A Shermanesque statement is a clear and direct statement by a potential political candidate indicating that he or she will not run for a particular office.
The term is derived from a remark made by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman when he was being considered as a possible Republican candidate for president in 1884.
Sherman declined, saying, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.”
A clear statement from a candidate not looking to run for office often comes during the invisible primary stage of the campaign.
In modern times, President Lyndon Johnson famously declared he would not run for a second term in 1968 in a Shermanesque statement by saying, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”
Likewise, Gen. David Petraeus made a similar pledge in 2010 saying, “I thought I’ve said ‘no’ as many ways as I could. I will not ever run for political office, I can assure you of that.”
Uses of “Shermanesque statement”
Politico (June 30, 2022): “Hillary Clinton declined to offer a Shermanesque statement about running in 2024 in an interview with CBS’ Gayle King on Tuesday.”
Forbes (November 18, 2022): “Pelosi pushed back on the notion she was making a ‘Shermanesque statement’ – a clear indication of her electoral intentions – but said, ‘I can’t wait to be working with Joe Biden and preparing us for our transition into the future.'”
Time (April 21, 2016): “There was former Army general William Tecumseh Sherman in 1884, whose emphatic “no thanks” (“I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected”) has been codified in the nation’s political lexicon as a ‘Shermanesque statement.'”