When the Whig Party split over slavery in the 1850s, there was an open position for the main rival of the Democrats. The “radical” Republican Party beat out the Know Nothings to fill the void. Their mere existence led to secession and Civil War. From humble beginnings, the Republican Party became the dominant political force of the late Nineteenth Century. The “Third Party System,” ranging from 1856-1894, encompasses the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Gilded Age.
Don’t worry, you didn’t click the wrong post! In 1892, Grover Cleveland was back for revenge against the man who dethroned him. But the real action was in the People's Party, whose army of farmers aimed to disrupt the status quo!
It had been twenty years since a Democrat last occupied the White House. Grover Cleveland ran on a platform of integrity and reform. Would his vision be popular enough for the Democrats to win two presidential elections in a row?
The Half-Breed reformers in the Republican Party had another win with the election of President James A. Garfield. He was ready to finish the job President Hayes started on civil service reform. But Stalwarts like Vice President Chester A. Arthur were intent on maintaining the morally questionable Spoils System. Meanwhile, the Democrats were preparing to make their case as the true party of integrity.
In 1876, the Republican Party bargained the end of Reconstruction for the presidency. Now faced with a solidly Democratic South, and fracturing within their own party, was their political dominance finally coming to an end?
With Henry Clay’s death and General Winfield Scott’s huge loss to Franklin Pierce, the Whig party came to an end in the 1850s. Before we introduce the Grand New Party, I’d like to pause and review the “Second Party System,” or the era of the Democrats and the Whigs.
In the first two decades of the 1800s, the Democratic-Republicans out-president'ed the Federalists so bad, they didn't even exist anymore. In the Era of Good Feelings, everyone belonged to the same party. But as James Monroe’s second term was ending, it was clear that the good feelings wouldn't last forever. That brings us to the most exciting election yet!
James Monroe shares a distinction with George Washington as the only presidents to run for office unopposed. The Democratic-Republican Party was so dominant (and Americans were feeling so patriotic) that no one challenged Monroe for reelection. BUT there were some deep, deep divisions bubbling under the surface. Issues that are a footnote in this election made the Civil War inevitable, 40 years later.
In light of ~recent events~ I am going to write three extra posts about the presidents who have faced impeachment - AND LIVED! First up, the man who only had Abraham Lincoln's legacy to live up to.
America’s first declared war was fought almost entirely in James Madison's second term. Would the Republicans look like heroes? Or would they be remembered as the idiots who got us into the country's most boring war?
Election Tuesdays 