Sergeant Haines of Maine put up the name of Colonel Henry D. Lindsley,
a banker of Dallas, Texas, and a prominent Southern Democrat, for
permanent chairman. Think of it! A man from Maine nominating a
Southern Democrat! One of the Ohio delegation seconded the nomination.
Think of that too! Colonel Claud Birkhead of San Antonio, Texas,
leader of the Texas delegation "thirded" the nomination. He told
Colonel Lindsley's record. The Colonel had been Mayor of his home
city, and during the war had served his country so well in France that
he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He and Major
Willard Straight, now dead, had started the War Risk Insurance Bureau
abroad and, at the time of the caucus, Colonel Lindsley was the head
of the Bureau under the Treasury Department in Washington.
Minutes of a meeting usually are dry but here I am going to quote
directly from them because they tell the story in the most vivid way.
Fancy between the lines, please, dozens of cheers, a couple of rebel
yells, a great deal of talking and shouting for "T.R.!" "T.R.!" and a
Babelous babble that ebbed or flowed according to the strength Colonel
Roosevelt used in wielding his gavel.
COLONEL JONES (of Washington, D.C.): "Mr. Chairman, I personally feel,
and I think I voice the unanimous sentiment of this organization, that
your withdrawal is a mistake.
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