A History of the Democratic Party by Russell Roberts

A History of the Democratic Party by Russell Roberts

Author:Russell Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mitchell Lane


The original headquarters of the Society of St. Tammany was at 141 East 14th Street in New York City. The society, known as Tammany Hall, became a political machine that worked to keep Democrats in power.

In 1876 the Democrats nominated New York governor Samuel J. Tilden as their presidential candidate. The Republicans countered with Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes.

With the Democrats victorious in previous elections, the party’s fortunes seemed to be on the upswing. On election night in 1876, it seemed as if it had indeed been a Democratic victory. Needing 185 electoral votes for a win, Tilden had 184 electoral votes and nearly 4.3 million popular votes. Hayes had just over 4.0 million popular votes and 165 electoral votes. According to his diary, Hayes thought Tilden had won.4

The outcome of the election hinged on disputed electoral ballots from three southern states: South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. Charges of voter fraud flew from both sides in each of the states. Finally the three states submitted two sets of results, with each showing a different winner.

In January 1877, Congress appointed a special 15-member commission to decide the results of the election. When one member of the commission resigned, a pro-Republican member was appointed. This tipped the balance to the Republicans. The commission voted 8-7, straight down party lines, to accept the Republican results for each state, giving Hayes 185 electoral votes to Tilden’s 184.

Many Americans were outraged, feeling that Tilden had been cheated. The country teetered on anarchy, and threats were made of violence at Hayes’ inauguration. At a meeting in February at a Washington, D.C., hotel, the Democrats agreed to accept the results in exchange for concessions, including the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. This compromise ended Reconstruction and gave the Democrats a solid southern base from which to build their party. Throughout his presidency Hayes was called “His Fraudulency” and “Rutherfraud” because of the way many thought he had stolen the election.

The Democrats finally regained the White House for the first time since James Buchanan when Grover Cleveland became the 22nd president in 1884. The Republicans were seen as the party of big business and the enemy of the common people. When Cleveland returned to office in 1892 as the 24th president—becoming the only president to serve non-consecutive terms—the Democrats rode these same themes to victory. With the Democrats also in control of the House and Senate in 1892, it seemed as if the party was finally firmly back in power.

However, another financial crisis—the economic Panic of 1893— created a detour. As Americans struggled just to survive, Cleveland and the Democrats’ philosophy of limited government seemed uncaring. According to one story, when Cleveland found a hungry man eating grass in front of the White House, he “helpfully” directed him to the back, where the grass was longer.5

With this kind of animosity toward the president, it was little wonder that the Democrats lost the 1896 presidential election despite having William Jennings Bryan as a candidate. Bryan was a



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