"It was a misfortune for Aguinaldo to have fought Quezon, for the latter was a veteran politician, with a well-oiled political party organization, with adequate logistical support from well appointed supporters. As in love and war, it is said, so it is in politics - fair and foul - and he came out seriously damaged politically and personally. He was deglamorized as a war hero, and the people, including school children ever regarded him as a villain responsible for the tragic death of Bonifacio and Luna." - Eufronio M. Alip, "In the Days of General Emilio Aguinaldo",( 1969, p. 114).
After the reconciliation, Quezon has this to say about Aguinaldo in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 2, 1941:
" Mr. Chairman, I wish to say a few words in behalf of General Aguinaldo. I was at one time an officer in the Philippine Army. . . . For several months I was on the staff of General Aguinaldo, then President of the Philippine Republic and commanding general of the army. . . .
I can assert without fear of successful contradiction that he is a man of high character and patriotism. . . .
During the Philippine Revolution against Spain, Aguinaldo was the supreme military chief, with the powers of a dictator . . . . He had the physical power to do with the treasury of the then-independent Philippine government as he pleased. When he was captured by General Funston after having exercised his undisputed authority for more than two years, Aguinaldo was as poor as when the Philippine-American War started.
How many revolutionary chiefs in other parts of the world who have been in the position of General Aguinaldo have done what he did? How many have been willing to go back to their homes as poor as ever after having had in their possession so much money that they could have appropriated without question? Aguinaldo is not a rich man today. He is a modest farmer. He has not accepted any position from the American government. . . . Why?
He wanted to show the world that he fought for his country not because of any desire for personal profit or power but out of patriotism, and that when he could not fight any longer he could go to his home and lead a peaceful and modest-life, the life of a good citizen working on his farm. . . . Thus Aguinaldo has demonstrated that the Filipinos, who [have] known how to fight for their freedom, know likewise how to work in time of peace. I need not say more."
But the damage has been done...
"Isa pang ginamit sa kampanya laban kay Aguinaldo noong labanan niya si Quezon sa pagkapangulo ng "Commonwealth" noong halalan ng 1935 ay ang pagkamatay ni Bonifacio na ibinibintang kay Aguinaldo. Hinukay pa ang mga buto kuno ni Bonifacio sa Cavite at ipinarada sa Maynila na may kasabay na sigaw na ito'y kagagawan ni Aguinaldo. Sa tutuo lang si Bonifacio ay lumaban sa pamahalaan kaya nahatulan ng kamatayan. Ito'y katotohanan na hindi matanggap ng mga bulag o nagbubulag-bulagang mga tagasunod ni Bonifacio." - Basilio Ibabawan
"Hindi lamang sa kanyang lupang nakuha sa programa ng mga Amerikano dinumhan ang pangalan ni Aguinaldo. Ang dating 'aide de camp' ni Aguinaldo sa Malolos, na si Antonio Bautista ay 'niligawan' ni Quezon upang maging pangunahing taga-kampanya sa Bulakan. Isang taktika ang ginamit ni Quezon, ang pagpapakalat ng kuwento tungkol sa 'pagluluksa ng Malolos' sa pagdalaw doon ni Aguinaldo. Nalagyan ng itim na tela ang bawat bahay sa lansangan na sa totoo ay maniobra ni Bautista para mapahiya ang dati niyang kaalyado. [Note 13.] Nang maghalalan, hindi naman ganoon kalaki ang abante ni Quezon kay Aguinaldo. Ang boto ng una na mahigit sa 19,000 ay tinapatan ng higit sa 16,000 ng huli -- isang patotoo na hindi ganoon kababa ang pagtingin ng mga taga-Bulakan sa dating pangulo ng Republika sa Malolos." - Jaime Veneracion, Bulakan ng mga Bayani
And this is what Quezon did to Aguinaldo after the elections: "He (Aguinaldo) was badly beaten in the contest and worse still, following the elections, Aguinaldo lost his P12,000 annual pension which had been granted him by an American controlled Philippine government, at the behest, it is said, by Quezon himself. He also lost the hacienda which had been allotted to him from the former friar lands and which he had been paying in installments. The reason given was that for years he had not been paying the installments due. But as Aguinaldo himself said, there were others similarly situated who did not suffer his fate, because they did not fight Quezon for the Presidency." (page 114, Eufronio M. Alip, "In the Days of General Emilio Aguinaldo", 1969)
