POLITICS OF THE GUILDED AGE
Mark Twain coined the term “The Guilded Age” to refer to the period between 1875 and 1900. This is not a positive image of the era; it implies a thin layer of gold (symbolizing prosperity) covering all of the problems of the era, including grinding poverty in the time of incredible wealth and political corruption on a wide scale.
The irony of political life in this period was that many Americans were deeply involved in political activity. Large numbers of Americans were involved in party politics; nearly 75 percent of all registered voters voted in the presidential elections of the era, far more than have voted in any recent presidential election. Yet at the same time, much of the political activity at the time was at a superficial level. Few elections of the era had two candidates who differed radically on the issues; most campaigns revolved around different personalities and not around issues. One observer noted that the American politicians of the period were the most “thoroughly ordinary” political leaders in the history of the United States. On top of all this, there was more corruption in the American political system during this period than in any other period of the nineteenth century.
During the 1870s Congress exerted a greater power than the executive branch. This was largely caused by the weak Republican presidents that followed Abraham Lincoln (Andrew Johnson and U.S. Grant). It was during this period that the some reformers began to point out the evils of the spoils system to the American public. This system, which had been begun by Andrew Jackson, allowed the victorious party in any election to reward their loyal supporters by giving them government jobs.
The lack of controversy or debate on issues during this period was partially because Republicans and Democrats each had roughly the same amount of support. As a result, neither party could risk alienating or turning away anyone from their party ranks. One way to do this was not to talk about real issues. Republicans support from bankers, industrialists, and farmers was balanced by Democratic support from immigrants (those who could vote), laborers, and farmers (especially from the West). Democrats of this era (as well as Democrats of today) have always made the claim that their party represents “the people."
President Rutherford B. Hayes, the successor to Grant, did make an attempt to reform the spoils system. After he won the election of 1876, Hayes refused to use the spoils system when he named officials for his new administration, and he removed some individuals from government positions who had been appointed to their position by patronage, including Chester A. Arthur in New York, a future president.
What to do about the spoils system was an important issue in the 1880, with Republicans themselves being divided on what to do with it. James Garfield, a congressman from Ohio, suggested that the system be reformed. Garfield was not a strong campaigner but emerged victorious in the presidential election, becoming the fourth consecutive Republican president. Garfield, ironically, was assassinated in July 1881 by a man who was outraged because he was passed over on a job that he thought he should get through the spoils system.
After Garfield’s assassination, many major newspapers and some politicians began to call for a thorough reform of the spoils system. Garfield’s successor, Chester A. Arthur, urged Congress to pass legislation to that effect. The result was the Pendleton Civil Service Act, which went into effect in 1883. This act created a Civil Service Commission, which would test applicants and ensure that government jobs were given to those who were qualified to get them. The legislation also stated that government officials couldn’t be required to contribute to political campaigns (a practice that had been relatively commonplace). As a result, a professional bureaucracy began to be created in both the legislative and executive branches. Aides to cabinet members and congressmen became indispensable to the operations of government. Some at the time suggested that this professional bureaucracy was important because it couldn’t be voted out office by the “rabble” who were increasingly being given the vote. As any observer of the American political system knows, however, the reforms of this era did not end corruption as a major influence on the system.
Perhaps the best example of politics focusing on the individual and not the issues was the presidential election of 1884. The regulation of business deserved serious discussion, as did the government’s tariff policies (a fiercely debated topic at local political meetings across the nation), yet the campaign largely centered around whether Republican James Blaine had when he was a congressman accepted free railroad stock while voting to support bills favorable to the railroad industry. The second most important issue of the campaign was whether Grover Cleveland had fathered a child before he was married. When all was finished, Cleveland became the first Democrat since 1856 to be elected president.
The issue of tariffs remained a major one throughout the 1880s and into the 1890s, with Eastern business interests leading the charge for higher tariffs. As discussed in the previous chapter, a major depression began in 1893. Millions of Americans lost their jobs. Standard economic and government policy of the time was that it was not the job of the federal government to intervene. A Populist from Ohio named Jacob Coxey led a group of unemployed workers to Washington in 1894 and demanded that the government assist the unemployed of America. Coxey’s Army did little to affect government policy in Washington, although it did demonstrate the distress felt by unemployed Americans.
The policies of the Populists in the 1890s and William Jennings Bryan and his defeat at the hands of William McKinley were discussed in Chapter 13. McKinley’s rout of Bryan in the 1896 election signaled a major shift in American politics. As previously stated, both parties were nearly similar in strength for much of the period discussed in this chapter. The 1896 election ended this. The 1896 election cast the Republicans as a truly national party (Bryan’s support was largely sectional). Republicans could claim they were the party of prosperity: Nearly as soon as they were elected, the effects of the depression began to end (a part of this was luck; gold was discovered in parts of Alaska in late 1892, thus increasing the national money supply). Republican domination of politics at the national level filtered down to the state and local levels as well. As a result, many local races were no longer close (in an increasing number Democrats even failed to challenge Republicans in a number of races). One result of this was a striking decrease in political participation and voting by supporters of both major parties. Some historians also argue that William McKinley was the first “modern” president, in that he amassed a large amount of power in the office of the presidency.
Political life in many of the major industrial cities was controlled by political machines. These political organizations were designed to keep a certain party, or in many cases a certain individual, in power. Favors, jobs, and in some cases money were promised to voters in return for political support. Many machines used the support of immigrants to remain in power, as newly arrived immigrants were often eager to receive the types of help that political machines could give them. Some machines did make positive reforms in local services and education. The most famous machine existed in New York City, where William Marcy Tweed (“Boss” Tweed) ran New York City through the political club located at Tammany Hall beginning in 1870. Tweed and his associates bilked the city treasury out of millions of dollars. The famous political cartoons of Thomas Nast helped to bring Tweed down and send him to jail, although Tammany Hall ran the politics of New York City for nearly 50 years.