QUOTE from the Republican bosses about Benjamin Harrison: "He was as glacial as a Siberian stripped of his furs."
The CANDIDATES in 1892.
REPUBLICAN: BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Harrison was the incumbent and had spent most of his four years as president being controlled by the Republican bosses who had helped him win in 1888. Many of the Republican bosses couldn't stand the prickly, born-again Christian. He had made them mad by appointing people to his cabinet based on their qualifications. His cabinet included people like Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, both future presidents. On the other side of the coin he had made them very happy by enacting the highest tariffs in U.S. history, about 48%, on foreign goods. Even though his Republican bosses said that "talking to him even in warm weather made a person feel like putting on winter flannels, galoshes, overcoat, mitts, and earlaps" he was renominated as the Republican candidate.
DEMOCRAT: GROVER CLEVELAND.
Cleveland was still very popular with millions of Americans - after all, this was the man whose baby daughter, Ruth, had a candy bar named after her. He really wanted a third nomination and second term - he got it and the race against the frosty Harrison was on.
The CAMPAIGN in 1892.
Harrison spent most of the campaign emphasizing his support of high tariffs and protecting American manufacturers. Unfortunately for Harrison there was a violent strike in Homestead, PA when Andrew Carnegie's (the steel tycoon) general manager, Henry Frick, cut steel workers wages by 20% and then hired armed Pinkerton agents to battle the strikers - this was a huge PR disaster for Harrison and may have cost him the election.
Cleveland was helped tremendously by the Homestead strike by solidifying support from the laboring classes. The strike proved that high tariffs did not translate to high wages for workers.
In fairness to Harrison he did not have his mind on the campaign as his wife was very ill - she died two weeks before the election.
The WINNER was GROVER CLEVELAND and he became the 24th president of the U.S. after being the 22nd president from 1885 to 1889.
Cleveland got 5,553,898 popular and 277 electoral.
Harrison got 5,190,819 popular and 145 electoral.
James Weaver got 1,026.595 popular and 22 electoral.
But change was in the wind in 1892. A new political party, called the POPULIST PARTY had sprung up to fight the Wall Street hold on America. The members of the new party were mainly farmers and factory workers whose platform called for fair wages, public ownership of railroads, telegraph and telephones, and a restoration of government "to the hands of plain people." Their candidate was a man named James Weaver from Iowa and he garnered over one million votes. Weaver had campaigned all over the country with a charismatic woman named Mary Elizabeth Lease. She was a tremendous speaker and decried a "government of Wall street, for Wall Street, and by Wall street." (I would say this sounds pretty familiar with the Occupy Wall Street protesters we're seeing in 2011 and 2012.)
She also told farmers "to raise less corn and more hell."
Party bosses were about to see the beginning of the end of their storied power. The 20th century would bring change to the middle classes and poor -and for the better.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
ELECTION #26, 1888. The NASTY-METER is 7.
QUOTE from Matthew Quay, Republican campaign manager in 1888: "Benjamin Harrison would never know how many Republicans were compelled to approach the gates of the penitentiary to make him president."
The CANDIDATES in 1888.
DEMOCRAT: GROVER CLEVELAND.
The election of 1888 was close and dirty. Cleveland had labored hard for civil service reform and an end to high tariffs. He felt, as did many Democrats, that the high tariffs lined the pockets of the rich Republican tycoons while making the cost of goods prohibitive for the average working folks.
One unfortunate decision Cleveland made was to rely on his 75-year-old VP running mate, Allen Thurman, to compaign for him. During his speeches Thurman would forget what he was supposed to be talking about and start complaining about his rheumatism. (not exactly a good way for Cleveland to win votes.)
REPUBLICAN: BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Harrison was a distinguished Civil War vet and Indiana senator. He was aloof and the second choice of many Republicans at the convention. The 1884 nominee Blaine still had plenty of support but Harrison won due to his good bloodlines - he was the grandson of President William "Old Tippecanoe" Harrison. But just as important was he supported the high tariffs that made the Republicans tycoons so rich - and a lot of them were at the convention.
He was also a smarter campaigner, smarter than Cleveland anyway. He never left his Indianapolis home but what he would do is make a brief address to a crowd of people gathered in his front yard and then send if by telegraph to the Associated Press for nationwide dissemination. That way he was in the news everyday and they were his own carefully edited words. He wasn't going to make a blunder like the preacher did for Blaine four years earlier which cost him the presidency.
The CAMPAIGN in 1888.
The Republicans again attacked Cleveland about his sex life. While in office he had married Frances Folsom, the daughter of his former law partner. The Republican joy about the marriage was that she was only 21 years old and he was 49. Many Republicans were titillated by the incestuous nature of their union because she used to call Cleveland "Uncle Cleve." The Republicans referred to Cleveland as the "Beast of Buffalo" and even spread rumors that he beat her. Frances issued a rebuttal saying the Republican claim was nothing but "a foolish campaign ploy without a shadow of foundation."
And Harrison had the benefit of Republican money. Lots of it. The Republican campaign manager, Matthew Quay, remarked that he would "fry the fat" out of Republican businessmen who benefitted from the protective tariffs - and he did, collecting more than $3,000,000, much of which came from the American Iron and Steel Association. At the same time, mill workers received slips tucked into their pay envelopes threatening them with the loss of their jobs if tariffs were authorized and cheap foreign goods were to flood the country.
The WINNER was BENJAMIN HARRISON and he became the 23rd president of the U.S.
Even though Harrison lost the popular vote he won the electoral.
Cleveland had 5,534,488 popular and 168 electoral.
Harrison had 5,443.892 popular (about 90,000 less than Cleveland) but 233 electoral so he became president.
It took a lot of dirty tricks to win the election for Harrison. There was vote buying in Indiana, where Republican party operatives ("called floaters") were now paid as much as $15.00 a head to march people to the polls before they got too drunk to vote.
Another big Republican victory was in New York State, where 36 electoral votes went to Harrison after the Democratic candidate for governor made a deal with Harrison's people - the deal was: In return for enough Republican votes to give him the governorship, he would deliver New York to Harrison for president. (and he did)
The dirty tricks in this campaign were such that Republican bigwig Matthew Quay remarked pointedly, Harrison would never know how many Republicans "were compelled to approach the gates of the penitentiary to make him president."
The CANDIDATES in 1888.
DEMOCRAT: GROVER CLEVELAND.
The election of 1888 was close and dirty. Cleveland had labored hard for civil service reform and an end to high tariffs. He felt, as did many Democrats, that the high tariffs lined the pockets of the rich Republican tycoons while making the cost of goods prohibitive for the average working folks.
One unfortunate decision Cleveland made was to rely on his 75-year-old VP running mate, Allen Thurman, to compaign for him. During his speeches Thurman would forget what he was supposed to be talking about and start complaining about his rheumatism. (not exactly a good way for Cleveland to win votes.)
REPUBLICAN: BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Harrison was a distinguished Civil War vet and Indiana senator. He was aloof and the second choice of many Republicans at the convention. The 1884 nominee Blaine still had plenty of support but Harrison won due to his good bloodlines - he was the grandson of President William "Old Tippecanoe" Harrison. But just as important was he supported the high tariffs that made the Republicans tycoons so rich - and a lot of them were at the convention.
He was also a smarter campaigner, smarter than Cleveland anyway. He never left his Indianapolis home but what he would do is make a brief address to a crowd of people gathered in his front yard and then send if by telegraph to the Associated Press for nationwide dissemination. That way he was in the news everyday and they were his own carefully edited words. He wasn't going to make a blunder like the preacher did for Blaine four years earlier which cost him the presidency.
The CAMPAIGN in 1888.
The Republicans again attacked Cleveland about his sex life. While in office he had married Frances Folsom, the daughter of his former law partner. The Republican joy about the marriage was that she was only 21 years old and he was 49. Many Republicans were titillated by the incestuous nature of their union because she used to call Cleveland "Uncle Cleve." The Republicans referred to Cleveland as the "Beast of Buffalo" and even spread rumors that he beat her. Frances issued a rebuttal saying the Republican claim was nothing but "a foolish campaign ploy without a shadow of foundation."
And Harrison had the benefit of Republican money. Lots of it. The Republican campaign manager, Matthew Quay, remarked that he would "fry the fat" out of Republican businessmen who benefitted from the protective tariffs - and he did, collecting more than $3,000,000, much of which came from the American Iron and Steel Association. At the same time, mill workers received slips tucked into their pay envelopes threatening them with the loss of their jobs if tariffs were authorized and cheap foreign goods were to flood the country.
The WINNER was BENJAMIN HARRISON and he became the 23rd president of the U.S.
Even though Harrison lost the popular vote he won the electoral.
Cleveland had 5,534,488 popular and 168 electoral.
Harrison had 5,443.892 popular (about 90,000 less than Cleveland) but 233 electoral so he became president.
It took a lot of dirty tricks to win the election for Harrison. There was vote buying in Indiana, where Republican party operatives ("called floaters") were now paid as much as $15.00 a head to march people to the polls before they got too drunk to vote.
Another big Republican victory was in New York State, where 36 electoral votes went to Harrison after the Democratic candidate for governor made a deal with Harrison's people - the deal was: In return for enough Republican votes to give him the governorship, he would deliver New York to Harrison for president. (and he did)
The dirty tricks in this campaign were such that Republican bigwig Matthew Quay remarked pointedly, Harrison would never know how many Republicans "were compelled to approach the gates of the penitentiary to make him president."
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
ELECTION #25, 1884. The NASTY-METER goes up to 8..
QUOTE from President Chester Arthur while speaking to a temperance reformer: "Madam, I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damn business."
Chester Arthur became president in 1881 when Garfield was assassinated after only three months in office. He was a pretty decent president but not good enough for some of the Republican kingmakers in his party.
The CANDIDATES in 1884.
REPUBLICAN: JAMES G. BLAINE.
James Blaine really wanted to be president. He finally got his turn in 1884. This eloguent Maine-born former Speaker of the House, senator, and secretary of state under Garfield inspired deliriums of passion in his rabid supporters - they were known as "Blainiacs." They dubbed him the "Plumed Knight" for his courage and integrity, but many in the know thought that he was on the take. It was a bad sign that the man he picked for his VP was Illinois Senator John Logan, who was suspected of corruption and known as "Black Jack."
DEMOCRAT: GROVER CLEVELAND.
Grover Cleveland was the former assistant district attorney and sheriff in Erie County, mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York. He had proved himself to be a tough crime fighter, prosecuting corruption unmercifully. He targeted politicians from both parties and consistently vetoed bills as both mayor and governor that favored politicians or the undeserving. He got the reputation for being honest - so honest that he was known as "ugly honest." For his VP he chose Hoosier Thomas Hendricks, Tilden's running mate in 1876, this move helped Indiana go for Cleveland in November.
The CAMPAIGN in 1884.
The campaign was ugly and nasty. At the Republican convention in June of 1884 the chaplain prayed that "the coming political campaign be conducted with the decency, intelligence, patriotism and dignity of temper which becomes a free and intelligent people." This was a total JOKE.
Several leading Republicans bolted from the Republican Party, including Mark Twain and the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. They were called Mugwumps by their enemies. The mugwumps reviled Blaine for curruption and for being under the thumb of Republican bosses. Blaine's dealings with the railroads (who pushed as much money into Washington as Wall street and defense contractors do today) were particular suspect. The Democrats discovered a letter that Blaine had written to a Boston railroad attorney. In the letter it looked like Blaine had been complicit in some shady business dealings. It didn't help that he signed off by saying "Burn this letter." The Democrats jumped on this by saying, "Burn this letter! Burn this letter!" and "Blaine, Blaine. James G. Blaine, the Continental liar from the state of Maine."
The Republicans had their own juicy comeback when it was published in the Buffalo Evening Telegraph newspaper that Grover Cleveland (a bachelor) had fathered a child with a 36 year old widow in 1874, ten years before the election. The Republicans went wild over this revelation by proclaiming, "The issue is evidently not between two great parties, but between the brothel and the family...between lust and law." and "We do not believe that the American people will knowingly elect to the Presidency a coarse debaucher who will bring his harlots with him to Washington." They called Cleveland a "lecherous beast, a moral leper, and an obese nincompoop." (He weighed about 250 pounds.) The Republicans now had their own chant, "Ma! Ma! Where's my Pa?"
But Cleveland played it smart and defused the Republican slam. He was an honest man and acknowledged he was supporting the chid (a boy that was now ten years old and had been adopted) and refused to say anymore about it. (Cleveland said privately that he questioned whether he really was the father.) The widow, (the mother), refused to give any interviews, and Cleveland's honesty helpd him get through the storm. Most Americans then as now-were more forgiving of lechery than hypocrisy.
The WINNER was GROVER CLEVELAND and he became the 22nd president of the U.S.
Cleveland got 4,874,621 popular votes and 219 electoral.
Blaine got 4,848,936 popular and 182 electoral.
There are two main reasons Blaine lost the election. The first one happened in New York on October 29, 1884, a few days before the vote. Blaine was at a breakfast meeting when a Presbyterian minister gave a speech before Blaine gave his. The minister said the Democrats were a party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion," essentially slurring them as Irish Catholic drunks. I guess Blaine wasn't listening and when he got up to talk he didn't denounce the words of the minister. A Democrat at the meeting wrote down the words of the minister and raced down to party headquarters. They immediately printed thousands of handbills describing Blaine as a "Catholic-hater." In a city of Irish Catholic working-class immigrants, it did not sit well.
The second thing happened on the same day at an evening dinner at Delmonicos, a very high class restaurant in New York City. In attendance were Republican tycoons Jay Gould, John Jacob Astor, and Cyrus W. Field. The next day the headlines read, "The Royal Feast of Blaine and the Money Kings."
These two things caused Blaine to lose New York by only 1,149 votes. Blaine later said, "Had it not been for 'an ass in the shape of a preacher' I would have won New York and become president of the U.S."
With Cleveland winning his supporters could now gleefully shout to the Republicans, "Ma! Ma! Where's my pa?" "Gone to the White House! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Chester Arthur became president in 1881 when Garfield was assassinated after only three months in office. He was a pretty decent president but not good enough for some of the Republican kingmakers in his party.
The CANDIDATES in 1884.
REPUBLICAN: JAMES G. BLAINE.
James Blaine really wanted to be president. He finally got his turn in 1884. This eloguent Maine-born former Speaker of the House, senator, and secretary of state under Garfield inspired deliriums of passion in his rabid supporters - they were known as "Blainiacs." They dubbed him the "Plumed Knight" for his courage and integrity, but many in the know thought that he was on the take. It was a bad sign that the man he picked for his VP was Illinois Senator John Logan, who was suspected of corruption and known as "Black Jack."
DEMOCRAT: GROVER CLEVELAND.
Grover Cleveland was the former assistant district attorney and sheriff in Erie County, mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York. He had proved himself to be a tough crime fighter, prosecuting corruption unmercifully. He targeted politicians from both parties and consistently vetoed bills as both mayor and governor that favored politicians or the undeserving. He got the reputation for being honest - so honest that he was known as "ugly honest." For his VP he chose Hoosier Thomas Hendricks, Tilden's running mate in 1876, this move helped Indiana go for Cleveland in November.
The CAMPAIGN in 1884.
The campaign was ugly and nasty. At the Republican convention in June of 1884 the chaplain prayed that "the coming political campaign be conducted with the decency, intelligence, patriotism and dignity of temper which becomes a free and intelligent people." This was a total JOKE.
Several leading Republicans bolted from the Republican Party, including Mark Twain and the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. They were called Mugwumps by their enemies. The mugwumps reviled Blaine for curruption and for being under the thumb of Republican bosses. Blaine's dealings with the railroads (who pushed as much money into Washington as Wall street and defense contractors do today) were particular suspect. The Democrats discovered a letter that Blaine had written to a Boston railroad attorney. In the letter it looked like Blaine had been complicit in some shady business dealings. It didn't help that he signed off by saying "Burn this letter." The Democrats jumped on this by saying, "Burn this letter! Burn this letter!" and "Blaine, Blaine. James G. Blaine, the Continental liar from the state of Maine."
The Republicans had their own juicy comeback when it was published in the Buffalo Evening Telegraph newspaper that Grover Cleveland (a bachelor) had fathered a child with a 36 year old widow in 1874, ten years before the election. The Republicans went wild over this revelation by proclaiming, "The issue is evidently not between two great parties, but between the brothel and the family...between lust and law." and "We do not believe that the American people will knowingly elect to the Presidency a coarse debaucher who will bring his harlots with him to Washington." They called Cleveland a "lecherous beast, a moral leper, and an obese nincompoop." (He weighed about 250 pounds.) The Republicans now had their own chant, "Ma! Ma! Where's my Pa?"
But Cleveland played it smart and defused the Republican slam. He was an honest man and acknowledged he was supporting the chid (a boy that was now ten years old and had been adopted) and refused to say anymore about it. (Cleveland said privately that he questioned whether he really was the father.) The widow, (the mother), refused to give any interviews, and Cleveland's honesty helpd him get through the storm. Most Americans then as now-were more forgiving of lechery than hypocrisy.
The WINNER was GROVER CLEVELAND and he became the 22nd president of the U.S.
Cleveland got 4,874,621 popular votes and 219 electoral.
Blaine got 4,848,936 popular and 182 electoral.
There are two main reasons Blaine lost the election. The first one happened in New York on October 29, 1884, a few days before the vote. Blaine was at a breakfast meeting when a Presbyterian minister gave a speech before Blaine gave his. The minister said the Democrats were a party of "rum, Romanism, and rebellion," essentially slurring them as Irish Catholic drunks. I guess Blaine wasn't listening and when he got up to talk he didn't denounce the words of the minister. A Democrat at the meeting wrote down the words of the minister and raced down to party headquarters. They immediately printed thousands of handbills describing Blaine as a "Catholic-hater." In a city of Irish Catholic working-class immigrants, it did not sit well.
The second thing happened on the same day at an evening dinner at Delmonicos, a very high class restaurant in New York City. In attendance were Republican tycoons Jay Gould, John Jacob Astor, and Cyrus W. Field. The next day the headlines read, "The Royal Feast of Blaine and the Money Kings."
These two things caused Blaine to lose New York by only 1,149 votes. Blaine later said, "Had it not been for 'an ass in the shape of a preacher' I would have won New York and become president of the U.S."
With Cleveland winning his supporters could now gleefully shout to the Republicans, "Ma! Ma! Where's my pa?" "Gone to the White House! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Monday, December 26, 2011
ELECTION #24, 1880. The NASTY-METER is 3.
QUOTE from James Garfield on his deathbed: "He must have been crazy. None but an insane person could have done such a thing. What could he have wanted to shoot me for?"
Under Rutherford Hayes, America entered the very heart of what Mark Twain dubbed the Gilded Age. A huge economic expansion was led by robber barons (er, industrialists) - like Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, John Jacob Aster, Jay Gould , and Cyprus W. Field. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the disenfranchised were more disenfranchised.
In his four years as president Hayes had become unpopular with his own Republican Party. They were upset because he was hamstrung by the promises he'd made to the Democrats in order to steal the presidency in 1876. He'd withdrawn Union troops from the South, given important positions to Southern Democrats, and approved money for Southern pork barrels. So the Republican Party was split when they had their convention in Chicago in June, 1880. So Hayes decided not to run for reelction in 1880.
The CANDIDATES in 1880.
REPUBLICAN: JAMES A. GARFIELD.
By 1880 the Republican Party had split into two groups: One group was called the "Stalwarts"- they were the old-line Party members loyal to Ulysses S. Grant; the other group was the "Half-Breeds" - they were the moderates who wanted reform in the party and wanted nothing to do with four more years of the scandulous Grant and his crooked cronies. The Stalwarts put Grant's name on the floor to be nominated and the Half-Breeds put Maine Senator James G. Blaine's name on the floor. After a record-setting 36 ballots (still a record) nobody had won so James Garfield was put on the floor as a compromise candidate. Garfield had been a major general in the Civil War, member of the House and a Senator from Ohio. He won and Chester Arthur, a New York City party boss, was named his VP teammate. Garfield was low-key and likeable and was the last candidate to be born in a log cabin.
DEMOCRATS: WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK.
Hancock was a former Civil War hero and military governor. He was a good man and a big man. But he had never held public office or even dabbled in politics. His VP partner was William H. English. a banker from Indiana.
The CAMPAIGN in 1880.
As the U.S. was heading to the 20th century the country faced pressing issues: the need for child labor laws and an eight hour work day, the plight of blacks, the rights of women, and a graduated federal income tax. The platforms of both parties ignored these issues, instead they emphasized civil service reform, opposed aid to parochial schools, and called for curtailing Chinese immigration - "an evil of great magnitude," claimed the Republicans.
The Democrats tried, unsuccessfully, to tie Garfield to the scandals in the Grant administration. The Republicans said to have Hancock as president would be crazy. A Republican newspaper wrote that for the Democrats to nominate Hancock "no more changes the character of the Democrats than a figurehead of the Virgin Mary on Captain Kidd's pirate ship."
Both states realized they had to carry Indiana for the large number of electoral votes. So both parties resorted to "Soap" or "Soapy Sam" which were 1880s slang for cash passed out to voters to encourage them to vote for the right candidate. Soaping palms had been the custom in American elections for years, but money exchanged hands in an unprecedented fashion during the Garfield-Hancock contest. Being William English, the Democratic VP candidate, was from Indiana the Republicans were terrified that the state would go for Hancock. So they sprang into action. Garfield and VP candidate Chester Arthur urgently requested cash from their Wall Street connections, and a silver-tongued bagman named Stepehn Dorsey was sent to Indiana carrying, by some accounts, as much as $400,000 in two-dollar bills. Soapy Sam had come to the rescue.
The Democrats tried "Soapy Sam" also, but they didn't have Wall Street connections and were not nearly as successful. The Democrats biggest dirty trick consisted of sending in "repeaters" or "floaters" from outside Indiana to vote in different precincts.
Since 1860 the Republicans had controlled the U.S. government. In New York just about every state and civil-service worker owed their job to the Republican bosses. What was the going rate to keep their jobs? Well, in 1876 it had been 2% of annual salary. But VP candidate, Chester Arthur, a New York political boss, upped it 3%, delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican treasure chest.
The WINNER was JAMES GARFIELD and became the 20th president of the U.S.
Garfield got 4,446,158 popular votes and 214 electoral votes.
Hancock got 4,444,260 popular and 155 electoral.
The race was close - only 10,000 votes separated them. In the end, Soapy Sam had carried Indiana for Republican James Garfield. Unfortunately, Garfield would be shot three months later (July 2nd) by a disgruntled office seeker. He was shot in the arm and back but neither killed him - his doctors killed him. While trying to extract the bullet his doctors turned a three-inch wound into a 20-inch wound, puncturing his liver. The wound became infected, and Garfield died on September 19, 1881. (He would easily have survived today.)
VP Chester Arthur then became our 21st president.
Under Rutherford Hayes, America entered the very heart of what Mark Twain dubbed the Gilded Age. A huge economic expansion was led by robber barons (er, industrialists) - like Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, John Jacob Aster, Jay Gould , and Cyprus W. Field. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the disenfranchised were more disenfranchised.
In his four years as president Hayes had become unpopular with his own Republican Party. They were upset because he was hamstrung by the promises he'd made to the Democrats in order to steal the presidency in 1876. He'd withdrawn Union troops from the South, given important positions to Southern Democrats, and approved money for Southern pork barrels. So the Republican Party was split when they had their convention in Chicago in June, 1880. So Hayes decided not to run for reelction in 1880.
The CANDIDATES in 1880.
REPUBLICAN: JAMES A. GARFIELD.
By 1880 the Republican Party had split into two groups: One group was called the "Stalwarts"- they were the old-line Party members loyal to Ulysses S. Grant; the other group was the "Half-Breeds" - they were the moderates who wanted reform in the party and wanted nothing to do with four more years of the scandulous Grant and his crooked cronies. The Stalwarts put Grant's name on the floor to be nominated and the Half-Breeds put Maine Senator James G. Blaine's name on the floor. After a record-setting 36 ballots (still a record) nobody had won so James Garfield was put on the floor as a compromise candidate. Garfield had been a major general in the Civil War, member of the House and a Senator from Ohio. He won and Chester Arthur, a New York City party boss, was named his VP teammate. Garfield was low-key and likeable and was the last candidate to be born in a log cabin.
DEMOCRATS: WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK.
Hancock was a former Civil War hero and military governor. He was a good man and a big man. But he had never held public office or even dabbled in politics. His VP partner was William H. English. a banker from Indiana.
The CAMPAIGN in 1880.
As the U.S. was heading to the 20th century the country faced pressing issues: the need for child labor laws and an eight hour work day, the plight of blacks, the rights of women, and a graduated federal income tax. The platforms of both parties ignored these issues, instead they emphasized civil service reform, opposed aid to parochial schools, and called for curtailing Chinese immigration - "an evil of great magnitude," claimed the Republicans.
The Democrats tried, unsuccessfully, to tie Garfield to the scandals in the Grant administration. The Republicans said to have Hancock as president would be crazy. A Republican newspaper wrote that for the Democrats to nominate Hancock "no more changes the character of the Democrats than a figurehead of the Virgin Mary on Captain Kidd's pirate ship."
Both states realized they had to carry Indiana for the large number of electoral votes. So both parties resorted to "Soap" or "Soapy Sam" which were 1880s slang for cash passed out to voters to encourage them to vote for the right candidate. Soaping palms had been the custom in American elections for years, but money exchanged hands in an unprecedented fashion during the Garfield-Hancock contest. Being William English, the Democratic VP candidate, was from Indiana the Republicans were terrified that the state would go for Hancock. So they sprang into action. Garfield and VP candidate Chester Arthur urgently requested cash from their Wall Street connections, and a silver-tongued bagman named Stepehn Dorsey was sent to Indiana carrying, by some accounts, as much as $400,000 in two-dollar bills. Soapy Sam had come to the rescue.
The Democrats tried "Soapy Sam" also, but they didn't have Wall Street connections and were not nearly as successful. The Democrats biggest dirty trick consisted of sending in "repeaters" or "floaters" from outside Indiana to vote in different precincts.
Since 1860 the Republicans had controlled the U.S. government. In New York just about every state and civil-service worker owed their job to the Republican bosses. What was the going rate to keep their jobs? Well, in 1876 it had been 2% of annual salary. But VP candidate, Chester Arthur, a New York political boss, upped it 3%, delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican treasure chest.
The WINNER was JAMES GARFIELD and became the 20th president of the U.S.
Garfield got 4,446,158 popular votes and 214 electoral votes.
Hancock got 4,444,260 popular and 155 electoral.
The race was close - only 10,000 votes separated them. In the end, Soapy Sam had carried Indiana for Republican James Garfield. Unfortunately, Garfield would be shot three months later (July 2nd) by a disgruntled office seeker. He was shot in the arm and back but neither killed him - his doctors killed him. While trying to extract the bullet his doctors turned a three-inch wound into a 20-inch wound, puncturing his liver. The wound became infected, and Garfield died on September 19, 1881. (He would easily have survived today.)
VP Chester Arthur then became our 21st president.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
ELECTION #23. 1876. The NASTY-METER skyrockets to 10.
QUOTE from Robert G. Ingersoll, who was a writer on the staff of the 1876 Republican presidential candidate Rutherford B. Hayes: "Every man that tried to destroy this nation was a Democrat...The man that assassinated Lincoln was a Democrat...Soldiers, every scar you have on your bodies was given you by a Democrat."
In 1876 it was ironic that one of the nastiest and most brutal elections in 19th-century American history occurred. It is a further irony that both candidates, Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, were so-called reform candidates whose goal was to wipe out corruption in government. This election changed America,and it was NOT for the better, over the next 90-100 years.
The CANDIDATES in 1876.
REPUBLICAN: RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
Grant really wanted to run for a third term. But the scandals in his administration hung so heavily over him that the Republicans said, "no way." At the convention in Cincinnati they chose Hayes, the governor of Ohio. Hayes was a good guy, hard-working and sincere, a Civil War hero, the father of seven, prayed with his kids every morning and sang gospel hymns with them at night.
DEMOCRAT: SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
The Democrats were hungry for a winner so they chose Samuel Tilden, the governor of NY. Tilden had gained fame as a crusading Manhattan D.A., he had smashed New York City's Boss Tweed's powerful ring of corruption and sent him prison. After Grant's scandal-ridden administration they felt they had a good shot with Tilden. Tilden was super bright. But he was an icy, aloof bachelor whose penetrating intellect made many people uncomfortable, even his friends. His biggest disadvantage was he had taken no part in the Civil War.
The CAMPAIGN in 1876.
Tilden tried to change his image by hiring public relations experts to make him appear like a warm and loveable Samuel Tilden. He issued press releases accusing Hayes of being involved in some of Grant's scandals. They said he had stolen $400 from a Union deserter about to be executed. (He did take the money before the guy was shot but returned it to his family.) They accused Hayes of shooting and wounding his own mother "in a fit of insanity" after a night of drinking. (There was no proof that this was true and mother couldn't say yes or no as she died in 1866.)
The Hayes supporters did not sit idle. The Republicans had been in power for 16 years and most federal employees had been appointed by Republicans. Zachariah Chandler, the less than sober head of the Republican Party and Hayes campaign manager, knew how to raise money. He sent a fund-raising letter to every Republican appointee holding office and told them to donate 2% of their salary to the Hayes campaign - please remit promptly - at the close of the campaign we will post a list of those who have not paid in the hands of your department head. They said that Tilden, being a bachelor, had numerous affairs with women, some of them married. And they said he had also contracted syphilis some years earlier from an Irish whore, and the venereal disease affected his actions and made him susceptible to blackmail. (Tilden died in 1886 and there was no evidence of his having any STD.)
And both parties were guilty of more terrible tactics in the campaign. The Republicans-the party of the Great Emancipator. Abraham Lincoln - wanted freed blacks to vote and thus prodded many of them to the ballot boxes at gunpoint to vote for Hayes. Democrats in S. Carolina and elsewhere started violent race riots, in some cases shooting and killing blacks who attempted to exercise their right to vote. On both sides, men voted 10-20 times, and local party bosses stood by ballot boxes, tearing up any votes for the "wrong" candidate.
The real WINNER was SAMUEL J. TILDEN but RUTHERFORD B. HAYES became the 19th president of the U.S.
Tilden got 4,284,020 popular votes and 184 electoral.
Hayes got 4,036,572 popular and 185 electoral.
Tilden had almost 250,000 more popular votes but did not become president.
The 1876 election is the most tainted and controversial election in our history (the 2000 election between Bush and Gore is close). Tilden won the popular vote by nearly 250,000 votes and he appeared to have 203 electoral votes to Hayes's 166. Although all results showed Tilden had won, the Republican Party disputed the outcome. They claimed that blacks had been denied the right to vote in many parts of the South, especially in S. Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. The election officials refused to accredit the Democratic electors in these 3 states. The officials instead had the 3 states give their electoral votes to Hayes - now the election was tied at 184 electoral votes for each.
Not surprisingly, chaos ensued in the capital. The Democrats controlled the House, and the Republicans controlled the Senate. The Republican Party knew that if the election went to the House, they would lose. So they recommended a bipartisan commission to study the election and certify the results. The commission was composed of 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, with 5 from the House, 5 from the Senate and 5 from the Supreme Court. The 15th and tie-breaking member was another Supreme Court justice - his name was Justice David Davis, an Independent. However, in the middle of the deliberations he was appointed as a senator from Illinois and resigned. In his place another justice was appointed, the problem for the Democrats was that he was a Republican and not an Independent. With the commissions final vote tied at 7-7 the replacement voted with the Republicans and Hayes received all the disputed electoral votes and became the 19th president of the U.S.
The Democrats were furious at the shenanigans of the commission - some historians have said we were close to another Civil War. The Democrats refused to attend the inauguration - it was held in secret because the Republicans feared for Hayes's life - someone had already fired a shot through the window of Hayes's house.
But here is the real tragedy of this election -
IT SEALED THE FATE OF THE BLACKS FOR THE NEXT 90-100 YEARS. The Southern Democrats saw an opportunity to get something they wanted. What they wanted was to get the Union troops out of the South. They offered the Republicans a deal - we will not challenge the election results of the commission if you will do 3 things:
1. When Hayes got in office he would have to withdraw all Union troops.
2. Appoint one Southerner to his cabinet.
3. Appropriate money to rebuild the South.
And Hayes came through on all three.
The results of this deal are:
1. Reconstruction ended and Afrian-Americans were largely abandoned by the federal government until the 1960s.
2. The white-controlled Democratic Party went on to control Southern politics for the next century. They set about the process of segregating blacks from society and keeping them in their place through instilling fear (the KKK and lynchings) and denying them rights.
3. The civil rights of blacks was set back until the 1960s, including the right to vote, fair treatment in the judicial system, equality in education and economic prosperity and....
(My comment - Oh,it makes me sick on how political crookedness, prejudice, bigotry and the pursuit of power can screw up a country and the lives of its minority citizens.)
In 1876 it was ironic that one of the nastiest and most brutal elections in 19th-century American history occurred. It is a further irony that both candidates, Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, were so-called reform candidates whose goal was to wipe out corruption in government. This election changed America,and it was NOT for the better, over the next 90-100 years.
The CANDIDATES in 1876.
REPUBLICAN: RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
Grant really wanted to run for a third term. But the scandals in his administration hung so heavily over him that the Republicans said, "no way." At the convention in Cincinnati they chose Hayes, the governor of Ohio. Hayes was a good guy, hard-working and sincere, a Civil War hero, the father of seven, prayed with his kids every morning and sang gospel hymns with them at night.
DEMOCRAT: SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
The Democrats were hungry for a winner so they chose Samuel Tilden, the governor of NY. Tilden had gained fame as a crusading Manhattan D.A., he had smashed New York City's Boss Tweed's powerful ring of corruption and sent him prison. After Grant's scandal-ridden administration they felt they had a good shot with Tilden. Tilden was super bright. But he was an icy, aloof bachelor whose penetrating intellect made many people uncomfortable, even his friends. His biggest disadvantage was he had taken no part in the Civil War.
The CAMPAIGN in 1876.
Tilden tried to change his image by hiring public relations experts to make him appear like a warm and loveable Samuel Tilden. He issued press releases accusing Hayes of being involved in some of Grant's scandals. They said he had stolen $400 from a Union deserter about to be executed. (He did take the money before the guy was shot but returned it to his family.) They accused Hayes of shooting and wounding his own mother "in a fit of insanity" after a night of drinking. (There was no proof that this was true and mother couldn't say yes or no as she died in 1866.)
The Hayes supporters did not sit idle. The Republicans had been in power for 16 years and most federal employees had been appointed by Republicans. Zachariah Chandler, the less than sober head of the Republican Party and Hayes campaign manager, knew how to raise money. He sent a fund-raising letter to every Republican appointee holding office and told them to donate 2% of their salary to the Hayes campaign - please remit promptly - at the close of the campaign we will post a list of those who have not paid in the hands of your department head. They said that Tilden, being a bachelor, had numerous affairs with women, some of them married. And they said he had also contracted syphilis some years earlier from an Irish whore, and the venereal disease affected his actions and made him susceptible to blackmail. (Tilden died in 1886 and there was no evidence of his having any STD.)
And both parties were guilty of more terrible tactics in the campaign. The Republicans-the party of the Great Emancipator. Abraham Lincoln - wanted freed blacks to vote and thus prodded many of them to the ballot boxes at gunpoint to vote for Hayes. Democrats in S. Carolina and elsewhere started violent race riots, in some cases shooting and killing blacks who attempted to exercise their right to vote. On both sides, men voted 10-20 times, and local party bosses stood by ballot boxes, tearing up any votes for the "wrong" candidate.
The real WINNER was SAMUEL J. TILDEN but RUTHERFORD B. HAYES became the 19th president of the U.S.
Tilden got 4,284,020 popular votes and 184 electoral.
Hayes got 4,036,572 popular and 185 electoral.
Tilden had almost 250,000 more popular votes but did not become president.
The 1876 election is the most tainted and controversial election in our history (the 2000 election between Bush and Gore is close). Tilden won the popular vote by nearly 250,000 votes and he appeared to have 203 electoral votes to Hayes's 166. Although all results showed Tilden had won, the Republican Party disputed the outcome. They claimed that blacks had been denied the right to vote in many parts of the South, especially in S. Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida. The election officials refused to accredit the Democratic electors in these 3 states. The officials instead had the 3 states give their electoral votes to Hayes - now the election was tied at 184 electoral votes for each.
Not surprisingly, chaos ensued in the capital. The Democrats controlled the House, and the Republicans controlled the Senate. The Republican Party knew that if the election went to the House, they would lose. So they recommended a bipartisan commission to study the election and certify the results. The commission was composed of 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, with 5 from the House, 5 from the Senate and 5 from the Supreme Court. The 15th and tie-breaking member was another Supreme Court justice - his name was Justice David Davis, an Independent. However, in the middle of the deliberations he was appointed as a senator from Illinois and resigned. In his place another justice was appointed, the problem for the Democrats was that he was a Republican and not an Independent. With the commissions final vote tied at 7-7 the replacement voted with the Republicans and Hayes received all the disputed electoral votes and became the 19th president of the U.S.
The Democrats were furious at the shenanigans of the commission - some historians have said we were close to another Civil War. The Democrats refused to attend the inauguration - it was held in secret because the Republicans feared for Hayes's life - someone had already fired a shot through the window of Hayes's house.
But here is the real tragedy of this election -
IT SEALED THE FATE OF THE BLACKS FOR THE NEXT 90-100 YEARS. The Southern Democrats saw an opportunity to get something they wanted. What they wanted was to get the Union troops out of the South. They offered the Republicans a deal - we will not challenge the election results of the commission if you will do 3 things:
1. When Hayes got in office he would have to withdraw all Union troops.
2. Appoint one Southerner to his cabinet.
3. Appropriate money to rebuild the South.
And Hayes came through on all three.
The results of this deal are:
1. Reconstruction ended and Afrian-Americans were largely abandoned by the federal government until the 1960s.
2. The white-controlled Democratic Party went on to control Southern politics for the next century. They set about the process of segregating blacks from society and keeping them in their place through instilling fear (the KKK and lynchings) and denying them rights.
3. The civil rights of blacks was set back until the 1960s, including the right to vote, fair treatment in the judicial system, equality in education and economic prosperity and....
(My comment - Oh,it makes me sick on how political crookedness, prejudice, bigotry and the pursuit of power can screw up a country and the lives of its minority citizens.)
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
ELECTION #22, 1872. The NASTY-METER goes down to 2.
QUOTE from Mark Twain about the scandals and corruption in the Grant administration: "Everyone, it seemed was in a fever to make money, and the most hungry became known, not always with disdain, as 'robber barons.'"
The CANDIDATES in 1872.
REPUBLICAN: ULYSSES S. GRANT.
The regular Republicans renominated Grant for president and Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for VP.
DEMOCRATS and LIBERAL REPUBLICANS: HORACE GREELEY.
Many Republicans were sick of the corruption in Grant's first term so they split off from the regular Republican Party, met in Cincinnati and nominated Horace Greeley as their candidate for president. The Democrats met a month later and decided to throw in their lot with the Liberal Republicans. Greeley became their candidate also.
The CAMPAIGN in 1872.
Greeley is one of the oddest candidates for president in our history. He was a powerful newspaperman, the editor of the New York Tribune, and a crusading journalist, famously advising young men to "Go West." He was a balding, rotund vegetarian with tiny glasses and big white sideburns. On top of all that he was an atheist.
So you can imagine how the campaign went. New York
Republican boss Thurlow Weed wrote to a friend, "Six weeks ago I did not suppose that any considerable number of men, outside of a Lunatic
Asylum, would nominate Greeley for President." Another reporter said that Greeley's nomination had to be the result of "too much brains and not enough whiskey."
The WINNER was ULYSSES S. GRANT - THE 18TH PRESIDENT.
Grant got 3,598,235 popular votes and 286 electoral.
Greeley got 2,834,761 popular and 66 electoral.
Historian Eugene Roseboom wrote, "Never in American history have two more unfit men been offered for the highest office...The man of no ideas was running against the man of too many.?
The CANDIDATES in 1872.
REPUBLICAN: ULYSSES S. GRANT.
The regular Republicans renominated Grant for president and Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for VP.
DEMOCRATS and LIBERAL REPUBLICANS: HORACE GREELEY.
Many Republicans were sick of the corruption in Grant's first term so they split off from the regular Republican Party, met in Cincinnati and nominated Horace Greeley as their candidate for president. The Democrats met a month later and decided to throw in their lot with the Liberal Republicans. Greeley became their candidate also.
The CAMPAIGN in 1872.
Greeley is one of the oddest candidates for president in our history. He was a powerful newspaperman, the editor of the New York Tribune, and a crusading journalist, famously advising young men to "Go West." He was a balding, rotund vegetarian with tiny glasses and big white sideburns. On top of all that he was an atheist.
So you can imagine how the campaign went. New York
Republican boss Thurlow Weed wrote to a friend, "Six weeks ago I did not suppose that any considerable number of men, outside of a Lunatic
Asylum, would nominate Greeley for President." Another reporter said that Greeley's nomination had to be the result of "too much brains and not enough whiskey."
The WINNER was ULYSSES S. GRANT - THE 18TH PRESIDENT.
Grant got 3,598,235 popular votes and 286 electoral.
Greeley got 2,834,761 popular and 66 electoral.
Historian Eugene Roseboom wrote, "Never in American history have two more unfit men been offered for the highest office...The man of no ideas was running against the man of too many.?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
ELECTION #21, 1868, The NASTY-METER is 6.
QUOTE from a Democratic attack ad against Grant: "Grant has been drunk in the street since the first of January."
The CANDIDATES in 1868.
RWPUBLICAN: ULYSSES S. GRANT.
The Republican Convention was held in Chicago. They nominated Grant on the first ballot. The plain-spoken hard drinking Grant was at the height of his popularity for doing more than any other general to win the war. His stature in America at the time is comparable to that of Dwight D. Eisenhower after WWII - the man was an icon. Grant had avoided assassination on April 14, 1865 when he turned down Lincoln's invitation to attend
Ford's Theater - he had been included in the plot formed by John Wilkes Both and his accomplices. The VP candidate was Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax.
DEMOCRAT: HORATIO SEYMOUR.
The Democrats met in New York. After 21 ballots . no candidate could be agreed on, and a dark-horse nominee was engineered by Samuel Tilden, the head of the New York delegation. The dark-horse he introduced was New York Governor Horatio Seymour. Seymour did not want to be the nominee, in fact he got up in front of the convention and said, "May God bless you for your kindness to me, but your candidate I cannot be." He then burst into tears backstage but finally agreed to accept the nomination. For VP they chose a guy by the name of Francis Blair.
The CAMPAIGN in 1868.
The fact that Grant smoked, drank, and gambled to excess made things even better for the Republicans. In many people's eyes, he was, indeed, "United States" Grant. The Republicans called Seymour "The Great Decliner" and hinted that hereditary insanity ran in his family. They went after the Democratic VP candidate (Blair) when they discovered he had stayed in a Hartford Hotel, where his room fee was $10.00, but he spent $65.00 on whiskey and lemons.
The Democrats got on Grant for his drinking and brought up he had numerous bouts of blind drunkenness during the Civil War. And he was called such names as "Useless" and "The Butcher" but it was not enough to turn the tide as voters didn't seem to care.
The WINNER was ULYSSES S. GRANT.
Grant got 3,013,650 popular votes and 214 electoral.
Seymour got 2,708,744 popular and 80 electoral.
For the first time in history, half a million blacks had voted - and it's safe to assume that the over-whelming majority went for
Grant. But it is a dirty little secret that black votes were counted in only 16 of the 37 states and 8 of those were in the old Confederacy. Connecticut did not allow blacks to vote, and New York made ownership of $250 worth of property a requirement before allowing a black to cast his ballot.
An interesting bit of Civil War history is that Grant's best man and the two ushers at his wedding in 1848 would all, as officers of the Confederacy, surrender to him at Appomattox in 1865.
The CANDIDATES in 1868.
RWPUBLICAN: ULYSSES S. GRANT.
The Republican Convention was held in Chicago. They nominated Grant on the first ballot. The plain-spoken hard drinking Grant was at the height of his popularity for doing more than any other general to win the war. His stature in America at the time is comparable to that of Dwight D. Eisenhower after WWII - the man was an icon. Grant had avoided assassination on April 14, 1865 when he turned down Lincoln's invitation to attend
Ford's Theater - he had been included in the plot formed by John Wilkes Both and his accomplices. The VP candidate was Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax.
DEMOCRAT: HORATIO SEYMOUR.
The Democrats met in New York. After 21 ballots . no candidate could be agreed on, and a dark-horse nominee was engineered by Samuel Tilden, the head of the New York delegation. The dark-horse he introduced was New York Governor Horatio Seymour. Seymour did not want to be the nominee, in fact he got up in front of the convention and said, "May God bless you for your kindness to me, but your candidate I cannot be." He then burst into tears backstage but finally agreed to accept the nomination. For VP they chose a guy by the name of Francis Blair.
The CAMPAIGN in 1868.
The fact that Grant smoked, drank, and gambled to excess made things even better for the Republicans. In many people's eyes, he was, indeed, "United States" Grant. The Republicans called Seymour "The Great Decliner" and hinted that hereditary insanity ran in his family. They went after the Democratic VP candidate (Blair) when they discovered he had stayed in a Hartford Hotel, where his room fee was $10.00, but he spent $65.00 on whiskey and lemons.
The Democrats got on Grant for his drinking and brought up he had numerous bouts of blind drunkenness during the Civil War. And he was called such names as "Useless" and "The Butcher" but it was not enough to turn the tide as voters didn't seem to care.
The WINNER was ULYSSES S. GRANT.
Grant got 3,013,650 popular votes and 214 electoral.
Seymour got 2,708,744 popular and 80 electoral.
For the first time in history, half a million blacks had voted - and it's safe to assume that the over-whelming majority went for
Grant. But it is a dirty little secret that black votes were counted in only 16 of the 37 states and 8 of those were in the old Confederacy. Connecticut did not allow blacks to vote, and New York made ownership of $250 worth of property a requirement before allowing a black to cast his ballot.
An interesting bit of Civil War history is that Grant's best man and the two ushers at his wedding in 1848 would all, as officers of the Confederacy, surrender to him at Appomattox in 1865.
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