The Birth of the Grand Old Party: The Republicans' First Generation

Chapter 6: The Reforging of a Republican Majority

The story of the Republican party from 1868 through the 1870s is that of an ongoing quest to define identity, ideology, and issues—to reforge the majority first fused together in the 1850s. Party leaders entered the period believing that Reconstruction was coming to a close; they awaited with anticipation what form a new agenda and perhaps even realignment would take. So did their Democratic foes. Yet time and again old issues kept reappearing and old themes were sounded anew. Neither party realized the coherent outlook each sought on other issues: parties remained divided internally when it came to fiscal, monetary, and economic development issues. It would not be until the 1880s that both parties would be able to escape the shadow of war and Reconstruction. But it was not always for lack of trying. In nominating Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1868, Republicans sought to hitch party fortunes to the appeal of the nation’s foremost war hero. The general was a supporter of congressional Reconstruction efforts and had broken with Andrew Johnson over Johnson’s continued efforts to wrestle with the Tenure of Office Act. Grant’s desire for an end to political strife, especially in the aftermath of Johnson’s impeachment, was best summed up in four words, derived from his letter of acceptance, that soon resonated across the land: “Let us have peace.” The malleable meaning of the expression represented its chief virtue: peace between North and South, between white and black, between Democrat and Republican, and, most of all, an end to partisan bickering. As Grant put it, “I could not back down without . . . leaving the contest for power for the next four years between mere trading politicians, the elevation of whom, no matter which party won, would lose to us, largely, the results CHAPTER SIX The Reforging of a Republican Majority Brooks D. Simpson of the costly war which we have gone through.” This hardly constituted a ringing endorsement of Republican leadership, although the general preferred just about anything to a Democratic victory.1 Ohio Republicans proclaimed that the party’s standard bearer would “guide us into a harbor of rest and quiet.” In contrast, a Democratic triumph would mean chaos and revolution.2 Moreover, the Democrats co-operated in allowing Republicans to portray the election as a replay of the war. They passed up an excellent opportunity to redefine party lines in 1868 when that year’s presidential convention selected former New York governor Horatio Seymour as its candidate. The party could have turned to several other aspirants, most notably Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, and it decided to accept black political equality and concentrate instead on economic issues. True, Democrats were almost as divided as The Reforging of a Republican Majority 149 Figure 6.1. The Great American Tanner, lithograph (New York: Currier & Ives, 1868). In civilian life, Grant had been a tanner by profession, among several jobs. In this cartoon he has “tanned the hides” of the Confederates and now prepares to take on the Democrats. The image spoke to both Grant’s “common man” background and his military leadership, a sure-fire combination to win votes in the postwar era. Republicans over the proper course to pursue when it came to greenbacks and the tariff, but the difficulties inherent in mounting such a campaign paled in comparison to another attempt to refight the Civil War. Seymour struggled to escape his wartime error in addressing New York City draft rioters as “my friends”; his running mate, Francis P. Blair, Jr., openly courted controversy when he denounced Republican Reconstruction legislation and promised to work for its repeal in a public letter; the platform waxed eloquent about the horrors of continued Republican rule. Disappointed presidential aspirant Chase later observed that the platform as adopted “drove nearly every dissatisfied Republican, many Conservatives & some democrats to vote for Grant & Colfax tickets.”3 The Chief Justice believed that Grant’s election was assured and that he would nearly sweep the nation west of the Appalachians, “not because his election is desired, but because people are afraid of violent & revolutionary measures in the south if he is not elected.”4 Overjoyed by signs that Democrats were quite willing to join battle on the issues of the war and Reconstruction, Indiana senator Oliver P. Morton sounded the rallying cry for Republicans when he declared, “The great issue is the...