Shermanesque statement

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"Sherman(esque) statement" or "Sherman speech" is American political jargon for a clear and direct statement, by a potential candidate, indicating that he or she will not run for a particular elected position.

The term derives from the Sherman pledge, a remark made by American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman when he was being considered as a possible Republican candidate for the presidential election of 1884. He declined, saying "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve."

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President Lyndon B. Johnson famously invoked the pledge in his March 31, 1968 national address announcing that he would not seek a second full term, saying "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president."

Since then, journalists have often pushed for potential candidates to give a Sherman pledge in lieu of a less definitive answer. In 1983, Democratic Congressman Mo Udall of Arizona, who was famous for his wit and who had campaigned for president in 1976, was asked if he would run in the 1984 election. Udall responded, "If nominated, I shall run to Mexico. If elected, I shall fight extradition."

When asked by Fox News whether he would pursue the presidency in 2008, Vice President Dick Cheney quoted Sherman's statement nearly word-for-word. When Ohio Governor Ted Strickland endorsed Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 Presidential election, he issued the Sherman pledge word for word when asked if he wanted to be selected as her Vice Presidential nominee.^[1] He reiterated it when asked if he wanted to be Barack Obama's running mate after Obama clinched the nomination. ^[2]

Prior to 2007 elections to the Scottish Parliament, Alex Salmond said that "if nominated I'll decline. If drafted I'll defer. And if elected I'll resign," in response to questions about whether he would seek leadership of the Scottish National Party for that election. He quickly went back on his word and led the SNP to a minority government, becoming the first Nationalist First Minister of Scotland, and also the first not to be a member of the Labour Party.