Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion: The Making of a President, 1884

396 Pages·2000·2.977 MB·English

by  Mark Wahlgren Summers

RUM,
ROMANISM,
&
REBELLION

RUM
ROMANISM
&
REBELLION
T1HE MA8KING O8F A PRE4SIDENT
MARK WAHLGREN SUMMERS
The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill & London
∫ 2000
The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Set in Bodoni and Madrone types by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Summers, Mark W. (Mark Wahlgren), 1951–
Rum, romanism, and rebellion : the making of a president, 1884 /
by Mark Wahlgren Summers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 0-8078-2524-7 (cloth: alk. paper). —
isbn 0-8078-4849-2 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Presidents—United States—Election—1884. 2. United States—
Politics and government—1881–1885. I. Title.
e695.s9 2000
324.273%084—dc21 99-34238
cip
04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction, xi
Prologue: Judgment Day, 1
Chapter 1. No Business To-Day Other Than Politics, 13
Chapter 2. The Dispirit of ’76, 27
Chapter 3. The Bloody Shirt—In Hoc Signo Vinces, 41
Chapter 4. The Politics of Personality, 59
Chapter 5. O Temperance, O Mores! 77
Chapter 6. The Protection Racket, 91
Chapter 7. The Democrats Rise from the Dead, 108
Chapter 8. The Passing of Arthur, 124
Chapter 9. We Love Him for the Enemies He Has Made, 143
Chapter 10. The Public Be Crammed! 162
Chapter 11. Love’s Libels Lost, 179
Chapter 12. Windypendents’ Day, 197
Chapter 13. Ireland Sold for Gold! 210
Chapter 14. Sideshows, 223
Chapter 15. Carrying the War into Africa, 240
Chapter 16. Local All Over, 255
Chapter 17. Clerical Errors, 272
Chapter 18. Lord! But We Skirted the Edge! 289
Chapter 19. Justice at Last! 304
Notes, 317
Bibliography, 353
Index, 369
Illustrations
‘‘Another voice for Cleveland’’ xii
‘‘The Blaine tari√ fraud’’ 3
‘‘His own Destroyer’’ 5
‘‘Death at the polls and free from ‘federal interference’’’ 32
‘‘Mr. Tilden’s body-guard’’ 39
‘‘This puts me in the devil of a position’’ 53
A cartoon of what Democrats thought Readjuster rule meant 56
‘‘Rival rag-pickers’’ 57
‘‘The ‘magnetic’ Blaine’’ 63
‘‘A grand Shakespearian revival’’ 69
‘‘A Big Job’’ 74
‘‘Her platform going to pieces’’ 105
‘‘Senator Bayard strikes his grand attitude on the tari√ question’’ 110
‘‘Cleveland the celibate’’ 117
‘‘Made harmless at last!’’ 120
‘‘Blaine leans towards Logan’’ 130
‘‘Phryne before the Chicago tribunal’’ 137
‘‘He courts the mother and means the daughter’’ 153
‘‘He can’t beat his record’’ 174
‘‘Those dogs won’t fight—they are dying of starvation’’ 183
‘‘He instituted the ordeal. Can he stand it himself?’’ 187
The writing on the wall 199
‘‘The mistake of a lifetime’’ 201
‘‘The Blainiac programme’’ 213
‘‘The spread of American ideas’’ 215
‘‘Helping the rascals in’’ 226
Prohibition’s pet. St. John’’ 231
‘‘A magnetic statesman’’ 258
‘‘Ready for business’’ 276
‘‘Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings’’ 287
‘‘Out of a job once more!’’ 297
‘‘Men may come, and men may go; but the work of reform
shall go on forever’’ 305
‘‘A dead failure’’ 310
Tables
Table 1. Republican Losses, New York, 1882, 71
Table 2. Ohio Prohibition Party Vote Totals, 85
Table 3. Democratic and Republican Shares of the Vote in the Five Ohio
Counties with the Largest Democratic Gain, 88
Table 4. Democratic and Republican Shares of the Vote in Ohio’s 1883
Gubernatorial Race, 90
Table 5. Republican Share of the Vote, by Section, 290
Table 6. Democratic Share of the Vote, by Section, 291
Table 7. Where Republicans Gained Most and Lost Worst in the 1884
Presidential Election, 291
Table 8. Party Gains and Irish Votes in Troy, New York, 1884, 293
Table 9. Upstate and Downstate Margins in New York, 295
Table 10. States in Which Blaine Had the Lowest Share
of the Vote, 1884, 300
Table 11. Number of Deep South Counties with Black Majorities
Carried by Each Party, 1884, 301

Acknowledgments
Acknowledging favors done feels rather like a caucus race:
everybody has won, and everyone deserves prizes. Rare the archivist
that was less than helpful, though the folks in the Manuscripts Room at
the Library of Congress, as always, deserve special kudos. Those at the
State Historical Society of Wisconsin and at the University of Pennsylvania
Library delved with passionate intensity as well. Kiwanis groups and
Rotarian banqueters in Cincinnati and Louisville heard the gist of the
book and helped me figure out what point I really was trying to make.
Geo√rey Blodgett o√ered cryptic and sound suggestions. Colleagues at
the University of Kentucky, notably William Freehling, heard me out
at lunch-bag colloquiums and o√ered sage advice. Others kindly read
the manuscript through: David Hamilton, Tom Cogswell, Philip Harling,
and Robert Flynn. Once again, Tom and Dave did ace work, Dave with
skepticism about some of my arguments and good counsel about the
focus, and Tom with bemusement and reassurance. It is to fond
memories of years of Tom’s friendship that this book is dedicated,
and to the dear memory of that indispensable and commonsensical lady,
the very soul of our department and an inspiration for our best work,
the late Darlene Calvert. To Mary Caviness, for her expert editing, too,
much is owed. I owe the most to my parents, Clyde and Evelyn Summers,
who, as ever, pored over every page, questioning everything from the
premises to the prose. No one did more than they; in terms of shaping
this book, they were indispensable campaign managers.