John Bingham Explaining That Jefferson Davis Was Ineligible to be President

Gerard N. Magliocca

One issue in the current Section Three debate is whether the presidency is an "office . . . under the United States" subject to disqualification. A point that I made in my original Section Three article was that the presidency must be covered, because to say otherwise would mean that Jefferson Davis was ineligible for every office except the highest one. More research has followed from John Vlahoplus confirming that Americans in that era thought that Jefferson Davis was ineligible for the presidency.

I've found a speech by John Bingham in 1872 that provides additional evidence. By way of background, the Democratic Platform in that year argued for "universal amnesty" for all ex-Confederates and was a cause championed by Horace Greeley, the Democratic presidential candidate.  Bingham gave a campaign speech in July1872 and pointed out that Congress recently gave to amnesty to most ex-Confederates:

"Why, then, do these gentlemen talk about general amnesty? Is the Republican Party to be stricken down unless Jefferson Davis is made eligible to be the Democratic candidate for President of the United States next after Horace Greeley? [Laughter] That is all there is left to this amnesty question."

Later in that paragraph, Bingham said:

"All disabilities, I repeat, are removed, except from such persons as Jefferson Davis and a few others like him. I don't know that the country will suffer if they are never relieved from their disabilities. I don't know that it is essential to the safety of the Republic, or to the equal rights of any of the citizens of this Union, that Jefferson Davis, or Beauregard, or any man of that character who bore the commissions of the United States, and were bound by oaths to support the Constitution of the United States, and committed treason against the United States, should ever hereafter be permitted to be either President or Governor, Senator or Representative."

I added the italics for clarity's sake and will find a way to make entire speech available if I can.

UPDATE: The speech was made in Ohio can be found in The Tiffin Tribune on July 18, 1872.