Grant’s First Term
The Republican Party suffered during Grant’s first term. The President’s circle of advisors included several unscrupulous men, and he was unwilling to dismiss them. Even more troublesome, the President’s actions against the Klan in the South generally drew more criticism than support in the North. Grant preferred to withdraw the troops but wanted to keep enough in the South to combat the excesses of the Klan. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified; Grant then signed the Force Bill, which prosecuted those who attempted to hamper Negro suffrage. The first blacks took their seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House that same year. After the disastrous results of the election of 1870, the lame duck Congress passed a bill creating a Commission on Civil Service Reform. The highlight of 1871 for the Grant administration was the Treaty of Washington, drafted by SOS Hamilton Fish, which resolved standing issues between the US and the British government.
Unhappiness with the Grant administration was noticed by Republican Party leaders. In early 1872, VP Colfax raised the possibility of replacing Grant as the presidential nominee; it was meritorious but impolitic. Grant responded by looking for a replacement candidate for Colfax.
After the Liberal Republican National Convention, Congress passed the Amnesty Act, which restored civil rights for all but about 600 former Confederate leaders. This act thus removed one of the hot issues of
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Grant’s First Term
The Republican Party suffered during Grant’s first term. The President’s circle of advisors included several unscrupulous men, and he was unwilling to dismiss them. Even more troublesome, the President’s actions against the Klan in the South generally drew more criticism than support in the North. Grant preferred to withdraw the troops but wanted to keep enough in the South to combat the excesses of the Klan. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified; Grant then signed the Force Bill, which prosecuted those who attempted to hamper Negro suffrage. The first blacks took their seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House that same year. After the disastrous results of the election of 1870, the lame duck Congress passed a bill creating a Commission on Civil Service Reform. The highlight of 1871 for the Grant administration was the Treaty of Washington, drafted by SOS Hamilton Fish, which resolved standing issues between the US and the British government.
Unhappiness with the Grant administration was noticed by Republican Party leaders. In early 1872, VP Colfax raised the possibility of replacing Grant as the presidential nominee; it was meritorious but impolitic. Grant responded by looking for a replacement candidate for Colfax.
After the Liberal Republican National Convention, Congress passed the Amnesty Act, which restored civil rights for all but about 600 former Confederate leaders. This act thus removed one of the hot issues of 1870 from the campaign of 1872.
Convention Organization
The fifth Republican National Convention assembled in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. During the convention, the name of the party was restored to the Republican Party from the National Union Party.
Temporary Chairman: Morton McMichael, PA
Permanent Chairman: Thomas Settle Jr., NC
The convention quickly appointed committees and spent much of the first day hearing speeches from politicians, including Negro politicians from the South. The only credentials issue came from Utah, which sent a Mormon and a non-Mormon slate of delegates. The credentials committee offered to seat both with half-votes, which the Mormons rejected. As a result, the non-Mormon delegation was seated.
Nominations.
After hearing a series of speeches, the delegates called for nominations. This was ruled out of order, since the platform was the next scheduled item of business but was not ready. The delegates then suspended the rules to proceed to the re-nomination of President Grant. A hurried nomination speech was given, and in the following demonstration the band played “Hail to the Chief.” Every delegate voted for Grant on the roll call.
Speeches placing men in nomination for Vice President proceeded. They were interrupted when the platform was ready for consideration.
Platform
The Republican platform of 1872 reflected on the successes of Grant’s first term and looked forward to his second. It called for “complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political, and public rights” between white and black men. Other planks included restrictions on the spoils system, abolishing federal franking, more extensive labor laws, and a call for respect towards women seeking the ability to vote. The delegates were satisfied with the platform, which was approved without a dissenting voice.
Nominations for vice president resumed. The best speech of the convention was given by a delegate from Pennsylvania, who placed Henry Wilson in contention. Five candidates were placed in nomination, including VP Colfax. Wilson was nominated on the first ballot after shifts with 399.5 votes to Colfax's 308.5 and 44 scattering.
The convention completed some small matters of business and adjourned.
Popular vote of 1872
Electoral vote of 1872
4th Republican National Convention (1868)
6th Republican National Convention (1876)
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752 (100.00%)