American Political HistoryKey Presidential Elections

And Related History

Evolution of American Party Democracy

• Federalists and Anti-Federalists – NOT political parties– Then what are they?

• Hamilton and Jefferson– Jefferson’s group preferred a federal system

with more powerful states, although this belief changes a bit when they are in power.

– Hamilton’s group preferred strong central government.

Party Eras in American History• 1796-1824: The First Party System

– Madison warned of “factions” – Federalist 10– Washington’s warning – parties and ???– First party were the Federalists (Hamilton)

• Largely in New England

– Opposed by the Democrat-Republicans (Jefferson)

• Largely in the South

• How did they develop? What did they believe?

First Party System• Federalists – found most in NE, along coast

– Rule by elites– Loose interpretation of the Constitution– Strong central government, supportive of

business, national bank– Protective tariff, pro-British

• Democrat-Republicans – South and SW– Rule by informed masses– Strict interpretation of the Constitution– Weak central government, prefer agriculture– Pro-French, encourage state banks

Election of 1796• Candidates

– John Adams – Federalist– Thomas Jefferson – Democrat-Republican

• Issues– All the differences that began our two party

system (handout)

• Essential Information– Washington retires, warns about political parties,

but here they are anyway

• Results – the electoral system works!– Adams wins, Jefferson is VP (awkward!!!)– Note the regional support for each candidate

Election of 1796 – Electoral Map

Election of 1800• The “Revolution of 1800” – Why a revolution? • Candidates

– Adams (Fed) vs. Jefferson (D-R), again

• Issues – Alien and Sedition Act, France

• Essential Information– Tie in the Electoral College between Jefferson and Burr –

Why?

• Results – Jefferson wins in the House (although Burr tries to steal

election)– 12th Amendment – What does it change?

Election of 1800 – Electoral Map

Where does Jefferson gain support? (Compared to 1796)

The Early Parties Fade• Federalists faded – Why?• James Monroe’s presidency

– Era of Good Feelings - 1817-1825– Party politics suspended at national level

• Expansion of democracy– States moved to choose presidential electors

through popular elections. (Only SC did not by 1832)

– Universal male suffrage– Party membership broadened. – National conventions/ first third party (when?)– Emergence of Jacksonian Democrats and

opposition party of the Whigs (related to Federalists)

Election of 1824End of the Era of Good Feelings

• “Corrupt Bargain”• Candidates

– Andrew Jackson-TN, John Quincy Adams-MA (Monroe’s Sec of State), Henry Clay-KY, William Crawford-GA

• Issues – • Essential Information

– Jackson wins popular vote, but no electoral majority– Decided in the House for JQ Adams Results– Adams wins after gaining Clay’s support– Clay becomes Sec of State– Jackson, and his supporters, are furious– Democrat-Republican Party begins to split

Election of 1824 – Electoral Map

Party Eras inAmerican History

1828-1856: The Second Party System: Jackson and the Democrats versus the Whigs– Modern party founded by Jackson– Whigs formed mainly in opposition to Jackson

Second Party System 1828-1856

• Democrats– Followers of Andrew Jackson– Wanted federal restraint, states’ rights– Significant immigrant support

• Whigs– Followers of Henry Clay, or just anti-Jackson– Wanted national bank, protective tariff,

internal improvements (Clay’s American System), later supportive of moral reforms

Election of 1828• “The Common Man”• Candidates

– Adams vs. Jackson, part two

• Issues• Essential Information

– Political conventions begin to replace caucuses by 1832, making the nomination of candidates more democratic

• Results– Jackson wins easily, lots of new voters (map)– Wild inaugural

Election of 1828 – Electoral Map

More Political Change

• Initial Third Party in 1832, the Anti-Masonic Party

• Slavery split the Whig support across sectional lines.

• Replaced by the Republican Party– John C. Fremont lost in 1856.– Lincoln won in 1860; fragmented vote.– South went solidly for Democrats.– North went for Republicans.

• After Reconstruction, not a single southern state voted for a Republican president until 1920

Election of 1860• Candidates

– Abraham Lincoln (R), Stephen Douglas (D-N), John Bell (Constitutional Union), John Breckinridge (D-S)

• Issues– Slavery, preservation of the union

• Essential Information– The Whig Party breaks up over the issue of slavery –

replaced by the Republicans (Democrats also divide)

• Results– Lincoln’s election triggers secession, starting with South

Carolina– Lincoln wins no southern states, but captures a majority

of electoral votes

Election of 1860 – Electoral Map

Election of 1876

• Candidates– Rutherford Hayes (R), Samuel Tilden (D)

• Issues – Corruption, Reconstruction

• Essential Information– Disputed electoral votes, commission created

• Results– Hayes wins all the disputed electoral votes,

becomes President– Compromise of 1877 (End of Reconstruction)

Election of 1876 – Electoral Map

Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1860-1928: The Two Republican Eras– Republicans arose as the antislavery party– 1896 election revolved around the gold

standard– Republicans are the party of big business– Only Democratic presidents in this era are

Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson. Both are elected due to Republican splits – remember the Mugwumps in 1884?

Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1860-1896: Patronage - the lifeblood of politics– Republicans – Big business, northern

protestants, Midwest, rural and small-town Northeast, GAR (veterans), freedmen

– Democrats – Solid South, northern industrial cities (think Tammany Hall), immigrants

Election of 1896• Candidates

– William McKinley (R), William Jennings Bryan (D)

• Issues– Gold standard, silver vs. gold (16:1), role of government

towards business

• Essential Information– Bryan’s Cross of Gold speech

• Results– McKinley wins, raising 16 times as much money as Bryan– Highlights the changes taking place in America, as the

country moves from an agrarian nation to an urban nation

Election of 1896 – Electoral Map

Election of 1912• Candidates

– Woodrow Wilson (D), William Howard Taft (R), Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive, or Bull Moose)

• Issues – Progressive issues

• Essential Information– TR takes on Taft– Third Party – Socialists – Eugene V. Debs

• Results– Republican split gives the election to Wilson

Election of 1912 – Electoral Map

Party Eras inAmerican History

• 1932-1964: The New Deal Coalition– Forged by the Democrats - relied upon urban

working class, ethnic groups (blacks), Catholics and Jews, the poor, Southerners (Solid South)

Election of 1932• Candidates

– Herbert Hoover (R), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D)

• Issues– The Great Depression, of course

• Essential Information– New Deal Coalition - South, labor unions, urban

dwellers, poor, African Americans

• Results– FDR wins in a landslide– Ends era of Republican White House dominance

Election of 1932 – Electoral Map

Party Eras in American History

• 1968-Present: The Era of Divided Party Government– Define: Divided Government

– Party dealignment - disengagement of people from parties

– Party neutrality - people are indifferent towards the two parties

Election of 1968

• Candidates– Richard Nixon (R), Hubert Humphrey (D), George

Wallace (American Independent Party)

• Issues– Vietnam, Violence at home

• Essential Information– “Solid South” no longer voting Democrat – Why?– Chaos in Chicago at the Democratic convention

• Results– Nixon wins, begins era of divided government

Election of 1968 – Electoral Map

Election of 2000• Candidates

– George W. Bush (R), Al Gore (D), Ralph Nader (Green Party)

• Issues

• Essential Information– Nader’s party siphons votes mostly from Democrats

• Results– Disputed results in Florida (Butterfly ballot, chads?)

– Supreme Court rules in Bush v. Gore– Gore wins popular vote, Bush wins electoral vote with

271, so Bush become president

Which is the real ballot for Palm Beach County?

Butterfly Ballot – How did it get its name?

Election of 2000 – Electoral Map

Electoral Evolution since 1840

• http://americanpast.richmond.edu/voting/statelevel.html

Realignments – a Final Look

• 1860: slavery issue fixed new loyalties in the popular mind

• 1896: economic issues shifted loyalties to East/West, city/farm split

• 1932: economic depression triggered new coalition for Democrats

• 1980: Could not have been a traditional realignment, because Congress was left in the hands of the Democrats

Third Parties, or Minor Parties• 2000 election

– Green Party nominee Ralph Nader• Cost Al Gore the election in 2000• Won just 2.86 million voters (2.72 % nationwide)

• Third parties make electoral progress in direct proportion to the failure of the two major parties. – To incorporate new ideas (Know-Nothing)– To incorporate alienated groups (Populists, 1892)– To nominate attractive standard-bearers (Progressive, 1912)

• Other Historical Examples– Free Soil, 1848– Dixiecrats, 1948– Reform Party, 1992

American Party

History at a Glance

Party Eras inAmerican History

• Party Eras– Historical periods in which a majority of votes

cling to the party in power.

• Critical Election– An electoral “earthquake” where new issues

and new coalitions emerge.

• Party Realignment– The displacement of the majority party by the

minority party, usually during a critical election.

Party Realignment

• Critical or realigning periods: periods when a sharp, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties

• Two kinds of realignments– A major party is defeated so badly that it

disappears and a new party emerges– Two existing parties continue but voters shift

their loyalty from one to another – Examples?