The Election of 1892
On November 8, 1892 (122 years ago today) the presidential election of 1892 was held. It was unique in that, thus far, it is the only time that a former president, out of office, was re-elected to the presidency. Grover Cleveland became the first (and so far the only) President to serve non-consecutive terms as President. Cleveland had been elected President in 1884, but lost his bid for re-election in 1888 when he was defeated by Republican Benjamin Harrison, even though he won the popular vote. The two met for a rematch in 1892.
At the Republican nominating convention, the incumbent President Benjamin Harrison faced a challenge from within his own party. A number of disaffected party leaders started a "dump Harrison" movement and backed veteran candidate James G. Blaine of Maine. But Harrison's organization had the nomination locked up by the time delegates assembled in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June 1892. Harrison was nominated on the first ballot with 535.17 votes to 182.83 for Blaine and 182 for future President William McKinley of Ohio.
The Republican platform supported high tariffs, stiffer immigration laws, free rural mail delivery, and a canal across Central America. It also supported Ireland in its struggle for home rule as well as the plight of Jews under persecution in czarist Russia.
Meanwhile, the Democrats decided that maybe former President Grover Cleveland wasn't so bad. When the Democrats met in Chicago in June of 1892, Cleveland was the front-runner for the nomination, but faced formidable opposition. He had come out against the free coinage of silver. His home state of New York was against him because the faction from Tammany Hall were hostile to Cleveland on the issue of patronage. Cleveland managed to score a narrow first-ballot victory in which he received 617.33 votes (slightly over 10 votes more than needed) to 114 for Senator David B. Hill of New York, the candidate of Tammany Hall, and 103 for Governor Horace Boies of Iowa, a populist and former Republican.
The tariff issue dominated the campaign. Harrison defended the protectionist McKinley Tariff passed during his term while Cleveland campaigned for a reduction in the tariff. William McKinley campaigned extensively for Harrison, setting the stage for his own run four years later.
The campaign took a somber turn when, in October, First Lady Caroline Harrison died. Despite the ill health that had plagued Mrs. Harrison since her youth and which had worsened in the last decade, she often accompanied President Harrison on official travels. On one such trip, to California in the spring of 1891, she caught a cold. It quickly deepened into her chest, and she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. A summer in the Adirondack Mountains failed to restore her to health and she died in the White House on October 25, 1892, just two weeks before the election. As a result, all of the candidates ceased campaigning.
On election day Cleveland won 277 electoral votes and 23 states. He received 46% of the popular votes. Harrison came in second with 145 electoral votes, 16 states and 43% of the vote. A third party candidate, James Weaver of the Populist Party, won 22 electoral votes and 4 states with just 8.5% of the popular vote. This was the first election in which an incumbent president was defeated for a second time in a row. This wouldn't happen again until 1980.
At the Republican nominating convention, the incumbent President Benjamin Harrison faced a challenge from within his own party. A number of disaffected party leaders started a "dump Harrison" movement and backed veteran candidate James G. Blaine of Maine. But Harrison's organization had the nomination locked up by the time delegates assembled in Minneapolis, Minnesota in June 1892. Harrison was nominated on the first ballot with 535.17 votes to 182.83 for Blaine and 182 for future President William McKinley of Ohio.
The Republican platform supported high tariffs, stiffer immigration laws, free rural mail delivery, and a canal across Central America. It also supported Ireland in its struggle for home rule as well as the plight of Jews under persecution in czarist Russia.
Meanwhile, the Democrats decided that maybe former President Grover Cleveland wasn't so bad. When the Democrats met in Chicago in June of 1892, Cleveland was the front-runner for the nomination, but faced formidable opposition. He had come out against the free coinage of silver. His home state of New York was against him because the faction from Tammany Hall were hostile to Cleveland on the issue of patronage. Cleveland managed to score a narrow first-ballot victory in which he received 617.33 votes (slightly over 10 votes more than needed) to 114 for Senator David B. Hill of New York, the candidate of Tammany Hall, and 103 for Governor Horace Boies of Iowa, a populist and former Republican.
The tariff issue dominated the campaign. Harrison defended the protectionist McKinley Tariff passed during his term while Cleveland campaigned for a reduction in the tariff. William McKinley campaigned extensively for Harrison, setting the stage for his own run four years later.
The campaign took a somber turn when, in October, First Lady Caroline Harrison died. Despite the ill health that had plagued Mrs. Harrison since her youth and which had worsened in the last decade, she often accompanied President Harrison on official travels. On one such trip, to California in the spring of 1891, she caught a cold. It quickly deepened into her chest, and she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. A summer in the Adirondack Mountains failed to restore her to health and she died in the White House on October 25, 1892, just two weeks before the election. As a result, all of the candidates ceased campaigning.
On election day Cleveland won 277 electoral votes and 23 states. He received 46% of the popular votes. Harrison came in second with 145 electoral votes, 16 states and 43% of the vote. A third party candidate, James Weaver of the Populist Party, won 22 electoral votes and 4 states with just 8.5% of the popular vote. This was the first election in which an incumbent president was defeated for a second time in a row. This wouldn't happen again until 1980.