Politics and Populism in the Gilded Age

1
Politics and Populism in the Gilded Age
2
Northern and Midwestern Influence

• From 1868-1900 only 3 presidential candidates
  were NOT from NY, OH, IN, IL
• All three of those lost
• 4 presidents - Hayes, Garfield, Harrison,
  McKinley - from Ohio
• Only one Republican presidential candidate was
  not a Union Army officer in the Civil War (James
  G. Blaine, who lost)
• Elections generated intense interest, high
  participation, and very nasty campaigning

3
The Spoils System

• Ancient political tradition
• Remember Jackson and the Revolution of 1828?
• Positives and Negatives?

4
Corruption

• Political machines
• The boom of the Civil War
• Economic expansion and a larger economy offered
  more opportunities
• Reconstruction

5
Nast v. Tweed

• William Marcy Tweed Democratic Boss of New
  York
• Thomas Nast cartoonist for Harpers Weekly
• 1871 NY Times published evidence of fraud in
  remodeling of City Court House
• Nast carried on the campaign in pictures

6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
Outcome

• Tweed convicted and imprisoned
• Fame for Nast
• Boost to the career of Samuel Tilden, the
  prosecutor (who ran for president in 1876)

12
Other views of Nast
On unions.
13
Other views of Nast
14
Hayes

• Defeated Tilden in the disputed election of 1876
• Self-limited to one term
• Supported civil-service reform
• Opposition from both parties

15
The Republican Split

• Stalwarts
• Favored the existing system of spoils and
  patronage
• Led by NY Sen. Roscoe Conkling
• Half-Breeds
• Pro-reform Republicans

16
The Election of 1880

• Stalwart Republicans push for Grant
• Half-Breeds seek James G. Blaine
• Compromise James A. Garfield, with Chester
  Arthur (a Conkling protégé) for VP
• Democrats Winfield Scott Hancock

Conkling
Hancock
17
The Election of 1880

• Hancock and Democrats sweep the South in the
  first presidential election since the Compromise
  of 1877
• Bloody Shirt is somewhat neutralized, but the
  North remains Republican

18
Garfield

• Well-intentioned Garfield overwhelmed by
  office-seekers
• In office 5 months
• assassinated by Charles Guiteau
• I am a stalwart, and Arthur is President now!

19
Chester Arthur

• Had been a product of Conkling support
• Viewed as a spoils-system political hack
• Assassination of Garfield and the responsibility
  of presidency changed attitudes
• Supported Civil Service Reform
• Couldnt shake his image

20
The Pendleton Civil Service Act

• Passed by Congress in 1883 (after Republicans in
  Congress lost 1882 elections)
• Banned required campaign contributions
  (assessments) from federal workers
• Created the Civil Service Commission
• Government employees hired on the basis of Civil
  Service Examination
• About 10 of federal jobs were initially covered

21
The Election of 1884

• Republican nominee James G. Blaine
• Eloquent speaker
• Well-connected
• Image as a reformer
• Connected to 1870s railroad scandal
• Democrat Grover Cleveland
• Mayor of Buffalo
• Governor of NY
• Independent and honest
• Fathered a child out of wedlock

22
The Election of 1884

• Some eastern Republicans (Mugwumps) campaigned
  for Cleveland
• Cleveland won about 23,000 more popular votes
• Cleveland won NY by only 600 votes to narrowly
  win the electoral college
• Blaine had alienated Irish voters

23
Cleveland, Episode 1

• Fiscally conservative
• Believer in small, honest govt.
• Interstate Commerce Act 1887
• Banned shipping rebates
• Required rates proportional to distance
• Published rates
• ICC
• Vetoes of Civil War Pension bills
• Argued for reduction of tariffs to lower prices
  to consumers
• Government was running a large surplus

24
Money Issues

• Tightening money supply (less money in
  circulation per person)
• Held inflation down
• Viewed by farmers as favoring banks and lenders

25
The Election of 1888

• Democrats Cleveland
• Republicans Benjamin Harrison
• Main Issue Tariff

Pension Bill vetoes and Tariff issue hurt
Cleveland in the North Cleveland won 100,000
more votes but lost in the electoral college
26
Benjamin Harrison

• Grandson of William Henry Harrison but didnt
  like to advertise it
• Scrupulously honest
• Skilled orator but not good one-on-one
• Discovered he had little real control party
  leaders set the course
• Presided over high tariffs, a surplus, and big
  spending
• The Billion Dollar Congress

27
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act

• Passed in 1890
• Partial response to the Wabash case in the
  Supreme Court
• Declared business actions or combinations in
  restraint of trade to be illegal in interstate
  commerce
• Weakly enforced and creatively interpreted in the
  1890s

28
The Election of 1892

• Harrison Cleveland rematch
• Homestead Strike during the election frightened
  the public and turned labor increasingly against
  Republicans
• New Populist Party made a strong showing in rural
  areas

29
Cleveland, Episode II

• Less Successful than first term
• Depression began in 1893
• Labor unrest followed as businesses sought to cut
  costs

30
The Pullman Strike

• Chicago, 1894
• Cleveland ordered in U.S. Army
• Viewed with relief by middle class and
  conservatives
• Angered labor leaders (like Debs)

31
Populism

• After a strong showing in 1892, Populists
  organized for the 1894 and 1896 campaigns
• Platform
• Primarily a rural movement

32
William Jennings Bryan

• Born in 1860
• First elected to Congress in the Populist surge
  of 1892
• Won a district that had been Republican,
  defeating an incumbent
• Skilled and inspiring orator
• Carried the Democratic convention with his
  emotional Cross of Gold speech
• Opposed by Grover Cleveland

33
Splits in the Parties

• Many Western Republicans shifted support for
  Bryan
• Gold-Standard Democrats held a second meeting and
  nominated a rival candidate, Sen. John M. Palmer
  (IL) who encouraged people to vote for McKinley

34
William McKinley Mark Hanna

• Bryan broke tradition by campaigning personally
  and energetically
• Marcus Hanna a businessman managed McKinleys
  campaign
• Raised more than 3.5 million
• The Front Porch campaign
• Media blitz

35
The Election of 1896

• Bryan Democrats and Populists made Hanna and
  Republican business connections a target

36
The Election of 1896

• Republican portrait of Bryan
• Sacreligious
• Dangerous revolutionary

37
The Election of 1896
38
The Election of 1896

• Populists failed to unite farmers and industrial
  workers
• Urban triumph over rural last major campaign on
  mostly rural issues
• Beginning of modern campaigning
• Inaugurated a Republican-dominated era
  (1896-1932, except for Wilson)

39
McKinley in Office

• Conservative but pragmatic
• Got along well with Congress
• Genial and gentle
• Congress raised tariff significantly
• Economy and money supply began to expand
• Gold in Alaska increased the supply in
  circulation without minting silver
• Attention increasingly turned to foreign affairs