The late Senator Robert Kerr of Oklahoma once quoted Chauncey Depew in an attack on a Senator from Indiana , " As I gaze on the ample figure of my friend from Indiana , and as I listen to him , " Kerr began , " I am reminded of Chauncey Depew who said to the equally obese William Howard Taft at a dinner before the latter became President , ' I hope , if it is a girl , Mr. Taft will name it for his charming wife . ' " To which Taft responded , ' if it is a girl , I shall , of course , name it for my lovely helpmate of many years . And if it is a boy , I shall claim the father 's prerogative and name it Junior . But if , as I suspect , it is only a bag of wind , I shall name it Chauncey Depew . ' " Depew stumped the state of New York for John C. Frémont in 1856 and for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 . He served as a delegate-at-large to Republican National Conventions 1888-1904 and delegate to all following conventions , including 1928 , being elected the day before he died . He made the nomination speeches for Harrison in 1892 , Governor Morton in 1896 , and Fairbanks in 1904 . At the convention in 1888 , Depew received 99 votes for the presidential nomination , and in 1892 declined an appointment as Secretary of State in Harrison 's cabinet
convention in 1888
1888 Republican National Convention
Chauncey Depew