BOWLING GREEN, Mo. — It would be hard to find another man who was so viciously maligned, yet still had more class than all of his foes combined.
On July 2, 1912, Bowling Green’s Champ Clark was denied the Democrat presidential nomination by conniving jackals and an arcane rule, both from within his own party.
Sure, it was politics, and few things are more pathetically sordid. But had he triumphed, the lawyer who came to Pike County with pennies in his pocket would have occupied the White House for at least four years and maybe longer, changing the course of history in his wake.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives had overwhelming support when the convention began in Baltimore on June 25. Today, he would have been named to the ticket right away. But in 1912, Democrats required a two-thirds majority for nomination.
In addition, three-time failed presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska convinced enough delegates that Clark wasn’t as progressive as New Jersey Gov. Woodrow Wilson. It took 46 ballots, but Wilson won.
Historian Richard Allen Morton called it “a ruthless and unfair twist of fate” and that Clark “was angry and hurt witnessing his seemingly inevitable victory being snatched away.”
“I lost the nomination solely through the vile and malicious slanders of William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska,” Clark said. “True, these slanders were by innuendo and insinuation, but they were no less deadly for that reason.”
Regardless, Clark swallowed his pride and met with Wilson for 80 minutes at the nominee’s New Jersey retreat on July 12.
Clark told reporters he would not discuss two topics. One was politics. Then, a journalist asked if Bryan would have a part in the November campaign. The Speaker pulled a toothpick out of his pocket before answering.
“I don’t know and don’t care,” he said. “That is the other thing I won’t talk about.”
When asked if he would vote for Wilson, Clark’s answer reflected his Missouri stubbornness.
“I never scratched a Democratic ticket or bolted a Democratic candidate in my life,” he said. “I shall not change the Democratic habit now. I am too seasoned a soldier not to accept cheerfully the fortunes of war.”
In the featured image; a delighted Woodrow Wilson, left, meets with a pensive Champ Clark and other Democrats in New Jersey on July 12, 1912. The photo is from the Library of Congress.