THE GRANT-GREELEY CONTEST
1872
General Grant was a thorough soldier, with little qualification for civil duties and a natural distaste for politics. I doubt whether he had any defined political policy when he entered the Presidency. He believed in maintaining the credit of the Government, and accepted in a conservative way the general policy of the Republican party, but he knew little or nothing of the political leadership of the nation, and his friends generally felt that the success of his administration would depend very largely upon surrounding him with a Cabinet composed of the ablest and most sagacious men of the party, but Grant cherished no such ideas himself. He evidently assumed that politics could be run by general orders, as an army could be commanded, and it was that mistake that alienated a very large portion of the Republicans from him in the early period of his administration, and culminated in the Liberal Republican Convention at Cincinnati in 1872.
I had frequently met General Grant before his nomination and election to the Presidency, but only in the most casual way on social occasions, and never had any conversation with him, either on politics generally or on his candidacy for the Presidency. I was earnestly in favor of his nomination and election, because I believed that calling him to the Presidency would do more to reconcile the South and give better assurance of sectional tranquillity than the election of any of the leading Republican statesmen of that day. I had just changed my residence to Philadelphia, having suffered serious financial disaster in the burning of Chambersburg by McCausland, and it was my settled purpose after Grant’s election to cease active participation in politics and devote my efforts wholly to my profession.
My first and only meeting with Grant before his retirement from the Presidency, at which we had any protracted conversation, was a short time before his inauguration. Chief Justice Read, of Pennsylvania, handed me a letter, addressed to the President-elect, and asked me to deliver it in person when I next visited Washington. I did not know its contents, but inferred that it related to the appointment of Curtin to a Cabinet office. A few days thereafter when in Washington I called upon General Grant at his headquarters and delivered the letter, and after a very brief conversation, rose to take my leave. He had opened the letter in the meantime, and as I reached the door he called me back, saying that Judge Read’s letter strongly urged the appointment of Curtin to the Cabinet, and that he desired to tell me frankly as a close friend of Curtin why he could not meet the wishes of the many friends of Curtin by giving him a Cabinet portfolio. He spoke very highly of Curtin, and showed his appreciation of Curtin’s position by nominating him as Minister to Russia at an early day after his inauguration, and against the protest of Senator Cameron. In the course of the conversation I saw Grant’s crude theory of conducting a national administration. He said that his Cabinet officers would be his official confidential family, and he desired to appoint them entirely in accordance with his personal preferences. I said to him that it was certainly his right to have only men in his Cabinet who were entirely agreeable to himself, but that it was very important for him to have the ablest politicians of the country largely represented in it, to save his administration from the many political complications which would otherwise confront him.
I saw that Grant was not a willing listener to any suggestions, although given in the most courteous manner, and he answered with a somewhat liberal display of what some called “obstinacy” and others called “determination,” as one of the leading attributes of his character. I then spoke more freely and frankly, and finally said to him that if I were suddenly called to the command of the army, with little or no military experience, I would feel that my greatest need was generals; and I added that it was in no measure disrespectful to him to say that, having been called from the command of the army to the Presidency of the Republic, without experience in high civil duties, his greatest need was statesmen. The advice was not grateful to Grant; on the contrary, he was obviously fretted, as none of the many who sought favors at his hands had ventured to tell him the truth so plainly. When the conversation ended he gave me a moderately cordial good-by, and I never again met him, excepting once at the large banquet given by Mr. Childs on the evening after the opening of the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, until soon after he had retired from his eight years’ service in the Presidency, and never had any communication with him.
I opposed his renomination, participated in the Liberal Republican Convention that nominated Greeley, had charge of the Greeley campaign in Pennsylvania, and labored very earnestly for Grant’s defeat in 1872. On the day that he retired from the Presidency I had an editorial in the Philadelphia Times, speaking of General Grant as history would record his achievements, and of necessity highly complimentary to him. A few days thereafter I met him with Mr. Childs at the Continental Hotel, and he came forward in a manner that was unusually demonstrative for Grant, and was profuse in his thanks for the editorial referred to. He said that he specially valued it because it came from one who had been among his severest critics during his Presidential term, and he ended by inviting me to lunch with him at Mr. Drexel’s office that afternoon.
I willingly accepted the invitation and spent two hours with Grant, most of the time alone after Mr. Drexel and Mr. Childs had left us. I was surprised to find him one of the most agreeable of conversationalists, and he discussed politics generally and the Hayes-Tilden contest with a degree of frankness and intelligence that surprised me. He said that he confidently expected the Electoral Commission to give the vote of Louisiana to Mr. Tilden, but that as Chief Magistrate it was his duty only to maintain the law, and that when the law of the nation made the Electoral Commission a final tribunal for the settlement of the dispute, he would have maintained that judgment with all the power of the Government.
I was specially gratified at this interview to have a particular prejudice that I had cherished against Grant since 1864 entirely dissipated by a conversation into which I cautiously led him on the Lincoln-McClellan campaign of 1864. I have stated in another chapter that Mr. Lincoln hesitated in October, 1864, to send an order to General Grant to furlough five thousand of his Pennsylvania soldiers home to vote for President, and sent it to Meade. I had known how Lincoln had sustained Grant after the battle of Shiloh, when Grant had few friends and none outside of Lincoln able to sustain him. When Lincoln hesitated to send the order to Grant, I spoke very freely and reminded Lincoln how he had saved Grant, and wanted to know why he could not now trust the man who would have been overwhelmed but for the generous and heroic offices of Lincoln. Lincoln finally answered that he had never received or heard of any expression from General Grant expressing a preference for his election over General McClellan. Lincoln certainly at that time doubted Grant’s attitude in that contest, and having been one of the many who had urged Lincoln to remove Grant from his command after Shiloh, I could not fail to cherish some prejudice against Grant as wanting in fidelity to Lincoln.
In our general discussion of politics I remarked that he had very studiously avoided all political expression during the war, and that I had specially noted his silence during the campaign of 1864 between Lincoln and McClellan. His answer was prompt and given evidently in the frankest manner, as he said substantially: “Of course, I could not with propriety give any public expression in a political contest where one candidate had given me the highest commission in the army and the other candidate had been my predecessor in command of the army.” The answer was given in such simple earnestness that I never thereafter doubted Grant’s fidelity to Lincoln, although Lincoln certainly was disappointed that Grant gave no expression during the campaign. On the night of Lincoln’s election Grant sent him a very hearty telegram of congratulation.
President Grant drifted into a political control that ultimately made his administration intensely sectional and factional, and during his first administration he was intolerant of criticism, and often openly disregarded Republican sentiment in sustaining many of his favorites, who brought scandals upon his rule. On great questions, however, Grant certainly was great. He conceived the idea of territorial expansion that has been so successfully carried out by the present administration with the hearty approval of an overwhelming majority of the people. He made an earnest movement for the annexation of San Domingo, and he gave exhaustive public and private efforts to attain it. This policy was severely criticised by some of the leading members of the party, prominent among whom were Sumner and Greeley, and the San Domingo scheme was ridiculed from one end of the country to the other as a wild, visionary, political enterprise, designed to give place and fortune to administration favorites.
So bitter did the Republican national feud become that the anti-administration leaders decided to take the initiative in opposing Grant’s re-election. At no time in the history of any administration was the political machinery of the Government so complete and despotic as it was under Grant, although not in any degree personally directed by himself, and it was well known that the opposition would have little voice in the regular Republican convention, and that it was entirely powerless to prevent Grant being presented as the Republican nominee.
The first national conventions of the year were held at Columbus, O., in February. The Labor Reformers were first in the field, as their convention was held at Columbus on the 21st of February, with Edward M. Chamberlain, of Massachusetts, as President. This convention was made up largely or wholly of men who believed in the greenback policy, as it demanded an indefinite issue of greenbacks, which would be a legal tender for the payment of all public and private debts. The following is the full text of its platform:
We hold that all political power is inherent in the people, and free government is founded on their authority and established for their benefit; that all citizens are equal in political rights, entitled to the largest religious and political liberty compatible with the good order of society, as also to the use and enjoyment of the fruits of their labor and talents; and no man or set of men is entitled to exclusive separable endowments and privileges, or immunities from the Government, but in consideration of public services; and any laws destructive of these fundamental principles are without moral binding force, and should be repealed. And believing that all the evils resulting from unjust legislation now affecting the industrial classes can be removed by the adoption of the principles contained in the following declaration, therefore,
Resolved, That it is the duty of the Government to establish a just standard of distribution of capital and labor by providing a purely national circulating medium, based on the faith and resources of the nation, issued directly to the people without the intervention of any system of banking corporations; which money shall be legal tender in the payment of all debts, public and private, and interchangeable at the option of the holder for Government bonds bearing a rate of interest not to exceed 3.65 per cent., subject to future legislation by Congress.
2. That the national debt should be paid in good faith, according to the original contract, at the earliest option of the Government, without mortgaging the property of the people or the future earnings of labor, to enrich a few capitalists at home and abroad.
3. That justice demands that the burdens of Government should be so adjusted as to bear equally on all classes, and that the exemption from taxation of Government bonds bearing extortionate rates of interest is a violation of all just principles of revenue laws.
4. That the public lands of the United States belong to the people and should not be sold to individuals nor granted to corporations, but should be held as a sacred trust for the benefit of the people, and should be granted to landless settlers only, in amounts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres of land.
5. That Congress should modify the tariff so as to admit free such articles of common use as we can neither produce nor grow, and lay duties for revenue mainly upon articles of luxury and upon such articles of manufacture as will, we having the raw materials in abundance, assist in further developing the resources of the country.
6. That the presence in our country of Chinese laborers, imported by capitalists in large numbers for servile use, is an evil, entailing want and its attendant train of misery and crime on all classes of the American people, and should be prohibited by legislation.
7. That we ask for the enactment of a law by which all mechanics and day-laborers employed by or on behalf of the Government, whether directly or indirectly, through persons, firms, or corporations, contracting with the State, shall conform to the reduced standard of eight hours a day, recently adopted by Congress for national employés, and also for an amendment to the acts of incorporation for cities and towns, by which all laborers and mechanics employed at their expense shall conform to the same number of hours.
8. That the enlightened spirit of the age demands the abolition of the system of contract labor in our prisons and other reformatory institutions.
9. That the protection of life, liberty, and property are the three cardinal principles of government, and the first two are more sacred than the latter; therefore money needed for prosecuting wars should, as it is required, be assessed and collected from the wealth of the country, and not entailed as a burden upon posterity.
10. That it is the duty of the Government to exercise its power over railroads and telegraph corporations, that they shall not in any case be privileged to exact such rates of freight, transportation, or charges, by whatever name, as may bear unduly or unequally upon the producer or consumer.
11. That there should be such a reform in the civil service of the national Government as will remove it beyond all partisan influence, and place it in the charge and under the direction of intelligent and competent business men.
12. That as both history and experience teach us that power ever seeks to perpetuate itself by every and all means, and that its prolonged possession in the hands of one person is always dangerous to the interests of a free people, and believing that the spirit of our organic laws and the stability and safety of our free institutions are best obeyed on the one hand and secured on the other by a regular constitutional change in the chief of the country at each election; therefore, we are in favor of limiting the occupancy of the Presidential chair to one term.
13. That we are in favor of granting general amnesty and restoring the Union at once on the basis of equality of rights and privileges to all, the impartial administration of justice being the only true bond of union to bind the States together and restore the government of the people.
14. That we demand the subjection of the military to the civil authorities, and the confinement of its operations to national purposes alone.
15. That we deem it expedient for Congress to supervise the patent laws, so as to give labor more fully the benefit of its own ideas and inventions.
16. That fitness, and not political or personal considerations, should be the only recommendation to public office, either appointive or elective, and any and all laws looking to the establishment of this principle are heartily approved.
Four ballots were had to nominate a candidate for President, resulting in the choice of David Davis, of Illinois. The following table exhibits the ballots in detail:
| First. | Second. | Third. | Fourth. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John W. Geary, of Pennsylvania | 60 | — | — | — |
| Horace H. Day, of New York | 59 | 21 | 59 | 3 |
| David Davis, of Illinois | 47 | 88 | 93 | 201 |
| Wendell Phillips, of Massachusetts | 13 | 76 | 12 | — |
| J. M. Palmer, of Illinois | 8 | — | — | — |
| Joel Parker, of New Jersey | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| George W. Julian, of Indiana | 6 | 1 | 5 | — |
| B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri | — | — | 14 | — |
| Horace Greeley, of New York | — | — | 11 | — |
Two ballots were had for Vice-President, as follows:
| First. | Second. | |
|---|---|---|
| E. M. Chamberlain, Massachusetts | 72 | 57 |
| Joel Parker, New Jersey | 70 | 112 |
| Allanson M. West, Mississippi | 18 | — |
| Thomas Ewing, Ohio | 31 | 22 |
| W. G. Bryan, Tennessee | 10 | — |
Davis and Parker were unanimously declared the candidates of the party for President and Vice-President.
Although Judge Davis had responded by telegraph to the notification of his nomination from the convention, expressing his gratitude for the honor conferred, he did not definitely accept. Had Judge Davis been nominated by the Liberal Republicans at Cincinnati in May, he would doubtless have remained as the candidate of the Labor Reformers, but in June, when there was no possibility of him being a candidate of any other organization, Davis and Parker both declined and retired from the contest. A small portion of the delegates were reconvened, and Charles O’Conor, of New York, was nominated for President, without naming any candidate for Vice-President. Thus, the Labor Reform organization was practically out of the battle of 1872.
A Prohibition National Convention was also held at Columbus on the 22d of February, with representatives from nine States, and Samuel Chase, of Ohio, was made permanent president. An elaborate platform was adopted, but the party does not seem to have been of sufficient importance to command the publication of its platform in full in the newspapers, and it is lost to history, as I have not been able to find it. James Black, of Pennsylvania, was nominated for President, and John Russell, of Michigan, for Vice-President by a unanimous vote, after having been presented by a committee on nominations.
The Liberal Republican National Convention met at Cincinnati on the 1st of May. The organized Republican opposition to Grant had its origin in the State contest in Missouri, where the Democrats and the Liberals united to efface a most proscriptive Constitution and laws, denying all rights of citizenship to those who had been engaged in rebellion. A number of meetings were held in the Western cities to organize the Liberal Republican party, and it was a mass-meeting of the Liberals of Missouri in Jefferson City, in January, 1872, that first decided to call a national convention of Liberal Republicans, and fixed Cincinnati and the 1st of May as the place and time for it to assemble.
It seemed evident to all who had intelligently and dispassionately observed the political situation that the majority of the people of the country would vote against the re-election of Grant if they could be heartily united, but the elements were strangely incongruous, as Greeley, Sumner, Trumbull, and many others of the Liberal leaders had been among the most earnest champions of radical Republicanism, and had antagonized the Democratic party so fiercely and persistently as to make unity between them apparently impossible. It was only the utterly helpless condition of the Democrats that made them entertain the question of fusing with the Liberals by taking their ticket and platform.
Strange as it may seem, Mr. Vallandigham, one of the most aggressive of all the Northern “Copperheads” during the war, and who had been arrested by Burnside and banished into the Southern lines, was one of the first of the leading Democrats to propose a union of all the elements opposed to Grant and unite in fully accepting the results of the war, the reconstruction policy, and the amendments to the Constitution. I attended this convention as a delegate and acted as chairman of the delegation. Of the prominent men named for the nomination, I greatly preferred David Davis, the executor of Abraham Lincoln, and a man so conservative and liberal in his political views and so thoroughly identified with the substantial interests of the country that he would have provoked no antagonism whatever from the financial and business interests of the nation, but Horace Greeley was his competitor for the place, and there was no man in the country for whom I cherished stronger affection. I had known Greeley for many years.
When the Liberal agitation began, the prominent candidates discussed were Horace Greeley, Charles Francis Adams, David Davis, and B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri. Greeley became intensely interested in his own nomination. He felt that he had devoted his life to the best efforts for his country, and especially for the lowly. He was the foremost of all in the great battle for the overthrow of slavery, and he craved the recognition of his work by an election to the Presidency. Before the convention met he made an appointment to meet me at the Colonnade Hotel in Philadelphia. He felt that he could speak with entire freedom to me, and he opened his heart to the full extent of saying how much he desired the nomination and what it meant to him.
Could I have made him President, I would gladly have done so, but I knew that he could not be elected, and told him so with frankness that he appreciated. He yielded to my judgment as to his availability, and accepted the suggestion that had then been made generally by the more conservative of the Liberal Republicans that David Davis would be the only candidate who could certainly defeat Grant. He was conservative, able, and clear-headed, and the business interests of the country would have had entire confidence in him. In answer to my statement that the Democrats certainly could not be united in Greeley’s favor, and without which an election could not be accomplished, he said: “Well, if they won’t take me head foremost, they might take me boots foremost,” meaning for Vice-President. I said I did not doubt that his nomination for the second place could be accomplished with every prospect of success at the election. We parted with the distinct understanding that his friends should move unitedly to nominate David Davis for President and Greeley for Vice-President.
When we reached Cincinnati a conference of the leading friends of Davis and Greeley was held the night before the convention met, Senator Fenton being present as the leader of the Greeley forces. Leonard Swett, the immediate representative of Davis, was present, along with John D. Defrees, of Indiana, and a number of others. The plan of operation was agreed upon, and when we adjourned to enjoy a late supper we regarded it as settled that Davis and Greeley would be nominated on the next day.
About midnight it was whispered that General Frank P. Blair, as the representative of B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, and others had held a secret conference to unite the Greeley and Brown forces to make Greeley the candidate for President and Brown second on the ticket. We soon discovered that the movement had been thoroughly organized, and many Greeley men who were much more zealous than discreet at once accepted the new situation, and forced even Fenton to fall back to the support of Greeley. Fenton was one of Greeley’s most sincere and devoted friends, and it was with great reluctance that he joined in the effort to nominate Greeley when he felt that it could result only in crucifying him. The withdrawal of the Greeley men from the Davis-Greeley combination left Davis a hopeless candidate, as the convention was largely radical and little inclined to consider questions of expediency.
The Liberal Republican National Convention was simply a huge mass-meeting, with nearly all of the States of the Union represented, and it was boiling over with go-as-you-please independence in politics. Stanley Matthews, afterward made Supreme Judge, was temporary president, and although he denounced the Grant administration in his opening speech as a monument of corruption, he soon thereafter bolted Greeley and supported Grant. Carl Schurz was made permanent president. The contest for President was evidently narrowed down to Adams and Greeley. I voted on every ballot for Adams, with whom I had little sympathy, and three-fourths of the Pennsylvania delegation voted with me. On the 6th ballot Greeley was nominated by changes of votes after the ballot had been announced, but I did not change the vote of Pennsylvania until he had received a majority of the votes of the convention. The following are the ballots for President:
| First. | Second. | Third. | Fourth. | Fifth. | Sixth. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Francis Adams, Mass. | 203 | 243 | 264 | 279 | 258 | 324 | |
| Horace Greeley, New York | 147 | 245 | 258 | 251 | 309 | 332 | |
| Lyman Trumbull, Illinois | 110 | 148 | 156 | 141 | 81 | 19 | |
| B. Gratz Brown, Missouri | 95 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | — | |
| David Davis, Illinois | 92 | ¹⁄₂ | 75 | 41 | 51 | 30 | 6 |
| Andrew G. Curtin, Pennsylvania | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Salmon P. Chase, Ohio | 2 | ¹⁄₂ | 1 | — | — | 24 | 32 |
Mr. Greeley’s nomination was made unanimous, and the convention proceeded to ballot for Vice-President as follows:
| First. | Second. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| B. Gratz Brown, Missouri | 237 | 435 | |
| Lyman Trumbull, Illinois | 158 | 175 | |
| George W. Julian, Indiana | 134 | ¹⁄₂ | — |
| Gilbert C. Walker, Virginia | 84 | ¹⁄₂ | 75 |
| Cassius M. Clay, Kentucky | 34 | — | |
| Jacob D. Cox, Ohio | 25 | — | |
| John M. Scoville, New Jersey | 12 | — | |
| Thomas W. Tipton, Nebraska | 8 | 3 | |
| John M. Palmer, Illinois | — | 8 | |
The following platform was unanimously adopted:
The administration now in power has rendered itself guilty of wanton disregard of the laws of the land, and of usurping powers not granted by the Constitution; it has acted as if the laws had binding force only for those who were governed, and not for those who govern. It has thus struck a blow at the fundamental principles of constitutional government and the liberties of the citizen.
The President of the United States has openly used the powers and opportunities of his high office for the promotion of personal ends.
He has kept notoriously corrupt and unworthy men in places of power and responsibility, to the detriment of the public interest.
He has used the public service of the Government as a machinery of corruption and personal influence, and has interfered with tyrannical arrogance in the political affairs of States and municipalities.
He has rewarded with influential and lucrative offices men who had acquired his favor by valuable presents, thus stimulating the demoralization of our political life by his conspicuous example.
He has shown himself deplorably unequal to the task imposed upon him by the necessities of the country, and culpably careless of the responsibilities of his high office.
The partisans of the administration, assuming to be the Republican party and controlling its organization, have attempted to justify such wrongs and palliate such abuses to the end of maintaining partisan ascendancy.
They have stood in the way of necessary investigations and indispensable reforms, pretending that no serious fault could be found with the present administration of public affairs, thus seeking to blind the eyes of the people.
They have kept alive the passions and resentments of the late civil war, to use them for their own advantage; they have resorted to arbitrary measures in direct conflict with the organic law, instead of appealing to the better instincts and latent patriotism of the Southern people by restoring to them those rights the enjoyment of which is indispensable to a successful administration of their local affairs, and would tend to revive a patriotic and hopeful national feeling.
They have degraded themselves and the name of their party, once justly entitled to the confidence of the nation, by a base sycophancy to the dispenser of executive power and patronage, unworthy of republican freemen; they have sought to silence the voice of just criticism, and stifle the moral sense of the people, and to subjugate public opinion by tyrannical party discipline.
They are striving to maintain themselves in authority for selfish ends by an unscrupulous use of the power which rightfully belongs to the people, and should be employed only in the service of the country.
Believing that an organization thus led and controlled can no longer be of service to the best interests of the Republic, we have resolved to make an independent appeal to the sober judgment, conscience, and patriotism of the American people.
We, the Liberal Republicans of the United States, in national convention assembled at Cincinnati; proclaim the following principles as essential to just government:
1. We recognize the equality of all men before the law, and hold that it is the duty of government, in its dealings with the people, to mete out equal and exact justice to all, of whatever nativity, race, color, or persuasion, religious or political.
2. We pledge ourselves to maintain the union of these States, emancipation and enfranchisement, and to oppose any reopening of the questions settled by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution.
3. We demand the immediate and absolute removal of all disabilities imposed on account of the Rebellion, which was finally subdued seven years ago, believing that universal amnesty will result in complete pacification in all sections of the country.
4. Local self-government, with impartial suffrage, will guard the rights of all citizens more securely than any centralized power. The public welfare requires the supremacy of the civil over the military authority, and the freedom of the person under the protection of the habeas corpus. We demand for the individual the largest liberty consistent with public order, for the State self-government, and for the nation a return to the methods of peace and the constitutional limitations of power.
5. The civil service of the Government has become a mere instrument of partisan tyranny and personal ambition, and an object of selfish greed. It is a scandal and reproach upon free institutions, and breeds a demoralization dangerous to the perpetuity of republican government. We therefore regard a thorough reform of the civil service as one of the most pressing necessities of the hour; that honesty, capacity and fidelity constitute the only valid claims to public employment; that the offices of the Government cease to be a matter of arbitrary favoritism and patronage, and that public station shall become again a post of honor. To this end it is imperatively required that no President shall be a candidate for re-election.
6. We demand a system of Federal taxation which shall not unnecessarily interfere with the industry of the people, and which shall provide the means necessary to pay the expenses of the Government, economically administered, the pensions, the interest on the public debt, and a moderate reduction annually of the principal thereof; and recognizing that there are in our midst honest but irreconcilable differences of opinion with regard to the respective systems of protection and free trade, we remit the discussion of the subject to the people in their congressional districts and the decision of Congress thereon, wholly free from executive interference or dictation.
7. The public credit must be sacredly maintained, and we denounce repudiation in every form and guise.
8. A speedy return to specie payments is demanded alike by the highest considerations of commercial morality and honest government.
9. We remember with gratitude the heroism and sacrifices of the soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and no act of ours shall ever detract from their justly earned fame or the full rewards of their patriotism.
10. We are opposed to all further grants of lands to railroads or other corporations. The public domain should be held sacred to actual settlers.
11. We hold that it is the duty of the Government in its intercourse with foreign nations to cultivate the friendships of peace by treating with all on fair and equal terms, regarding it alike dishonorable to demand what is not right or submit to what is wrong.
12. For the promotion and success of these vital principles, and the support of the candidates nominated by this convention, we invite and cordially welcome the co-operation of all patriotic citizens, without regard to previous political affiliations.
When the convention adjourned I regarded the opportunity to make a successful contest against Grant as wholly lost. Greeley had been hammering the Democrats in his pungent paragraphs for thirty years, and they could have little sympathy with him, and the business interests of the country could not accept a President whose financial policy was expressed in the single sentence, “The way to resume is to resume,” referring, of course, to the resumption of specie payments, then the most vital issue. There were a number of prominent Democrats at the convention as spectators, and I was surprised to learn before midnight that many of them had decided to favor the nomination of the Cincinnati ticket by the Democratic convention.
The Democrats of Tennessee led off for the endorsement of Greeley by the Democratic National Convention, as did a number of other States, but it was not until the Democratic State Convention of Indiana met and nominated Hendricks for Governor, with a positive declaration in favor of supporting the Liberal Republican national ticket, that the position of the Democratic party was finally determined. After the bold attitude assumed by Hendricks, the Democratic dispute as to the policy of the party practically ended. It was very generally accepted that the only chance the Democrats had was to fall in as part of the Liberal Republican procession.
The Republican National Convention met in Philadelphia on the 5th of June, and as all the disturbing anti-administration elements had been eliminated by the organization of the Liberal Republicans, there was entire harmony in the renomination of General Grant. Morton McMichael, of Pennsylvania, was temporary chairman, and Judge Settle, of North Carolina, permanent presiding officer. The nomination of Grant was made by acclamation and with great enthusiasm, but there was a spirited and, indeed, a desperate contest for the Vice-Presidency. Colfax had been in ill-health some months before the meeting of the convention, and publicly announced his purpose not to be a candidate for re-election. Until then he had been an almost universal favorite with the newspaper correspondents of Washington, who had then become a very formidable political power, but after the announcement of his retirement his fellowship with them gradually diminished, and when later he announced that, notwithstanding his public declination, he would be a candidate for renomination, the Washington newspaper men organized and made an aggressive battle against him. It is not disputed that they accomplished his defeat, as Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, was nominated on the 1st ballot, receiving 364¹⁄₂ votes to 321¹⁄₂ for Colfax.
The campaign literature of this contest presented the singular fact that neither of the Republican candidates for the two highest offices of the Government bore his own proper name. Grant’s name was Hiram Ulysses, but when he was appointed a cadet to West Point he was erroneously entered as Ulysses S. Grant, and he accepted that name until his death. Another campaign story told how Henry Wilson’s true name was Jeremiah Colbath, and that when known as the “Natick Cobbler” he studied night and day to advance himself. He was very much charmed with the eloquence of Representative Wilson, of New Hampshire, and he finally adopted the name of Henry Wilson, by which he was known throughout his entire public career. The following platform was unanimously adopted:
The Republican party of the United States, assembled in national convention in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th and 6th days of June, 1872, again declares its faith, appeals to its history, and announces its position upon the questions before the country.
During eleven years of supremacy it has accepted with grand courage the solemn duties of the time. It suppressed a gigantic rebellion, emancipated four millions of slaves, decreed the equal citizenship of all, and established universal suffrage. Exhibiting unparalleled magnanimity, it criminally punished no man for political offences, and warmly welcomed all who proved loyalty by obeying the laws and dealing justly with their neighbors. It has steadily decreased with firm hand the resultant disorders of a great war, and initiated a wise and humane policy toward the Indians. The Pacific Railroad and similar vast enterprises have been generously aided and successfully conducted, the public lands freely given to actual settlers, immigration protected and encouraged, and a full acknowledgment of the naturalized citizens’ rights secured from European powers. A uniform national currency has been provided, repudiation frowned down, the national credit sustained under the most extraordinary burdens, and new bonds negotiated at lower rates. The revenues have been carefully collected and honestly applied. Despite annual large reductions of the rates of taxation, the public debt has been reduced during General Grant’s Presidency at the rate of a hundred millions a year. Great financial crises have been avoided, and peace and plenty prevail throughout the land. Menacing foreign difficulties have been peacefully and honorably composed, and the honor and power of the nation kept in high respect throughout the world. This glorious record of the past is the party’s best pledge for the future. We believe the people will not intrust the Government to any party or combination of men composed chiefly of those who have resisted every step of this beneficent progress.
2. The recent amendments to the national Constitution should be cordially sustained because they are right, not merely tolerated because they are law, and should be carried out according to their spirit by appropriate legislation, the enforcement of which can safely be intrusted only to the party that secured these amendments.
3. Complete liberty and exact equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political, and public rights should be established and effectually maintained throughout the Union by efficient and appropriate State and Federal legislation. Neither the law nor its administration should admit any discrimination in respect of citizens by reason of race, creed, color, or previous condition of servitude.
4. The National Government should seek to maintain honorable peace with all nations, protecting its citizens everywhere, and sympathizing with all peoples who strive for greater liberty.
5. Any system of the civil service under which the subordinate positions of the Government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally demoralizing, and we therefore favor a reform of the system by laws which shall abolish the evils of patronage and make honesty, efficiency, and fidelity the essential qualifications for public positions, without practically creating a life-tenure of office.
6. We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national domain be set apart for free homes for the people.
7. The annual revenue, after paying current expenditures, pensions, and the interest on the public debt, should furnish a moderate balance for the reduction of the principal, and that revenue, except so much as may be derived from a tax upon tobacco and liquors, should be raised by duties upon importations, the details of which should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor, and promote the industries, prosperity, and growth of the whole country.
8. We hold in undying honor the soldiers and sailors whose valor saved the Union. Their pensions are a sacred debt of the nation, and the widows and orphans of those who died for their country are entitled to the care of a generous and grateful people. We favor such additional legislation as will extend the bounty of the Government to all soldiers and sailors who were honorably discharged, and who, in the line of duty, became disabled, without regard to the length of service or cause of such discharge.
9. The doctrine of Great Britain and other European powers concerning allegiance—“Once a subject always a subject”—having at last, through the efforts of the Republican party, been abandoned, and the American idea of the individual right to transfer allegiance having been accepted by European nations, it is the duty of our Government to guard with jealous care the rights of adopted citizens against the assumption of unauthorized claims by their former governments, and we urge continued careful encouragement and protection of voluntary immigration.
10. The franking privilege ought to be abolished, and the way prepared for a speedy reduction in the rates of postage.
11. Among the questions which press for attention is that which concerns the relations of capital and labor, and the Republican party recognizes the duty of so shaping legislation as to secure full protection and the amplest field for capital, and for labor, the creator of capital, the largest opportunities and a just share of the mutual profits of these two great servants of civilization.
12. We hold that Congress and the President have only fulfilled an imperative duty in their measures for the suppression of violent and treasonable organizations in certain lately rebellious regions, and for the protection of the ballot-box; and therefore they are entitled to the thanks of the nation.
13. We denounce repudiation of the public debt, in any form or disguise, as a national crime. We witness with pride the reduction of the principal of the debt, and of the rates of interest upon the balance, and confidently expect that our excellent national currency will be perfected by a speedy resumption of specie payment.
14. The Republican party is mindful of its obligations to the loyal women of America for their noble devotion to the cause of freedom. Their admission to wider spheres of usefulness is viewed with satisfaction; and the honest demand of any class of citizens for additional rights should be treated with respectful consideration.
15. We heartily approve the action of Congress in extending amnesty to those lately in rebellion, and rejoice in the growth of peace and fraternal feeling throughout the land.
16. The Republican party proposes to respect the rights reserved by the people to themselves as carefully as the powers delegated by them to the States and to the Federal Government. It disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils by interference with the rights not surrendered by the people to either the State or the National Government.
17. It is the duty of the General Government to adopt such measures as may tend to encourage and restore American commerce and shipbuilding.
18. We believe that the modest patriotism, the earnest purpose, the sound judgment, the practical wisdom, the incorruptible integrity, and the illustrious services of Ulysses S. Grant have commended him to the heart of the American people, and with him at our head we start to-day upon a new march to victory.
19. Henry Wilson, nominated for the Vice-Presidency, known to the whole land from the early days of the great struggle for liberty as an indefatigable laborer in all campaigns, an incorruptible legislator, and representative man of American institutions, is worthy to associate with our great leader and share the honors which we pledge our best efforts to bestow upon them.
The Democratic National Convention met in Baltimore on the 9th of July. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, of Virginia, was the temporary president and ex-Senator James R. Doolittle, of Wisconsin, was permanent president. The Cincinnati Liberal Republican platform was reported by the committee without the change of a word. Senator Bayard, of Delaware, vigorously opposed it, but it was adopted by 670 to 62. A ballot was had for President, resulting as follows:
| Horace Greeley, New York | 686 |
| Jeremiah S. Black, Pennsylvania | 21 |
| Thos. F. Bayard, Delaware | 16 |
| Wm. S. Groesback, Ohio | 2 |
| Blank | 7 |
On the 1st ballot for Vice-President, B. Gratz Brown received 713 votes to 6 for John W. Stevenson, of Kentucky, and 13 blank. The nominations were then made unanimous. It was one of the most harmonious conventions that I ever witnessed, and there was very general and absolute confidence felt that the Democrats and Liberals united could sweep the country and elect Greeley to the Presidency.
There were few among the Democratic leaders who openly and determinedly dissented. In point of fact the Democratic leaders were quite sufficiently united on Greeley to have given him the victory, but the rank and file refused to follow, as was proved by the State elections, all of which showed that the Democrats lost more of their following than the Republicans gave them from the Liberal ranks.
It was not until September 3d that the Democratic opposition to Greeley took form, when a national convention was held at Louisville, Ky., and nominated Charles O’Conor, of New York, for President and John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President without the formality of a ballot. Adams had agreed to accept the nomination if O’Conor stood at the head of the ticket, but O’Conor promptly and peremptorily declined, after which Mr. Lyon, president of the convention, was nominated for President, but he also declined. The nomination for President was then tendered to Mr. Adams, but he refused, and finally the convention renominated O’Conor, and adjourned without inquiring whether the candidates would stand or decline. The following is the platform adopted by the Democratic dissenters:
Whereas, A frequent recurrence to first principles, and eternal vigilance against abuses, are the wisest provisions for liberty, which is the source of progress, and fidelity to our constitutional system is the only protection for either; therefore,
Resolved, That the original basis of our whole political structure is a consent in every part thereof. The people of each State voluntarily created their State, and the States voluntarily formed the Union; and each State has provided, by its written Constitution, for everything a State should do for the protection of life, liberty, and property within it; and each State, jointly with the others, provided a Federal Union for foreign and inter-State relations.
Resolved, That all government powers, whether State or Federal, are trust powers coming from the people of each State; and that they are limited to the written letter of the Constitution and the laws passed in pursuance of it, which powers must be exercised in the utmost good faith, the Constitution itself providing in what manner they may be altered and amended.
Resolved, That the interests of labor and capital should not be permitted to conflict, but should be harmonized by judicious legislation. While such a conflict continues, labor, which is the parent of wealth, is entitled to paramount consideration.
Resolved, That we proclaim to the world that principle is to be preferred to power; that the Democratic party is held together by the cohesion of time-honored principles which they will never surrender in exchange for all the offices which presidents can confer. The pangs of the minorities are doubtless excruciating; but we welcome an eternal minority under the banner inscribed with our principles rather than an almighty and everlasting majority purchased by their abandonment.
Resolved, That, having been betrayed at Baltimore into a false creed and a false leadership by the convention, we repudiate both, and appeal to the people to approve our platform, and to rally to the polls and support the true platform, and the candidates who embody it.
Resolved, That we are opposed to giving public lands to corporations, and favor their disposal to actual settlers only.
Resolved, That we favor a judicious tariff for revenue purposes only, and that we are unalterably opposed to class legislation which enriches a few at the expense of the many under the plea of protection.
The campaign was a very earnest one, but after the Greeley tide had struck its ebb in the North Carolina election in August, the battle was a hopeless one for Greeley, and he was defeated by a very large majority. The following table gives the popular vote:
| STATES. | Grant. | Greeley. | O’Conor. | Black. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | 61,422 | 29,087 | —— | —— |
| New Hampshire | 37,168 | 31,424 | 100 | 200 |
| Vermont | 41,481 | 10,927 | 593 | —— |
| Massachusetts | 133,472 | 59,260 | —— | —— |
| Rhode Island | 13,665 | 5,329 | —— | —— |
| Connecticut | 50,638 | 45,880 | 204 | 206 |
| New York | 440,736 | 387,281 | 1,454 | 201 |
| New Jersey | 91,656 | 76,456 | 630 | —— |
| Pennsylvania | 349,589 | 212,041 | —— | 1,630 |
| Delaware | 11,115 | 10,206 | 487 | —— |
| Maryland | 66,760 | 67,687 | 19 | —— |
| Virginia | 93,468 | 91,654 | 42 | —— |
| West Virginia | 32,315 | 29,451 | 600 | —— |
| North Carolina | 94,769 | 70,094 | —— | —— |
| South Carolina | 72,290 | 22,703 | 187 | —— |
| Georgia | 62,550 | 76,356 | 4,000 | —— |
| Florida | 17,763 | 15,427 | —— | —— |
| Alabama | 90,272 | 79,444 | —— | —— |
| Mississippi | 82,175 | 47,288 | —— | —— |
| Louisiana[22] | 71,663 | 57,029 | —— | —— |
| Louisiana[23] | 59,975 | 66,467 | —— | —— |
| Texas | 47,468 | 66,546 | 2,580 | —— |
| Arkansas | 41,373 | 37,927 | —— | —— |
| Missouri | 119,196 | 151,434 | 2,439 | —— |
| Tennessee | 85,655 | 94,391 | —— | —— |
| Kentucky | 88,766 | 99,995 | 2,374 | —— |
| Ohio | 281,852 | 244,321 | 1,163 | 2,100 |
| Michigan | 138,455 | 78,355 | 2,861 | 1,271 |
| Indiana | 186,147 | 163,632 | 1,417 | —— |
| Illinois | 241,944 | 184,938 | 3,058 | —— |
| Wisconsin | 104,997 | 86,477 | 834 | —— |
| Minnesota | 55,117 | 34,423 | —— | —— |
| Iowa | 131,566 | 71,196 | 2,221 | —— |
| Nebraska | 18,329 | 7,812 | —— | —— |
| Kansas | 67,048 | 32,970 | 596 | —— |
| Nevada | 8,413 | 6,236 | —— | —— |
| California | 54,020 | 40,718 | 1,068 | —— |
| Oregon | 11,819 | 7,730 | 572 | —— |
| Totals | 3,597,132 | 2,834,125 | 29,489 | 5,608 |
I find that many tables of the popular vote are discordant, and I have accepted the table prepared by Mr. Stanwood as he presented it. The Louisiana dispute arose from two returning boards. Governor Warmouth, who was, by virtue of his office, the head of the returning board, had supported Greeley, and the dispute led to two returning boards, each of which made a different return of the official vote of the State, one giving it to Greeley and the other to Grant. Mr. Greeley died soon after the election and before the electoral colleges met, and the minority electors, who had been chosen for Greeley, were entirely at sea, as will be seen by the following table of the electoral vote as returned to Congress. There were many quibbles raised in the joint convention of the two houses in counting and declaring the vote. Mr. Hoar, of Massachusetts, objected to the Georgia votes cast for Greeley because he was dead at the time, and various other technical objections were made, but the table I give shows the vote as it was accepted:
| STATES. | President. | Vice-President. | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulysses S. Grant, Ill. | Thomas A. Hendricks, Ind. | B. Gratz Brown, Mo. | Horace Greeley, N. Y. | Charles J. Jenkins, Ga. | David Davis, Ill. | Henry Wilson, Mass. | B. Gratz Brown, Mo. | George W. Julian, Ind. | Alfred H. Colquitt, Ga. | John M. Palmer, Ill. | Thomas E. Bramlette, Ky. | Nathaniel P. Banks, Mass. | William S. Groesbeck, O. | Willis B. Machen, Ky. | |
| Maine | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Vermont | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Massachusetts | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New York | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Jersey | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pennsylvania | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Delaware | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maryland | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Virginia | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Carolina | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Carolina | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Georgia | — | — | 6 | 3[24] | 2 | — | — | 5 | — | 5 | — | — | 1 | — | — |
| Florida | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alabama | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mississippi | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | 8[24] | — | — | — | — | — | 8[24] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Louisiana | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8[24] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Texas | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | 6[24] | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6[24] | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| Missouri | — | 6 | 8 | — | — | 1 | — | 6 | 5 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| Tennessee | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kentucky | — | 8 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 8 | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | 1 |
| Ohio | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Michigan | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Indiana | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Illinois | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wisconsin | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Minnesota | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Iowa | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kansas | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nevada | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| California | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Oregon | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total (as declared) | 286 | 42 | 18 | — | 2 | 1 | 286 | 47 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
From the time that Greeley was nominated in May, until probably a month after the meeting of the Democratic convention in July, everything pointed to his triumphant election. Leading men of the party were daily announcing themselves as his supporters, and a tidal wave that would sweep Greeley into the Presidency seemed certain. But in August the great business interests of the country, then rocked in the tempest of inflation created by the war, became appalled at the prospect of the election of Greeley, whose financial and business policy would be but an experiment. All knew that the business of the country was dangerously inflated, and that disaster must come sooner or later, but they felt that it would be delayed by the re-election of Grant, and in the brief period of one month the Greeley tide began its ebb, which doomed him to a most humiliating defeat. Had David Davis been the candidate there would have been no such apprehension in business and monetary circles, and I have never doubted that he would have been elected as the logical successor of Abraham Lincoln.
Although I had opposed the nomination of Greeley, he well understood that it was solely because I felt that I was thus a better friend to him than he was to himself, and I devoted my time to tireless effort to give him success. Outside his editorial duties, in which he was a master of masters, he was as guileless and unsophisticated as a child, and even his closest friends trembled when they regarded his election to the Presidency as more than probable. About the 1st of August, before the revulsion had become visible, I was sent for by Waldo Hutchings to meet the friends of Greeley in conference at the Astor House. Among those present were Mr. Hutchings, Whitelaw Reid, ex-Congressman Cochran, and several others, and they informed me that I had been sent for to call upon Greeley and earnestly admonish him against making any pledges or promises whatever, before the election, as to his Cabinet appointments. They said that if elected President his safety would be in having about him an able, faithful and discreet Cabinet, and they feared that in the kindness of his heart he would become complicated with those who sought to importune him for preferment. In order to keep him from visitors he was then hidden away in a private upstairs room in Brooklyn, where I was directed to call on my mission.
I never saw a happier face than that of Greeley when I met him, as he was then entirely confident of success, and in a very kind and facetious way he reminded me that I had underestimated his strength with the people. When opportunity came in the conversation I suggested to him that a man who was elected President by a combination of opposing political interests would have very grave and complicated duties to perform, and that he should especially avoid any Cabinet complications. With the simplicity and confidence of a child his answer was: “Don’t misunderstand me; you ought to know that I would appoint no Cabinet officer from your section without your approval.” He was surprised to find that I was not there to obtain promises, but to warn him against the peril of saying to others just what he had said to me, and after reviewing the conditions he agreed that his only safety was in avoiding all obligations relating to appointments until the duty confronted him.
He asked me to go to North Carolina and give a week to the campaign in that State, and to that I agreed, although I was in charge of the Pennsylvania battle. That was the last time that I saw Horace Greeley. After the disastrous elections of October, which clearly foreshadowed his defeat, he made New England and Western tours, and delivered speeches which well compare with the grandest utterances of our best statesmanship. But the tide against him was resistless, and while nursing a dying wife and worn out by his ceaseless offices of affection, the blow came that clouded one of the noblest, purest, and ablest of the great men of the land.
On the last day that he put pen to paper he wrote me a brief letter saying that he was “a man of many sorrows,” but that he “could not forget the gallant though luckless struggle” I had made in his behalf. Broken in health, bereaved in his affections, and disappointed in his greatest ambition, his reason toppled from its throne and he died an inmate of an asylum. The two chieftains of the political contest of 1872 were brought together soon after the victor and vanquished were declared, as President Grant stood at the tomb of Horace Greeley to pay the last tribute of himself and the nation to the fallen philanthropist.