Stalwart (politics)
|
Stalwarts
|
|
|---|---|
| Leader |
Ulysses S. Grant, Roscoe Conkling |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Dissolved | 1890 |
| Preceded by | Radical Republicans |
| Ideology | Radicalism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
The Stalwarts were a faction of the Republican Party that existed briefly in the United States during the 1870s, in the Gilded Age after Reconstruction.
Led by U.S. Senator Roscoe Conkling—also known as "Lord Roscoe"—Stalwarts were sometimes called Conklingites. Other notable Stalwarts include Chester A. Arthur and Thomas C. Platt, who were in favor of Ulysses S. Grant, the eighteenth President of the United States (1869–1877), running for a third term. They were the "traditional" Republicans who opposed Rutherford B. Hayes's civil service reform. They were pitted against the "Half-Breeds" (moderates) for control of the Republican Party. The only real issue between Stalwarts and Half-Breeds was patronage. The Half-Breeds worked to get civil service reform, and finally created the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. This was signed by Arthur, who became President after the assassination of James A. Garfield, a Half-Breed. Stalwarts favored traditional machine politics.
The Stalwarts are mostly identifiable through their support of the presidency and re-election of Ulysses S. Grant. The 1880 Republican national convention was the event in which the group participated most prominently. Of the Stalwarts present, most were from former Confederate states, with others being from New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, home to some prominent Republican leaders. Along with being mostly Southern, the Stalwarts have been profiled as more urban and less educated than non-Stalwart Republicans, placing them demographically closer to Democrats. Thus they competed with the Democrats for the same voters. They were therefore more cautious in policy than non-Stalwarts, preferring to avoid controversial policies popular with other Republicans, such as a higher tariff. This caution led the Stalwarts to support the nomination of Grant, a popular former President, at the 1880 Republican national convention.
...
Wikipedia