The Story of My Life and Work

by Booker T. Washington

GIRLS AT TUSKEGEE LEARNING DAIRYING.

CHAPTER XIII.
URGED FOR A CABINET POSITION.

Soon after the election of Major McKinley to the office of President in 1896, the Washington Post, to the surprise of nearly everybody, came out with a strong editorial urging the President-Elect to give me a place in his cabinet. The name of the late Hon. B. K. Bruce was also suggested in the same connection. This editorial created quite a journalistic discussion which extended to all parts of the country. I give a few extracts from newspapers that may indicate the character of this discussion.

The Washington Post, which, I think was the first paper to discuss the propriety of my selection as a cabinet officer, opened the discussion with the following article:

“There is one problem which Mr. McKinley, if he be a just and grateful man—as we think he is—will have to consider, and consider very seriously. We have in mind the problem of what the Republican party proposes to do by way of recognizing its obligations to the colored voter. That party has owed much to the loyal and unselfish devotion of the race in times gone by, but never so much as in the campaign which it has conducted to a triumphant conclusion. What, now, will Mr. McKinley do to testify his gratitude?

“At every stage of his personal fight Mr. McKinley has been indebted to the Negro. It was the Negro contingent at St. Louis that made his nomination certain. It was the Negro’s firm stand for gold that forced the sound money issue upon the convention. It was the Negro’s vote in such States as Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Delaware and Indiana that made his victory possible. We all know now that McKinley would have had next to no chance at all had not the St. Louis convention declared emphatically and unequivocally for the gold standard. As between a simple declaration for tariff revision on the one hand and for free silver coinage without tariff disturbances on the other, the great Eastern and Middle States would have had but a languid choice. It was the solid sound money front presented by the colored delegates that compelled the adoption of the gold clause in the platform, and furnished Mr. McKinley with the issue upon which he rallied to his banner the merchants, the manufacturers, and the moneyed corporations throughout the land. Mr. McKinley could not have been elected but by the course pursued by the Negroes before, during, and after the assembling of the St. Louis convention. Now, in what fashion does he intend to recognize and reward their service?

“It seems to us that at least one cabinet position should be given to the race. Let us say the portfolio of Agriculture, for example. There are many colored men of notable attainments, of large experience in public life, and of the highest personal character, eminently qualified to discharge the duties of this office with credit to the administration and honor to themselves. We might name such men as Hon. B. K. Bruce and Prof. Booker T. Washington. Mr. Bruce has been a Senator of the United States, and it may be truly said of him that in that capacity he won the respect and esteem of all his colleagues and served his country with distinction. He also served a term as Register of the Treasury and another as Recorder of Deeds under the District government, always with notable ability. Prof. Washington is universally recognized as one of the foremost educators in the country. The institute over which he presides, at Tuskegee, Ala., has become conspicuous under his management, and is to-day ranked with the most useful and admirable of our seats of learning. The appointment of either of these gentlemen to the control of one of the executive departments would be a graceful acknowledgment of the obligations which the Republican party has incurred, and which we should think it would be anxious to discharge. We do not limit Mr. McKinley to these two. There are many other colored men abundantly fitted for a Cabinet position. It happens simply that ex-Senator Bruce and Prof. Washington occurred to us first in running over the list of eligibles.

“Returning to the abstract proposition, however, it is clear to us that Mr. McKinley owes his election, first to the fidelity and wise foresight of the colored delegates at St. Louis, and secondly to the loyal support of the colored voters in half a dozen states necessary to his election, which could not possibly have been carried for him without their aid. He is under obligations, which, as a man of feeling, he cannot well ignore and which he could most felicitously acknowledge by asking some truly representative Negro to enter his official family.”

The Canton (Ohio) Repository, after discussing in a long article a number of men, white and black, suitable for cabinet material, concluded as follows: