WHITELAW REID - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 12/16/1880 - HFSID 30369

WHITELAW REID
Autograph letter by Whitelaw Reid to ask a general to come to his house.
Comprises: (1) Autograph Letter Signed: "Whitelaw Reid," 1p, 5¼x8¼. New York, 1880 December 16. To General Winfield S. Hancock. In full: "If in the late free fight I struck any blows below the belt, I didn't know it, and am ready to be forgiven. I want to persuade you to come up to my house on Wednesday next, the 22nd instant, at twelve o'clock, to meet Mr. Archibald Forbes, the famous London war correspondent, at breakfast. There will be only a few others, and none, I think, whom you will find it unpleasant to meet - unless it be the host." On November 2, 1880, Democrat Winfield S. Hancock lost the presidential election to Republican James A. Garfield by only 10,000 popular votes out of 8.9 million votes cast. Garfield defeated Hancock in the Electoral College 214-155, each winning 19 states. Reid, as editor and publisher of the New York Tribune, wrote editorials attacking Hancock and favoring Garfield. Later serving as Republican Pres. Benjamin Harrison's Minister to France (1889-1892), Reid was selected as his running-mate for Vice President when he ran for reelection in 1892. On Reid's engraved stationery, "271 Lexington Avenue,/S.E. Corner 36th Street," to Hancock on Governor's Island south of Manhattan. Light browning. (2) Unsigned Printed Announcement, 1p, 6¼x5¾. Invitation engraved in blue: "Ohio Society of New York given in honor of Hon. Whitelaw Reid/Saturday Evening April 8th 1892/at 6.30 o'clock/Delmonico's/ Fifth Ave. Cor. 26th Street." Fine condition. Two months later, Reid was nominated for Vice President at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Two items.