Champ Clark letter to Frederick Gardner - ca. 1917
Transcript
Hon. Frederick D. Gardner, Jefferson City, Missouri My Dear Governor Gardner: I am profoundly grateful for your tender of the senatorship, for your good opinion thus evidenced is highly prized by me. To be a Senator from the Imperial Commonwealth of Missouri is a signal honor. No State in the Union has furnished the Country a line of Senators of higher average ability than has Missouri. Therefore a Senatorship at her hands is a position not to be declined lightly by any man.
Transcript
[page 2] The duty of selecting from a multitude of able men a worthy successor to the great Senator Stone placed you in a serious situation and your offer to me put me in a serious position. I have thoroughly considered my duty in the premises, leaving out the consideration my own personal fortunes as far as was humanly possible; and have come to this conclusion: In this awful crisis of our country’s affairs – in deed of the whole world’s affair- it is the imperative duty of every man to serve the people and uphold the government to the best of
Transcript
[page 3] his ability and in the position where he can do the most good. I believe that I can render more service in the Speaker’s Chair than in the Senate. Therefore I feel constrained to decline your leader of the Senatorship heartily thanking you and the many Missourians who have urged me to accept. Champ Clark
Details
| Title | Champ Clark letter to Frederick Gardner - ca. 1917 |
| Creator | Clark, Champ |
| Source | Clark, Champ. Letter to Frederick Gardner. ca. 1917. Clark, Champ (1850-1921) and Bennett Champ (1890-1954), Papers, 1853-1973. C0666. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
| Description | In this 1917 letter to Governor of Missouri Frederick Gardner, Champ Clark declined the Missouri Senatorship. Champ Clark, a long-time resident of Bowling Green, Missouri, was a politician in the Democratic Party. He served as a representative of Missouri from 1893 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1921. From 1911 to 1919 he served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. |
| Subject LCSH | Clark, Champ, 1850-1921; World War, 1914-1918--Political aspects--United States; Gardner, Frederick Dozier, 1869-1949 |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | C0666 |
| Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Date Original | 1917 |
| Language | English |