1872- Rise of the Liberal Republicans

[President Mitt]

I've decided to put Northwest Conspiracy on temporary hold. It was much harder to research than I thought, but no worries, I will return to it someday.

I had always had fascination with 1872, Horace Greeley, the most frequent critic of the Democratic Party, and his Liberal Republicans made a marriage of convenience merely to defeat Grant. But I wonder what would have happened if maybe the Liberal Republicans nominated someone a little more credible, someone that could have gotten the Democratic Base out to support the LibRepubs. Could this have changed the US electoral system?

First Update by tonight if anyone is interested.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Go Giovanni! I'm waiting for that

[President Mitt]

1872- Rise of the Liberal Republicans


   The 1872 Presidential election seemed to be favoring the Republicans. President Ulysses S. Grant, although a little tarnished from the 1869 Gold scandal, still proved to be a very popular President. The Democratic Party however found itself in major trouble, the Democrats knew they were in no position to contest the 1872 Election with Grant, but also knew they could not merely let Grant walk away with the election. This problem was somewhat solved when in May of 1872 a third Party gathered in Cincinnati, Ohio to set up the convention of the Liberal Republican Party, a Party that opposed North-South divides, tariffs, and most of all- President Ulysses Grant.

Givin’ it a Whirl: 1872 Liberal Republican Convention

A Pro-Grant Cartoon depicts the Liberal Republican Convention as unruly.

   The Liberal Republican Party, originally a small Party confined mostly to its birthplace- Missouri, had suddenly had a large boost of National Support. Many thousands of Republicans had been angered by some cases of corruption in the Grant Administration, and left the Republican Party when Grant was re nominated. There were also some Democrats joining merely out of opposition to Grant’s Republican Party. Several candidates emerged to try and take the new Political Party for a spin including:

-   Horace Greeley from New York
-   Charles F. Adams from Massachusetts
-   Salmon Chase from Ohio
-   David Davis from Illinois
-   Andrew G. Curbin from Pennsylvania
-   Lyman Trumbull from Illinois

After the first ballot, Adams had a plurality but not the needed majority, with Greeley close behind and Trumbull a distant third. Davis and Curbin dropped out and endorsed Adams. On the second ballot, Adams and his competitors grew 100 more delegates apart. Trumbull eventually struck a deal that Trumbull would be a secretary of State in an Adams administration, and on the Fourth Ballot, Charles Francis Adams became the Liberal Republican nominee with a majority of Delegates. The 1872 Liberal Platform composed of: Ending Reconstruction, Lowering the Tariffs, and making Civil Service Reforms.

The Democratic Candidate

   In the middle of the Liberal Republican convention, the boss of the Democratic National Committee, August Belmont (D- NY) approached Adams and made a deal, if Adams would choose a Southern Democrat as his running mate, the Democratic Party would endorse the Liberal Republican ticket as the Democratic Nominee. Adams eagerly accepted, and chose Governor Preston Leslie of Kentucky as his running mate. The ticket was endorsed by the Democratic Party, and Democratic money and Democratic Advisors flooded into the Adams campaign. Horace Greeley would later reply angrily “There are more Jackasses here than elephants!” The Democrats were somewhat enthused about the Adams/ Leslie ticket, even if the endorsement was merely a marriage of convenience. The Democrats needed the Liberal Republicans and the Liberal Republicans needed the Democrats.

Charles Francis Adams- Liberal Republican for President

[Barnes]

Very cool! This will be really interesting!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Giovanni, you have a gift to make a good timelines

[President Mitt]

Thanks for the comments. I may have the rest of the election up by tonight, but no promises.

[Historico]

Sad to see the Northwest Confederacy timline be suspended, cuz it was trully an original timeline. I like where this is going with the Liberal Republicans...Keep it comming

[President Mitt]

Sad to see the Northwest Confederacy timline be suspended, cuz it was trully an original timeline. I like where this is going with the Liberal Republicans...Keep it comming

Thanks, and dont worry, Ill continue it eventually.

[President Mitt]

1872: Troubles Ahead

             

                 The 1872 Election was far more intense than anybody would have imagined, it was far from the fly away election that Grant and his Republican Party were intending. While Grant had sat in the White House and merely allowed his surrogates to campaign across the country for him, Charles Francis Adams was running a populist town hall campaign, personally doing the campaigning. The Strategy was that Adams would campaign in the North, and his running mate Preston Leslie would campaign across the South. White Southerners were starting to warm up to the Liberal Republicans, and were arriving in droves not necessarily to elect Adams, but to defeat Grant. The Augusta Chronicle, a major Democratic Newspaper put its support around the Adams/ Leslie ticket, stating “If the choice is between an Elitist (Adams) and old Useless (Grant) we’re afraid we’re have to go for the elitist.”

   The election was far closer than anyone could predict. Southern machines, now fully behind the Liberal Republicans began disenfranchising African Americans as they had been doing for the Democratic Party four years ago. The Grant administration lost the popular vote barely, but pulled out a victory in the Electoral College. The vital state proved to be New York, which Grant won by 72,000 votes.

Charles Francis Adams/ Preston Leslie: 145         50%
Ulysees S. Grant/ Henry Wilson: 207           48%

   Many protests broke out against the Grant Administration, which was now viewed as a illegitimate government, and Grant support plummeted. Historians are solid in agreement that if African Americans were allowed to vote in a fair and free election, Grant would have won a large popular vote victory.

        Historians also agree that the 1872 spelled the beginning of the end of the traditional campaigning style of candidates not campaigning and instead using surrogates. Historians point to the Charles Francis Adams campaign for starting the new trend.

   Nonetheless, the Liberal Republicans had impressed many by their showing, and Democrats would soon come to regret their 1872 investment…….

[Devilman88]

I want more! More!

[Historico]

Hmm...Might the Liberal Republicans cause the final end to the Democratic Party? I can almost see a true third party system arising in this system wants the populist movement gets off the ground and starts attracting western Democrats and Republicans. Will the Liberal Republican's drop the Republican name from the Moniker and just become the Liberal Party? Keep it comming Gio.

[President Mitt]

The second term of Ulysses S. Grant proved to be troubling. Many Democrats and Liberal Republicans alike were behind the idea that Grant was an illegitimate administration for failing to win the popular vote in the 1872 Presidential election. But that was just the beginning a problem for the President, in 1873, the country was hit hard when the Country went into a severe economic depression after the Austrian Vienna Stock Exchange crashed. President Grant, who was loyal to his laisezz faire economic views, refused to do anything to stem the tide of the widening economic meltdown, and his popularity sunk even lower. Huddles of people in New York City who were impoverished during the depression referred to the boxes they lived in as “Ulysses Crates” or more commonly “Useless Crates”, the Democrats were expecting big gains in the 1874 congressional elections.

And they did, but not what they expected.

   The Democrats did take control of the House, but barely, Forty House Seats were gained by the Democrats and Forty House Seats for the Liberal Republicans. The main reason for this scenario was that while Southern Voters stuck with their traditional Democratic Party, Northern Voters, who were affected negatively by the Grant Administration, did not wish to vote for the “Southern Party”, and took a gamble and voted for the Liberal Republicans. The Democrats were shocked at the results, angered that their 1872 investment had become a double edged sword used against them. While angry, some were accepting the inevitable that the Democratic Party was slowly becoming the last casualty of the United States Civil War, and started Negotiations with the Liberal Republicans immediately.

1874 Congressional Elections:
Democrats: 156 (+40)
Republicans: 119 (-80)
Liberal Republicans: 43 (+43)

Senate:
Democrats: 28
Republicans: 42
Liberal Republicans: 5
Independent: 1

   The Democrats were starting to believe that the Democratic Party could never be a national Party again, and it was best to cut their losses, and join the other opposition to the Republicans, the Liberal Republicans. The Democrats and the Liberal Republicans joined in a 1875 Convention to discuss possibly merging to defeat the Republicans. The name of the Liberal Republican Party was to be renamed the Liberal Party, which stood for Ending Reconstruction, massive Civil Service Reform, but the Platform had notably lacked the Civil Rights Plank that the 1872 Party had. The United Liberal Party started off with a large majority in the House of Representetives, with 39 of the 43 Liberal Republicans (4 rejoined the Republicans) and 126 of the 156 Democrats joining the Liberals.

         The new Liberal Party chose the Owl as thier Party's Mascot, suggesting that the Owl is a Wise and Graceful Animal that can lead itself in the right direction.

         The rest of Grant's term was mediocre. The now infamous Whiskey Ring Scandal hit the Grant Administration hard. The scandal had involved a small wealthy group of individuals stealing over three million dollars from the Federal Governmetn through the help of some of Grant's top officials. Another scandal was the Seaborne incident, where Treasury Secretary William Adams was charged for embezzlement. Scandal after Scandal and economic disasters finally had topped President Grant's personal popularity, and the Republicans were showing signs of losing 1876 to the newly invigorated Liberals.

1876 was gearing up to be an interesting year……

[Historico]

And thus the Democratic Party dies 1820-1875, it will be very interesting to see if the Liberal party survives if it isnt swalloed by the Populists in the 1880's and 1890's

[Devilman88]

Very good!

[Scam of God]

More!