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.