Courage and Self-Possession
“This positive quality in Governor Cox seems to me the dominant one. It represents him—fairly I think—as a man with considerable courage and a good deal of self-possession. It shows too what is a key to Cox’s mind in more ways than one; his education in Jeffersonian principles of government. More faith in these principles he has retained than most leaders of his party. That is the way, when representatives of an ostensibly Jeffersonian administration, like Palmer and Burleson, bludgeoned public opinion, and other representatives, like Wilson and Baker, stood by in silence, Cox was willing to hold out against the alarmist press and the persuasive push of the steel companies. A surviving flare of Jeffersonian politics distinguishes him.”
James M. Cox is the nearest approach to Grover Cleveland that the Democratic party has had since the famous Cleveland administration. Like Cleveland he has been greatly maligned in a most wicked way. But he is still kindly and of a forgiving spirit. As I was once talking this over with him at the Governor’s mansion in Columbus, the night before leaving for his great western trip in September, 1920, he said:
“The country probably needs both strong Republican and Democratic parties and is perhaps safest when the two are most evenly balanced. The Republican is the conservative party and has within its membership most of the great captains of industry. But surely the Democratic party is the safety valve of the nation and surely we need a safety valve today.
“With the entire world upset, the United States can avoid danger only as its leaders attempt to follow the Golden Rule in their dealings with men and issues. That I intend to do. Furthermore I believe that the policy prepared by the Republicans is sure to result in disaster, depression and unemployment, the like of which was never seen in this country before. Hence, I say that the voters must choose between voting for our party and the Golden Rule, or for the Republican Party and the rule of gold.”
| PUBLIC CAREER | |||
| OHIO ELECTION STATISTICS, 1912 TO 1918 | |||
| 1912 | |||
| Vote for Governor | Vote for President | ||
| Cox (Dem.) | 439,323 | Wilson (Dem.) | 424,834 |
| Brown (Rep.) | 272,500 | Taft (Rep.) | 278,168 |
| Garford (Pro.) | 217,903 | Roosevelt (Pro.) | 229,807 |
| Cox plurality | 166,823 | Wilson’s plurality | 146,666 |
| Total | 1,036,731 | Total | 1,037,094 |
| 1914 | |||
| Vote for Governor | Vote for U. S. Senator | ||
| Cox (Dem.) | 493,804 | Harding (Rep.) | 526,115 |
| Willis (Rep.) | 523,074 | Hogan (Dem.) | 423,742 |
| Garfield (Pro.) | 60,904 | Garford (Pro.) | 67,509 |
| Willis’ plurality | 29,270 | Harding’s plurality | 102,373 |
| Total | 1,129,223 | Total | 1,017,366 |
| 1916 | |||
| Vote for Governor | Vote for President | ||
| Cox (Dem.) | 568,218 | Wilson (Dem.) | 604,161 |
| Willis (Rep.) | 561,602 | Hughes (Rep.) | 514,753 |
| Cox’s plurality | 6,616 | Wilson’s plurality | 89,408 |
| Total | 1,174,057 | Total | 1,165,086 |
| 1918 | |||
| Vote for Governor | |||
| Cox (Dem.) | 486,403 | ||
| Willis (Rep.) | 474,459 | ||
| Cox’s plurality | 11,944 | ||
| Total | 960,862 | ||
CHAPTER VI
WAR RECORD
Liberal leaders are proud of Cox’s war record. It is a great pleasure to talk with Ohio men who served as soldiers to France. As Mr. Cox was the real war Governor of Ohio, his record was very easy to secure. The returned soldiers speak in the highest terms of what Governor Cox did for them before they sailed, while they were in France and since their return. Well they may as he thought of them first, last and all the time.