Reconstruction altered the American political landscape. Men who considered military Reconstruction an abomination defected in droves to the Democratic Party, and as the South regained its political footing, the Party reclaimed its national flavor. The stolen presidential election of 1876 illustrated that a strong Democratic candidate with national appeal could compete against the Yankee dominated Republican Party. Democrats celebrated victory in 1884 when former New York Governor Grover Cleveland defeated Maine Radical Republican James G. Blaine in a close, mud-slinging contest for president.
Democrats had regained power, but continued success appeared allusive. Cleveland lost in 1888 due to voter fraud but returned to the executive mansion in 1892; however, because of the Panic of 1893, the Party seemed to be losing favor among the American public, particularly in the South and West. Cleveland’s support for a sound money policy that maintained the gold standard and fiscal responsibility produced cracks in the party. Several Democrats began pushing for inflationary bimetallism and the free coinage of silver, and they found support among farmers and debtors theoretically hurt by the deflationary boom of the 1880s and 1890s. Never mind that the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 – authored by the "Old Icicle," Republican John Sherman of Ohio, brother of General William T. Sherman – had caused a run on gold and a currency crisis. To them, silver seemed to be the inflationary tonic to their economic troubles. More money in circulation meant a better economy, right? Well, at least it meant potentially more votes.
Of course, the newly created National Democratic Party (NDP) responded with a resolute NO! The executive committee of the NDP published a "Campaign Text-Book" to provide facts and arguments and was "intended for writers – especially for editors; and for speakers – particularly those engaged in debate; and it is put in handy form that it may be carried in the pocket and easily consulted." This little handbook is a treasure of information and a valuable window into the 1896 campaign and late-nineteenth-century politics.
The NDP emphasized that it was the only national party left. By continuing to insist on a protective tariff and illegal taxation, Republicans could not count on many votes in the South or West, and the Bryan silverites alienated Northern and Eastern sound money proponents. A platform that adhered to the gold standard and limited, Constitutional government would find support among all sections and people. This, coupled with the nomination of a "Union/Confederate" ticket showed that the NDP was willing to put sectional and class division aside for the good of the United States. Too bad not many listened.
The party certainly needs another Tom Jefferson or Grover Cleveland, not fundamentalist statists like Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, or Barack Mussobama.
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