The Election of 1884
For the third election in a row, in 1884 the nation faced an election without an incumbent running to keep the job. Incumbent President Chester Alan Arthur would have liked to remain as president and get elected to the job in his own right, but his poor health and lack of support within his party both prevented this. For a long time after the election of 1856, the Democratic Party would be unsuccessful in Presidential politics. This would change in 1884 with the first of two non-consectutive elections of Grover Cleveland.
The Republican Party had won the election of 1880, but President James Garfield was assassinated early on in his term. He was succeeded by his Arthur, who had been his Vice-President, and Arthur would have liked to remained in the oval office. By the end of his term he was suffering from a kidney ailment known as Bright's
Disease that would take his life two years later.
The 1884 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from June 3–6. The leading candidates seeking the party's nomination for president were former Senator and Speaker of the House James G. Blaine of Maine, President Arthur, and Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. Arthur was still popular within certain factions of the party. Blaine led on the first ballot, with Arthur second, and Edmunds third. This order did not change on successive ballots as Blaine increased his lead. He won a majority on the fourth ballot. After nominating Blaine, the convention chose Senator John A. Logan of Illinois as the vice-presidential nominee. To date, this was the last convention where an incumbent President was refused renomination.
Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman was considered a possible Republican candidate, but he ruled himself out with what has since become known as the Sherman pledge. He said "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve."
The Democrats also held their convention in Chicago a month later, meeting from July 8–11, 1884. New York Governor Grover Cleveland was the clear frontrunner. On the first ballot, Cleveland led the field with 392 votes, more than 150 votes short of the nomination. Trailing him were Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, 170; Allen G. Thurman of Ohio, 88; Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania, 78; and Joseph E. McDonald of Indiana, 56. Randall withdrew in Cleveland's favor and this was enough to put Cleveland over the top on the second ballot, with 683 votes, to 81.5 for Bayard and 45.5 for Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. Hendricks was nominated unanimously for vice-president on the first ballot after John C. Black, William Rosecrans, and George Washington Glick withdrew their names from consideration.
The personal character of both candidates was an issue in the campaign. Blaine had been accused of influence peddling. A Boston bookkeeper named James Mulligan had located some letters showing that Blaine had sold his influence in Congress to various businesses. One such letter ended with the phrase "burn this letter", from which a popular chant of the Democrats arose - "Burn, burn, burn this letter!" In just one deal, he had received $110,150 (over $1.5 million in 2010 dollars) from the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad for securing a federal land grant, among other things. Democrats and anti-Blaine Republicans made unrestrained attacks on his integrity as a result. Many Republican reformers, put off by Blaine's scandals, worked for the election of Cleveland; these reformers were known as “Mugwumps”.
Grover Cleveland was known as “Grover the Good” for his personal integrity. In the three previous years he had become mayor of Buffalo and then the governor of the state of New York, cleaning up large amounts of Tammany Hall's graft. But on July 21, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph reported that Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock, that the child had gone to an orphanage, and that the mother had been driven into an asylum. Cleveland's campaign decided that candor was the best approach to this scandal: they admitted that Cleveland had formed an “illicit connection” with the mother and that a child had been born and given the Cleveland surname. They said that there was no proof that Cleveland was the father, and their spin was that, by assuming responsibility and finding a home for the child, he was merely doing his duty. Finally, they showed that the mother had not been forced into an asylum; her whereabouts were unknown. Blaine's supporters condemned Cleveland in the strongest of terms, singing "Ma, Ma, Where's my Pa?" (After Cleveland's victory, Cleveland supporters would respond to the taunt with: "Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha.")
In the final week of the campaign, Dr. Samuel Burchard, a well-known supporter of Blaine's, made anti-Catholic slurs that were widely publicized by the Democrats. The statement energized the Irish and Catholic vote in New York City heavily against Blaine, most likely costing him New York state and the election in the process.
The vote was very close. Cleveland received 4,874,621 or 48.5% of the vote, compared to 4,848,936 or 48.2% for Blaine. Cleveland won 219 electoral votes to 182 for Blaine. A switch in New York's 36 electoral votes would have changed the election.
The Republican Party had won the election of 1880, but President James Garfield was assassinated early on in his term. He was succeeded by his Arthur, who had been his Vice-President, and Arthur would have liked to remained in the oval office. By the end of his term he was suffering from a kidney ailment known as Bright's
Disease that would take his life two years later.
The 1884 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from June 3–6. The leading candidates seeking the party's nomination for president were former Senator and Speaker of the House James G. Blaine of Maine, President Arthur, and Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont. Arthur was still popular within certain factions of the party. Blaine led on the first ballot, with Arthur second, and Edmunds third. This order did not change on successive ballots as Blaine increased his lead. He won a majority on the fourth ballot. After nominating Blaine, the convention chose Senator John A. Logan of Illinois as the vice-presidential nominee. To date, this was the last convention where an incumbent President was refused renomination.
Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman was considered a possible Republican candidate, but he ruled himself out with what has since become known as the Sherman pledge. He said "If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve."
The Democrats also held their convention in Chicago a month later, meeting from July 8–11, 1884. New York Governor Grover Cleveland was the clear frontrunner. On the first ballot, Cleveland led the field with 392 votes, more than 150 votes short of the nomination. Trailing him were Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, 170; Allen G. Thurman of Ohio, 88; Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania, 78; and Joseph E. McDonald of Indiana, 56. Randall withdrew in Cleveland's favor and this was enough to put Cleveland over the top on the second ballot, with 683 votes, to 81.5 for Bayard and 45.5 for Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. Hendricks was nominated unanimously for vice-president on the first ballot after John C. Black, William Rosecrans, and George Washington Glick withdrew their names from consideration.
The personal character of both candidates was an issue in the campaign. Blaine had been accused of influence peddling. A Boston bookkeeper named James Mulligan had located some letters showing that Blaine had sold his influence in Congress to various businesses. One such letter ended with the phrase "burn this letter", from which a popular chant of the Democrats arose - "Burn, burn, burn this letter!" In just one deal, he had received $110,150 (over $1.5 million in 2010 dollars) from the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad for securing a federal land grant, among other things. Democrats and anti-Blaine Republicans made unrestrained attacks on his integrity as a result. Many Republican reformers, put off by Blaine's scandals, worked for the election of Cleveland; these reformers were known as “Mugwumps”.
Grover Cleveland was known as “Grover the Good” for his personal integrity. In the three previous years he had become mayor of Buffalo and then the governor of the state of New York, cleaning up large amounts of Tammany Hall's graft. But on July 21, the Buffalo Evening Telegraph reported that Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock, that the child had gone to an orphanage, and that the mother had been driven into an asylum. Cleveland's campaign decided that candor was the best approach to this scandal: they admitted that Cleveland had formed an “illicit connection” with the mother and that a child had been born and given the Cleveland surname. They said that there was no proof that Cleveland was the father, and their spin was that, by assuming responsibility and finding a home for the child, he was merely doing his duty. Finally, they showed that the mother had not been forced into an asylum; her whereabouts were unknown. Blaine's supporters condemned Cleveland in the strongest of terms, singing "Ma, Ma, Where's my Pa?" (After Cleveland's victory, Cleveland supporters would respond to the taunt with: "Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha.")
In the final week of the campaign, Dr. Samuel Burchard, a well-known supporter of Blaine's, made anti-Catholic slurs that were widely publicized by the Democrats. The statement energized the Irish and Catholic vote in New York City heavily against Blaine, most likely costing him New York state and the election in the process.
The vote was very close. Cleveland received 4,874,621 or 48.5% of the vote, compared to 4,848,936 or 48.2% for Blaine. Cleveland won 219 electoral votes to 182 for Blaine. A switch in New York's 36 electoral votes would have changed the election.