred to in the present letter: "I fully agree with you in the necessity for more deliberation in the selection of a candidate for the Presidency, and I truly regret that my name should have been used in that relation. It has been permitted with the greatest reluctance on my part, and only from a sense of duty to the country." The controversy concerning Winthrop probably involves the publishing of the view attributed to, but denied by, Taylor: that he would give up pursuit of the presidency if Clay were a candidate.