Democratic Party in Grant’s First Term
The election of 1868 was better for the Democrats than they had anticipated. In the presidential contest, Seymour won 47% of the popular vote in a race which Grant was expected to easily win. The party picked up the governorships of NJ and NY in addition to fifteen seats in the U.S. House. Mid-term elections of 1870 brought more good news for the Democrats; they gained 32 seats in the U.S. House, reducing the Republican majority to a 136-103 margin. The press, much of which was affiliated with the Republican Party, ran stories on many poor decisions of President Grant and the Republican Congress. In the South, where the Democratic Party was officially the Conservative Party, Reconstruction was ending one state at a time, returning each state to the Democratic column. The Democratic Party was in an excellent position as the year 1872 opened.
In early 1872, Democratic leaders corresponded with the Liberal Republican Party leaders. The newspapers of the time estimated that the LRP represented about 10% of the entire Republican vote. No one thought that the LRP could win the presidency without support. If the LRP delivered 10% of the Republican voters to the Democratic column, that would mean that the Democrats would pick up AL, CA, CT, IN, MO, PA, and VA – good for 93 electoral votes. That would elect the Democrat by a margin of 189 to 177 for Grant. The opportunity for controlling the White House and Congress led to the
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Democratic Party in Grant’s First Term
The election of 1868 was better for the Democrats than they had anticipated. In the presidential contest, Seymour won 47% of the popular vote in a race which Grant was expected to easily win. The party picked up the governorships of NJ and NY in addition to fifteen seats in the U.S. House. Mid-term elections of 1870 brought more good news for the Democrats; they gained 32 seats in the U.S. House, reducing the Republican majority to a 136-103 margin. The press, much of which was affiliated with the Republican Party, ran stories on many poor decisions of President Grant and the Republican Congress. In the South, where the Democratic Party was officially the Conservative Party, Reconstruction was ending one state at a time, returning each state to the Democratic column. The Democratic Party was in an excellent position as the year 1872 opened.
In early 1872, Democratic leaders corresponded with the Liberal Republican Party leaders. The newspapers of the time estimated that the LRP represented about 10% of the entire Republican vote. No one thought that the LRP could win the presidency without support. If the LRP delivered 10% of the Republican voters to the Democratic column, that would mean that the Democrats would pick up AL, CA, CT, IN, MO, PA, and VA – good for 93 electoral votes. That would elect the Democrat by a margin of 189 to 177 for Grant. The opportunity for controlling the White House and Congress led to the striking of a rare alliance in which the extreme wing of the Republican Party worked with the Democratic Party.
From the perspective of the popular vote, the projected result of the 1872 election would have been R-48, D-47, LR-5. After the highly unpopular Greeley was nominated by the LRP, it is not clear why the Democrats did not take their chances with a three-way race.
Convention Organization
The eleventh Democratic National Convention assembled in Ford’s Opera House in Baltimore. August Belmont opened the last of his three national conventions. Most of the usual committees were appointed. When no committee on resolutions was appointed, the party leaders squelched a proposal to appoint one. Very early on the first day of the convention, it was clear that the party leaders wanted to bring the convention to a speedy conclusion.
Temporary Chairman: Thomas J. Randolph VA
Permanent Chairman: James R. Doolittle WI
Doolittle gave a short speech after taking the chair. Bain & Parris report: “he made it quite clear in his acceptance speech just what the duties of the convention were. The candidates and the platform of the Liberal Republican convention were to be endorsed – and that was all.” After some minor points of business, the convention closed its first day after being in session just under three hours.
Platform
The platform was presented early on the second day of the convention. It was 90% the same as the LRP platform. A vote to restrict debate on the platform carried by a margin of 574-158; two-thirds of the votes in the negative came from the South. U.S. Senator Thomas F. Bayard (DE) strenuously opposed the platform. He called for a Democratic platform, not a recycled LRP platform. The issue at hand was the decision to stop calling for the repeal of the Reconstruction amendments. After sixty minutes of debate, the chairman called the roll, and the platform was adopted by a margin of 670-62.
Nominations.
The next item of business was the nomination of a candidate for President. No nomination speeches were allowed. The only real story in the presidential roll call was a speech by the chairman of the New York delegation, in which he chastised the party leaders for their decision to run Greeley. The roll call ended with Greeley as the nominee; he received 686 votes to 38 for others and eight not voting.
The vice presidential roll call followed, again with no nomination speeches. B. Gratz Brown was nominated with 713 votes to six for John W. Stevenson and thirteen not voting.
The convention completed some small matters of business and adjourned. It had been in session for a total of six hours.
Popular vote of 1872
Electoral vote of 1872
10th Democratic National Convention (1868)
12th Democratic National Convention (1876)
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686 (94.75%)