ABSTRACT

Leonard Wood scheduled the Cuban presidential election for December 31, 1902. Máximo Gómez refused to run and said: “men of war for war, and those of peace for peace.” 1 Gómez backed Tomás Estrada Palma, the candidate of the National Party, as did most members of the Cuban Constitutional Convention. Bartolomé Masó, the candidate for the Democratic Party, campaigned for the presidency, but a few weeks before the election withdrew his candidacy, even though he had strong popular support in eastern Cuba.