The Life of John Taylor / Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by B. H. Roberts

These labors, in connection with his private business, occupied his attention after his return from England until February, 1842, when he was chosen associate editor of the Times and Seasons, the Prophet Joseph being editor-in-chief. This appointment introduced him into a field of labor for which he was admirably adapted, and in which, during his lifetime—notwithstanding his labors in that sphere were frequently interrupted by the drivings of the Church and calls to other kinds of employments—he accomplished much good, and became well known as a powerful writer.

He occupied the position of associate editor on the Times and Seasons for about a year, when the Prophet's increasing cares made it necessary for him to resign his place as editor-in-chief. Elder Taylor was appointed to take his place. He continued to edit and publish that periodical until the Church was driven out of Nauvoo in the spring of 1846.

In addition to his labors on the Times and Seasons, within a year he became the editor and proprietor of another paper, the Nauvoo Neighbor, a large imperial sheet issued weekly, and devoted "to the dissemination of useful knowledge of every description—the arts, science, religion, literature, agriculture, manufactures, trade, commerce and the general news of the day." In both these periodicals he ably defended the truth against all comers, and did much to stem the flood of falsehood that set in against the character of the Prophet Joseph.

The progress of Nauvoo was now by leaps and bounds, rapidly increasing in trade, commerce and population. The Prophet Joseph's career, too, was approaching its zenith. He was the most prominent man in the State of Illinois, and much courted because of his supposed political influence. Some of the most prominent men in the State sought his friendship, but it too frequently happened that it was for selfish purposes they courted him. No one was more sensitively aware of that fact than Elder Taylor. He knew them to be flatterers of the Prophet, that political thrift might follow fawning. They were heartless parasites, clinging to him in his hour of prosperity, but ready to fall away from and even betray him should the tide of his fortunes begin to ebb, or their interests require his immolation to satisfy the clamor of a prejudiced populace.

It was to remove the Prophet out of the filthy slough of party politics, that he and his people might not be the shuttle-cock for the battledoors of political demagogues—that he and they might not be the subjects of fulsome praise on the one hand, nor of fierce denunciation or unseemly vituperation on the other, that Elder Taylor urged the Prophet's nomination for the presidency of the United States, in February, 1844.

In a long editorial in the Neighbor, in which he nominates the Prophet for President, he represents that as Henry Clay—then one of the prominent candidates for President—inclined strongly to the old school of federalists, his political principles were diametrically opposed to those entertained by the people of Nauvoo, and hence they could not conscientiously vote for him; and they had even stronger objections to Mr. Van Buren, who, when the Saints appealed to him to redress the outrages put upon them in Missouri, admitted the justice of their cause, but claimed that he was powerless to assist them; he also held that Congress was powerless to redress their grievances.

"But all these things are tolerable to what we have yet to state," says Elder Taylor. "We have been informed from a respectable source, that there is an understanding between Mr. Benton [Senator], of Missouri, and Mr. Van Buren, and a conditional compact entered into that if Mr. Benton will use his influence to get Mr. Van Buren elected, that Mr. Van Buren, when elected, shall use his executive influence to wipe away the stain from Missouri by a further persecution of the Mormons, wreaking vengeance on their heads, either by extermination or by some other summary process. We could scarcely credit the statement, and we hope yet, for the sake of humanity, that the suggestion is false; but we have too good reason to believe that we are correctly informed."

Then, after enlarging upon the fitness of the Prophet for the high office of President of the United States, he adds:

"One great reason that we have for pursuing our present course is that at every election we have been made a political target for the filthy demagogues in the country to shoot their loathsome arrows at. And every story has been put into circulation to blast our fame, from the old fabrication of 'walk on the water' down to the 'murder of Governor Boggs.' The journals have teemed with this filthy trash, and even men who ought to have more respect for themselves—men contending for the gubernatorial chair—have made use of terms so degrading, so mean, so humiliating, that a Billingsgate fisherwoman would have considered herself disgraced with. We refuse any longer to be thus bedaubed for either party; we tell all such to let their filth flow in its own legitimate channel, for we are sick of the loathsome smell. * * * Under existing circumstances we have no other alternative [than that of withdrawing from both political parties,] and if we can accomplish our object, well; if not we shall have the satisfaction of knowing we have acted conscientiously and have used our best judgment; and if we have to throw away our votes, we had better do so upon a worthy, rather than upon an unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in his hand to destroy us.

Then the Prophet was put before the country for President of the United States. He published his views on the powers and policy of the government, and called upon his friends to support him.