PRESIDENTIAL EDUCATION

The idol-smashers who rejoice in pointing out that Daniel Webster was expelled form Exeter have apparently assumed that the great American public usually demands from its statesmen an intimate knowledge of past and present lore. But that such an analysis is hasty and superficial is proved rather conclusively by the history of presidential elections, in which coonskin cap, log cabin, and campaign song, to say nothing of the cider barrel, have easily overshadowed in importance the sonorous orations of far-sighted politicians.

It is unfortunately true that the full significance of such details is not realized until late in political life. Thus the irrevocable fact of birth in New Hampshire has wrecked more than one Presidential aspiration. After a survey of these conditions, Mr. Chappell, writing in Vanity Fair, has deduced the theory that "if a parent really wants his boy to be President, he can make his selection a practical certainty if only he start early and go about it the right way."

Only two criticism can be offered to Mr. Campbell's suggestions; the importance of choosing a name like Woodrow, Gamaliel, or Calvin has been quite overlooked; and the recommendation of a college education for the prospective President provided "that he be not matriculated in one of the larger and more fashionable universities, such as Yale or Harvard" seems unwise. Certainly this sweeping denial to Harvard students of the possibility of ascending the Presidential chair is not to he accepted as gospel. with a proper attention to details a Harvard education can be made compatible with ultimate political success; at least the requirement can be fulfilled that the candidate "should not be suspected of possessing culture."

The future President must choose his Cambridge residence eon Sacramento street; this selection will gain the California vote. His room must be ice-cold in the winter and torrid in summer; and it is imperative that he rise every morning at four A. M. to remove the ashes form a half-dozen professorial furnaces. Chemistry 14b must be elected as often as possible, in order that his biographer may dwell on the painful journeys to 7.45 classes. And at least once in his strenuous college career he must attempt, unsuccessfully, to reform an institution which can be magnified into a symbol of capitalistic dominance. If this scheme is rigidly adhered to, it appears probable that attendance at Harvard will promote, rather than discourage, the Presidential prospects of the candidate.