My great chum there was young Morton, a son
of the Republican war governor of Indiana. The Hayes-Tilden
contest over the Presidency was being decided. Morton and I used to
run away from Ithaca to Washington during that absorbing fight. By
reason of his father's position in the Democratic party, he could
get in behind the scenes as few young men could; and he took me
with him. I saw the whole amazing thing. I made up my mind then and
there that only three or four men in this country counted, and that
there was little chance of rising to be one of those three or four
by the ordinary methods."
He was, when he said this, at the apex of his career, behind the
scenes of the greatest World Congress ever held, following the
greatest War the world had ever known. And he had been behind the
scenes as had no other man, in Europe as a privileged onlooker with
both belligerents, and in America as the confidant of tremendous
events.
He was there, as in his college days, at the Hayes-Tilden contest,
by grace of a friend whose influence had been sufficient to secure
him his opportunities. The parallel was in his mind, and he
regarded it with self-approval. He had chosen his course and chosen
it wisely. It had led him to the greatest peace-making in history.
There was a little more self-revelation. He and Morton had prepared
for college with Yale in view.
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