1.
In refusing to allow his name to be considered, Chief Justice White said: ''The office came to me covered with honor, and when l accepted it, my chief duty was not to make it a stepping-stone to something else, but to preserve its purity, and, if possible, make my name as honorable as that of my predecessors. No man ought to accept this place unless he shall take a vow to leave it as honorable as he found it. There ought never to be any necessity for rebuilding from below. All addition should be above. In my judgment, the Constitution might wisely have prohibited the election of a Chief Justice to the Presidency. Entertaining such a view, could l properly or consistently permit my name to be used for the promotion of a political combination as now suggested? If I should do so, could I at all times and in all cases remain an unbiased Judge in the estimation of the people?" Charles Warren,
The Supreme Court in United States History, Vol. 2, 1836-1918. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company,1932), 564.
