CLINTON VISITS MICHIGAN CITY

Photo/Lisa C. Schreiber

PEEK-A-BOO: A woman peers from behind a flag in the bandstand towardthe president's motorcade, while waiting for President Clinton to leavefollowing his speech Wednesday at Washington Park in Michigan City.

County heard presidential candidate in 1836

By Henry Lange

News-Dispatch staff writer

LaPorte County's first flirt with the presidency of the United Statescame early, July 4, 1836, when one of the most famous political figuresof his day, perhaps even better known as the greatest orator in the UnitedStates, Daniel Webster, came to the city of LaPorte to make a politicalspeech.

The national political situation at the time was unique. It was the firstyear the Whig Party attempted to establish itself as a national power, butnot quite ready for an all-out fight with Democrat Martin Van Buren, AndrewJackson's vice president, for the nomination.

There were, instead, three regional Whig candidates. Daniel Webster representedthe North, William Henry Harrison represented the West, and Hugh White ofTennessee represented the South.

The strategy was to deny Van Buren the majority electoral vote, throwingthe selection of the president into the House of Representatives. Websterhad been a congressman and U.S. senator and had served as U.S. secretaryof state. He commanded a formidable political presence.

It all failed, but Webster was obviously still on the stump that yearto solidify his national political reputation. He still wanted to be president.

Sunday was his favorite day to speak, and it was in the city square atLaPorte on that July 4, 160 years ago, that he gestured out to a large groupof Sunday school children declaring, "There, fellow citizens, is thehope of the country."

While continuing political visibility seemed to be the interest of thedefeated Whig presidential candidate that year, Webster was not beyond akeen interest in a good deal, especially if it involved land. That was believedto be the impetus for his second visit to the county on July 4, 1837, when,as a U.S. senator, he came to Michigan City.

Rival groups of developers had been seeking federal support for canalsand railroad rights in the rapidly developing Chicago area, and two groupswere active in LaPorte County -- one in LaPorte that incorporated the Buffaloand Mississippi Railroad, the other in Michigan City, which incorporatedthe Michigan City and Kankakee Railroad.

Both groups managed to get Sen. Webster to view their plans. In MichiganCity, Webster spoke at the foot of Hoosier Slide. He predicted success forthe community and even threw some sand in the air to emphasize his point.

Out of gratitude for his endorsement for the plan of the Michigan Cityentrepreneurs, Webster was given a lot at the corner of Michigan and Springstreets, although records showed he had paid $2,000 for it. Despite histremendous popularity, Webster never became president.

Only two living presidents, possibly three, have been in Michigan City:William McKinley in 1899, perhaps Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s,and Bill Clinton, this past Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996.

The candidates have been here, even a martyred president honored in deathby the people of Michigan City and LaPorte County.

President Abraham Lincoln was en route to his finally resting place inSpringfield, Ill., when the funeral train stopped in Michigan City 17 daysafter his assassination.

William McKinley spoke in Michigan City in 1899 in the third year ofhis first term. He was assassinated 23 months later.

Woodrow Wilson made a campaign stop in Michigan City during his unsuccessfultry at the presidential nomination in 1912.

During the 1930s, there was considerable evidence to indicate that PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt had stayed overnight in his own railroad car on asiding on Michigan City's North Side before his arrival at the DemocraticNational Convention in Chicago.

U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, seeking the Democratic presidential nominationin 1968, spoke in Michigan City just six weeks before he died from an assassin'sbullet in California.

U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, also seeking the 1968 Democratic presidentialnomination, made a campaign stop in Michigan City, and later returned todeliver another speech.

U.S. Sen. Hubert Humphrey, who served later as Lyndon Johnson's vicepresident, came to Michigan City to deliver two speeches, but not as a politicalcampaigner.

In 1976, Ronald Reagan, then former governor of California, spoke inMichigan City prior to his Indiana primary challenge of President GeraldFord.

U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie visited Michigan City twice, once when he wasseeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972.

Daniel Webster was obviously still on the stump that year to solidifyhis national political reputation. He still wanted to be president ... andit was in the city square at LaPorte on that July 4, 160 years ago, thathe gesture out to a large group of Sunday school children, declaring, "There,fellow citizens, is the hope of the country.