Corruption and Party Strife

The political corruption and party factionalism that characterized the administration of Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877) (see “Grant’s Troubled Presidency” in chapter 16) continued to trouble the nation in the 1880s. The spoils system remained the driving force in party politics at all levels of government. Pro-business Republicans generally held a firm grip on the White House, while Democrats had better luck in Congress. Both parties relied on patronage to cement party loyalty.

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VISUAL ACTIVITYCivil Service Exams In this 1890 photograph, prospective police officers in Chicago take the written civil service exam. With the rise of a written exam, issues of class and status meant that many men, particularly immigrants and their sons, needed education and not simply connections to make the grade.READING THE IMAGE: What types of people are sitting for the civil service exam? Would you expect to see women or people of color?CONNECTIONS: Who pressed for civil service reform, and what were the repercussions for those who held government positions?
© Chicago History Museum, USA/Bridgeman Images.

A small but determined group of reformers championed a new ethics that would preclude politicians from getting rich from public office. The selection of U.S. senators particularly concerned them. Under the Constitution, senators were selected by state legislatures, not directly elected by the voters. Powerful business interests often contrived to control state legislatures and through them U.S. senators. As journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd quipped, Standard Oil “had done everything to the Pennsylvania legislature except to refine it.” In this climate, a constitutional amendment calling for the direct election of senators faced stiff opposition from entrenched interests.

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Republican president Rutherford B. Hayes tried to steer a middle course between spoilsmen and reformers. Hayes proved a hardworking, well-informed executive who wanted peace, prosperity, and an end to party strife. Yet the Republican Party remained divided into factions led by strong party bosses who boasted that they could make or break any president.

Foremost among the Republican Senate bosses stood Roscoe Conkling of New York. He and his followers, who fiercely supported the patronage system, were known as “Stalwarts.” Conkling’s rival, Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, led the “Half Breeds,” who were less openly corrupt yet still tainted by their involvement in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. A third group, called the “Mugwumps,” consisted of reformers from Massachusetts and New York who deplored the spoils system and advocated civil service reform.

President Hayes’s middle course pleased no one, and he soon managed to alienate all factions of his party. Few were surprised when he announced that he would not seek reelection in 1880. To avoid choosing among its factions, the Republican Party in 1880 nominated a dark-horse candidate, Representative James A. Garfield of Ohio. To foster party unity, they picked Stalwart Chester A. Arthur as the vice presidential candidate. The Democrats made an attempt to overcome sectionalism by selecting former Union general Winfield Scott Hancock. Hancock garnered only lukewarm support, receiving just 155 electoral votes to Garfield’s 214, although the popular vote was less lopsided.