A House United: America in the Civil War and Beyond

The 1878 mid-term elections proved a mixed blessing for the Democrats. The legislatures of the increasingly ‘solid’ South ejected the last of their Republican Senators, bringing both parties equal in the upper chamber [1]. With Vice-President Hendricks’ deciding vote this gave the Democrats technical control for the first time in a generation. In the House of Representatives the party’s majority was slashed from 38 to 7. A lack of confidence in Tilden’s Administration combined with continued distrust towards the Republicans proved a boon for the Greenback Party who tripled their gains from 1876. These inroads combined with the success of prohibition in Kansas and the perceived lack of direction in both main parties was hailed as the arrival of the mythical third party in American politics. Nathaniel Farnsworth, Greenback congressman and de facto party leader thanks to an ailing Peter Cooper, had dominated newspaper coverage of the election, his fiery rhetoric uniting Western farmers and disenchanted Eastern radicals. Democrats and Republicans alike assessed this new threat. Reading the results of the election Tilden was less interested in the drama of the Greenback insurgency than the composition of the Congressional Democratic Party.

The lion’s share of Democratic losses in the House had come in Northern districts while there had actually been several gains in the South, all by young populists driven more by economics than race. Nonetheless it was a blow to the President’s Bourbon faction, the consequences of which quickly emerged. Samuel J. Randall, the sitting Speaker of the House and a prominent Tilden ally was up for re-election. Well respected for his incorruptibility and overseeing a Democratic majority, the vote was expected to be a simple formality. It came as a surprise then when Joseph Blackburn of Arkansas, elder statesman of the populist wing, put himself forward for his party’s nomination. Randall was personally unpopular with Southern Democrats due to what was seen as his slavish support for Tilden during the Amendment dispute and his hard money position at a time when debt-ridden cotton farmers were increasingly advocating an inflationary ‘free silver’ policy [2]. Such views were not universal amongst southern congressmen but the deciding faction, the formerly Rejecter conservatives, conceded to a favourite son candidate over Randall who lost with 69 votes to 86. Blackburn promptly won the all-House vote in March against his Republican opponent James Garfield, a man he had faced in battle fifteen years prior.

Though Randall graciously accepted his ousting it further undermined Tilden’s authority in the eyes of the nation. Amongst the President’s backers in East Coast financial circles the ‘Dixie coup’ was cause for concern. News of the result triggered a flutter on the still-delicate New York Stock Exchange. The joke quickly spread that Tilden had pulled off the impressive feat of being the first lame duck president to control both Houses of Congress. That the new Speaker was a Confederate veteran also raised a few eyebrows. Some cheered the appointment as a sign of national reconciliation while others mourned it as the end of the post-war dream envisioned by President Lincoln, who had died just several weeks earlier [3]. As Tilden rode out the storm from Blackburn's victory, the two years-long Gaston Committee presented its findings in April 1879. Established under Secretary of War William Gaston in the days immediately following the President’s inauguration, the committee had been charged with investigating the Army’s middling performance in the Mexican War. A shortage of experienced junior officers, poor use of artillery and a general lack of strategic coordination were all blamed for pyrrhic victories at Monterrey and elsewhere.

The committee quickly ballooned into a total deconstruction of the nation’s military organisation. Captain Howard Gilman, a U.S Army observer during the Franco-Prussian War testified that American troops “would be, no matter their heart or drive, swept aside” if they faced a European foe. The statement outraged many and though Gilman referred to the German Army to which he had been attached it was taken broadly by the Gaston Committee and the press to include more likely foes like Spain and the British Empire. General Sheridan, the highest ranking soldier in the country, also appeared before the group. Sheridan echoed Gilman’s concerns. He noted that the Union had won the Civil War primarily through advantages in numbers and industry, advantages France had also held in 1873. Yet, he continued, strategic superiority and a well-educated officer corps had seen Berlin victorious before attrition could become a factor. Following a scare over possible Spanish intervention in Cuba in January 1878 the committee had also begun to discuss the state of the U.S Navy. Where the Army had been deemed inefficient the Navy was deemed incapable. After 1863 all warship construction had effectively stopped and in the economic hardships following the Panama scandal budgets had been cut to the bone.

Despite an on-paper fleet of 33 capital ships almost half were effectively unmanned, rotting away in port. America completely lacked in ironclads save coastal monitors, leaving oceanic duties to wooden ships of the line [4]. The committee’s final report called for radical measures to reform the United States military with the establishment of a permanent General Staff, ‘prussification’ of the officer corps and a major ship-building campaign. The findings triggered a national panic over the perceived defencelessness of the United States. Local militias swelled with volunteers. Pennsylvania Governor Henry Hoyt, perhaps taking Captain Gilman’s testimony at little too literally, called on German immigrants to provide Teutonic discipline to the State Guard. Previously a European peculiarity, the Gaston Committee also helped bring the invasion novel to American public awareness. Uncle Sam’s Boys, written by Irving Hancock, depicted a British invasion of New England in which iron warships and hoards of Indian soldiers ravaged the region before being defeated by bands of young partisans, the eponymous heroes [5]. The book sold fifty thousand copies in 1880 alone. Hancock quickly followed up the success with numerous sequels while imitators provided tales of incursion by everyone from Prussians to Mole Men to the Chinese. The latter are particularly noteworthy for this period.

A weak economy, insecurities over defence and a growing popular disdain towards land grabs by railroad companies had coalesced into a nativist backlash against Asian immigration. One of the last actions of the Lincoln Administration had been the signing of the 1868 Burlingame Treaty with the Qing Empire, which guaranteed reciprocal fair treatment of citizens in the other’s lands, freedom of religion and most favoured nation status in areas of commerce [6]. As the great railroad boom had gotten underway in the 1860s, a labour shortage had arisen throughout the sparsely populated Western territories of America, driving up the wages of workers both white and black. Companies quickly took advantage of the Burlingame statutes to bring in thousands of Chinese labourers who would work for substantially lower pay. Though state laws, particularly in California, were brought in to limit immigration it continued through the 1870s with many, now joined by their families, settling along the West Coast. San Francisco, the centre of the Chinese-American community, saw the rise of the Workingmen’s Party led by Denis Kearney. Blaming the Chinese for low wages and commercial competition for white shopkeepers, the party encouraged nativist protests and even violence. Such actions were not universally welcome however, with Kearney being derided in the Eastern press and even being offered a duel by civil rights activist Wong Chin Foo [7].


The Workingmen’s Party were nonetheless popular within San Francisco, severely increasing racial tensions. In the summer of 1879 disputes over businesses operating outside of Chinatown saw violence and finally a full-blown riot in June, leading to dozens of dead and injured. The incident sparked Congressional interest with California Senator Newton Booth leading the call for the total barring of Chinese immigration. The issue went beyond party line with the Republican Booth allying with a Democrat, Theodore Randolph, to influence both sides of the chamber. In the House Representative Henry W. Blair led the charge, using apocalyptic language to warn of the “oriental threat” [8]. The measure soon gained momentum and by late July the Chinese Exclusion Bill was before Congress. President Tilden had little interest in the panic and was certainly no fan of Kearney during his New York speaking tours. Nonetheless he knew a bandwagon when he saw one. Attempting to build bridges with the Southern Democrats he helped alter the bill to ensure current residents would not be repatriated. This was a particular concern for Texas and Louisiana as Chinese labour was still being used to construct the Southern Pacific Railroad, connecting New Orleans to Los Angeles.

The bill passed in August, closing the door to Chinese immigration. Ironically after the troubles of the past two years Chinese Exclusion proved the first popular measure directly associated with the President [9]. Tilden continued to rebuild his reputation by ordering a major recruitment campaign for the Navy and the building of five new ironclad warships that autumn. The ships, dubbed the Salacia-class [10], proved an odd combination of old and new, primarily for budgetary reasons. Several were built on top of keels abandoned in the 1860s, leading the class to retain the low monitor-like hull of its coastal predecessors. Though clearly unsuitable for oceanic travel, the cash-strapped Naval Department insisted they would operate fine in the Caribbean, their intended theatre of operations. This structure necessitated the use of two fully-rotating turrets for armament, at that time a cutting edge design for capital ships. Combined with the four 12-inch guns housed within them, the Salacia-class on launch were the most heavily armed-ironclads in the Americas. However with their outdated hulls, cramped interiors and slow speeds they were quickly christened the ‘ugly ducklings’ by the press. It was perhaps a suitable name as their construction, spread out amongst the East Coast shipyards, was effectively a learning exercise that would pave the way for the modern American navy.

“Mr. Tilden is an ill-starred man” wrote the New York Post in September 1879 and so it was that the President would once again do battle with Congress before the year was out. The Silverites, both in the Democratic and Republican caucuses, had begun to coalesce around Speaker Blackburn following his appointment. The Greenbacks too had become emboldened and Farnsworth put forward a motion calling for full fiat currency. Unsurprisingly, aside from his eleven party colleagues, the House shouted it down. Ever a canny parliamentarian Farnsworth intended it as mere bait, and as the Representatives were heatedly discussing general currency reform the debate moved quickly towards silver. Due to the still languishing economy sympathy for inflationary measures had been quietly growing in Congress. Richard Bland, a Missouri Democrat, put forward a bill calling for the Government to purchase several million dollars’ worth of silver from Western mines every month to inflate the money supply. There was uproar from Bourbon Democrats and Minority Leader Garfield was shocked to find many Republicans supporting the measure. Senator William Allison of Iowa led these primarily Western rebels in backing the measure and by December the now Bland-Allison Bill had been pushed through Congress.

The speed of events caught Tilden completely off-guard. Vice-President Hendricks had assured him he would influence the Senate to reject the radical proposal from the House. As such the President had spent most of the winter focused on foreign affairs with his Secretary of State John Appleton. Tilden was hosting King Kalakaua of Hawaii at the White House when word came of the Act’s passing. Amazingly at the time political news had been dominated by Appleton’s negotiations with Canada over Newfoundland fishing rights and journalists jumped at word of the surprise Silver Purchase Act. Tilden was mortified, as was much of his Cabinet. Treasury Secretary Bayard scolded Hendricks as “an incompetent oaf”. The President, having worked amiably with the House since the appointment debacle, felt betrayed by Blackburn who had used all of his influence to ram the legislation through Congress. In response Tilden immediately vetoed the Act. A tense meeting followed with the Speaker in which he made clear he would “veto this bill a thousand times” if it was necessary. As Washington demobbed for Christmas perhaps the President expected the issue to cool. In this as with many things Tilden would be disappointed.


[1] At this point Senators were not elected but appointed by state legislatures.
[2] Bimetallism: The policy of devaluing the dollar by bringing silver into the money supply; great for debtors but not so good for bankers, a key constituency of the Bourbon Democrats.
[3] Lincoln stayed well clear of politics after 1868. He achieved his life-long goal of visiting the Holy Lands in 1869 and died peacefully in his sleep shortly after his seventieth birthday.
[4] This is the in-game state of my fleet in the late 1870s. Numerically I was 11th, on par with Sweden.
[5] Cut out the happy ending and that’s basically all of my British games in Vicky II.
[6] Most favoured nation status has fallen out of use these days due to international free trade. The status basically guarantees you will never subject the other party to greater trade restrictions than any other party.
[7] Wong offered him his choice of weapons, “Chinese chopsticks or Irish potatoes” in reference to Kearney himself being an immigrant, hailing from County Cork. Wong seems to have been a pretty funny guy, writing plenty of satirical articles including one about God ratifying the Exclusion Act in heaven.
[8] IOTL Blair did such a good job that Beijing rejected him as an ambassador in the 1890s and barred him from entering the Empire on pain of death.
[9] But not universally popular. There is a vocal minority of liberals and businessmen annoyed not to mention the Chinese government as the law is a unilateral altering of the Burlingame Treaty. As the China in my game does not end up being the isolationist backwater of OTL this will have some interesting consequences.
[10] Roman goddess of saltwater. For some reason the U.S Navy used a lot of obscure Classical deities when naming their ships in this period.

GreatUberGeek said:

Randall needs to get the program. Incorruptibility and no facial hair? No wonder he lost!
why is a dearth of experienced junior officers bad, unless I don't understand something? :huh:
Yet more misfortune for Tilden, though. The Post is right.

Click to expand...

Dearth means 'lack of' to my knowledge. And yes more misfortune for Tilden. Actually given the echoes of Nixon in Clemens and Ford in Noyes, Tilden has become an unintentional Carter figure (even the years match up), the plucky young reformer whose abilities combined with social disturbances and a poor economy sadly cannot match his intentions. Actually there is a political cartoon about Tilden from the period entitled "Well at least I tried to do some good". Now if only I'd kept John Wilkes Booth alive and had him convert to a Republican ready to lead America to that shining city on the hill.

Question for everyone, do you like the 'squared' graphics in the latest update and the Congress election results? Even 12 pages in I'm still fiddling with presentation, I'd appreciate any input.

DensleyBlair: Thank you, I'm planning on creating some more of those GIMP maps you helped me with but my computer is so crappy its an extreme test in patience. Tilden is a little pathetic in the literal sense. Sadly not every POTUS can be a winner and a combination of in-game events and narrative flow have worked against him, its certainly no intended bias on my part but from what info I can get, IOTL he was a lot more sizzle than steak if you get my meaning.

Zorro: Thanks!

Sandino: Sweden indeed! I'm trying to mimic real life (taking account of alternate historical developments of course) and frankly the US Navy was poorly considered even in a period where the Army was the size of a scout's jamboree. The late 19th century is a fluid time for warships, up until Dreadnought the term ironclad was still used occasionally, and plenty of monitors were still being made. Ironically the first ships to resemble 20th century battleships were British coastal battery ships and were considered monitors (they were expected to just pop over the Channel and pound French ports) and as such were a niche class. However the idea of gun turrets, high hulls, and smoke stacks will begin to become common in the 1880s. On Tilden we'll come to analyze his leadership as we go on.

volksmarschall:

You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.

Click to expand...

All together now: Oh yes I will!

GreatUberGeek: Thank you, yes gotta love Wong. Bryan will appear but not just yet.

Dr. Gonzo: He will have to. He's gotten a bit more strong-willed now if only out of exasperation, we'll see. Beyond the Franco-Prussian War... nothing mind blowing like Communist Belgium or anything. I'll make sure to cover it.

Might do a 'World of 1880' post after the presidential election, is that something people might like? Or do you want to stay in the American bubble a little while longer?

If for nothing else President Tilden had been respected by Capitol Hill for his non-interventionist approach towards their dealings, a world away from the autocratic Clemens and even Lincoln during his push for moderate Reconstruction. His veto of the Silver Purchase Act changed this, causing serious resentment among members of Congress. Speaker Joseph Blackburn returned to Washington in early January 1880 and immediately began organising for the Act to be ratified once more and sent through to the White House. This was achieved with resounding speed but the composition of supporters had notably shifted. Republican minority leader James Garfield had marked the Silverite rebels in his party’s ranks and rounded on them with only Western Congressmen, the source of much of the nation’s silver, holding their nerve. Similar efforts were attempted by the Bourbon Democrats led by Samuel J. Randall but had little effect. The veto had riled Southern Democrats in particular who united around Blackburn more in the name of defiance than economics. Once more in March the President denied the Act. With the presidential nominations fast approaching there was growing concern over the Silverite stand-off.

Rebellious Democrats were looking to unseat Tilden at the upcoming national convention while the Republicans were hoping to discredit the President further as incumbent he was still a strong contender for the nomination. The opposition party were also fearful that regardless of Democratic infighting their own image had yet to be truly repaired in the eyes of the voters. To this end Senator Stanley Matthews of Ohio, who had stood loyal with Garfield during the previous votes, proposed an amendment to the Silver Purchase Act. It removed the ability of private individuals to put their own silver into the Federal Reserve, instead placing responsibility for purchasing from mining companies entirely under Government control, allowing them to dictate the amounts brought into the money supply. In practice this would allow a ‘sound money’ President to completely avoid silver purchasing. The amendment was agreed to by Blackburn as despite its weakness it would allow a future Silverite administration to act as there was growing interest amongst the rebels to install their own candidate at the approaching convention. The Republicans backed it purely as a snub to Tilden and in April the altered legislation once more passed through Congress this time with a supermajority in both Houses.

The supermajority denied Tilden the power of de jure veto. Technically Tilden could have blocked the Act still, simply by refusing to sign it into law, a de facto veto used liberally by Lincoln in the 1860s to block Radical motions. However Tilden assented, perhaps due to the Act’s moderation and perhaps to avoid continued infighting prior to the election. At the start of July the Democratic Party gathered in Cincinnati to nominate their candidates. There were endless whisperings regarding the President’s position. Rumours circulated he intended to stand down and that Blackburn would put himself forward, capturing the administration from the Bourbons. Given Tilden’s apparent weakness the sound money men were also looking for an alternative. Treasury Secretary Bayard had long been a fire breathing advocate of the gold standard and he had been a candidate in the previous three nominations, always attracting respectable support from the North-East. By the time the President had arrived at the Cincinnati Music Hall his supporters had confirmed his candidacy. Bayard in turn made his intentions public while to the surprise and disappointment of the Silverites, Blackburn refused to stand instead backing Tilden saying, “The Act is passed, now let us unite as a band of brothers and look upon each other kindly and favourably.” [1].

Blackburn’s turn split the Silverites. Many southerners followed the Speaker’s lead in the name of unity and fear of the militant Bayard. Delegates from the west and north however began coalescing around Senator Henry B. Payne of Ohio who was a known advocate of full blown silver standard. Bayard commanded well over 100 delegates in the first tally primarily from East Coast financial interests however he struggled to crack the New York bloc. Despite all of Tilden’s failings as President he had maintained his grip on the political machinery of his home state. Combined with loyalists and Blackburn’s support the President won the first vote. Payne and several ‘favourite son’ candidates however denied the two frontrunners a majority. Bayard in his efforts to round up more support made a deal with ‘Honest’ John Kelly, boss of the corrupt Tammany Hall machine and a bitter opponent of Tilden [2]. This ultimately proved a mistake. As word spread of the alliance many Bourbons returned to the President’s camp [3], with Kelly’s involvement simply highlighting Tilden’s strong track record in fighting the spoils system. The incumbent’s success was confirmed following a speech by the famed orator Daniel Dougherty, who electrified the crowd to the point the Music Hall reverberated with chants of “Tilden! Tilden!” [4]. One journalist wrote, “For fifteen minutes Tilden the Unready was recast as George Washington come-again, the audience roaring, hungry for the battle ahead”.

The Republican Convention in Chicago a month earlier had proven no less dramatic. The party leadership were anxious to pick a strong candidate to increase confidence in the Republicans and defeat Tilden. Much stock had been placed in Senator James Blaine, the voice of reformist “Half-Breeds” however amongst old Clementines, rechristened the party “Stalwarts”, he was considered a dangerous figure. His vocal sound money position was felt to alienate Western voters while other positions including renewed Federal intervention in black civil rights again seemed perfect for putting off certain sections of the electorate. Blaine was also not alone as a Half Breed nominee. The crotchety Senator George F. Edmunds and Senator John Sherman, a dour man known as the “Ohio Icicle” both put themselves forward as reformist candidates. The Stalwarts struggled to respond with former Governor Rutherford B. Hayes and Elihu B. Washburne, the former ambassador to France. A glut of candidates and no clear leader saw the votes dragged on for days with Blaine at the head of the pack but unable to swing others over to his camp, the totals almost unchanging for over thirty rounds.

With no end in sight Roscoe Conkling, the eminence grise of the Republican Party, began scheming. Working through his connections he quietly polled undecided delegates about a possible new entrant into the race. Following fairly favourable responses Conkling introduced his man, a former Governor and indeed a former President, Edward Noyes. After refusing to stand in 1876 Noyes had seen his tenure at the White House seriously re-evaluated. An established Clementine who had brought in civil service reforms and saved the Panama Canal project from total collapse, he was widely respected across the spectrum. He also had very little interest in the position. Noyes had effectively retired from party politics at the end of his term and had attended the Convention in the name of etiquette. Noyes fought Conkling’s suggestions but growing support and the continuing deadlock in the vote eventually convinced him to accept nomination. The impact was immediate with Noyes coming first just shy of a majority on the thirtieth tally with Blaine close behind. Edmunds, a friend of Noyes’ agreed to stand down while votes for Hayes and Washburne had migrated wholesale to the former President. Sherman, though a distant third, refused to relent. Finally on the thirty-third ballot after a deal in which Blaine was promised the State Department, Noyes won the presidential nomination, taking every vote with the exception of Sherman’s 23 diehard followers [5].


The campaign proved combative with claims of corruption and incompetence being levelled at both candidates. Republicans labelled Tilden a puppet of the South and compared him to President Buchanan while Noyes was presented as Cincinnatus, returning to correct the ship of state after Democratic misrule. The Democrats in turn attacked the former President’s past connections to Clemens and the Ohio party machine, while also claiming him an imperialist who would intervene in the growing Alsatian Crisis in Europe [6]. Noyes deflected the latter thanks to his running mate George F. Hoar, a fanatical isolationist. The former was more difficult however. Though Blaine was now campaigning on Noyes’ behalf it was clear the Stalwarts were in control, with depictions of Conkling as Noyes’ master appearing frequently in the Democratic press. When it came to personality politics however Tilden was clearly the more fragile. His term in office had been mixed at best with many viewing him as a weak leader. The economy remained poor leading to resurgence in support of protectionism, the tariff issue dominating debates up and down the country. Military expansion and the threat of war across the Atlantic also favoured the Republicans, with Noyes and Blaine providing a far more attractive alternative in foreign affairs to Tilden and his nonentity Secretary of State, John Appleton.

One issue notable by its absence was currency reform. For reasons of internal unity both major parties totally avoided discussion of precious metal, it being quietly agreed that the Silver Purchase Act was the new status quo. This silence also had the effect of depriving oxygen to the Greenback cause, with the third party struggling to get media attention during the campaign. Nathaniel Farnsworth led the Greenback ticket with fellow Congressman James Weaver of Iowa his running mate. The last four years had seen the party’s reputation grow encouraging financial support from progressive industrialists and farmers’ interest groups like the Grange. On the other hand the return of Noyes hindered grass root support, with much of the Greenback strength coming from disaffected Republicans who were now returning to the fold. When the results came in it proved a landslide for Noyes in the Electoral College. Tilden lost his home state, Kansas returned to Republican control and Democratic strongholds like Delaware fell to the opposition. Most shocking of all however was North Carolina. A strong Greenback showing, a biracial coalition of smallhold farmers and the urban vote in increasingly industrial Charlotte had helped to swing the state to Noyes by five thousand ballots [7].

In Congress the Republicans regained control of both chambers but with far less dramatic numbers. In the Senate the Democrats lost five members while in the House they lost forty-three providing the Republicans with a solid majority. The Greenbacks had made a slight increase in their national share of the vote but their number of Congressmen remained static at twelve while had failed to carry any states in the presidential race. Overall it was a humiliation for Tilden, with the level of defeat shocking Democrats after such an intense and evenly-matched campaign. Penetration of the ‘Solid South’ was particularly noted and certainly didn’t endear the President anymore to the region’s party leaders. In response state assemblies across the South began to take advantage of the Black Agreement to secure Democratic control. By 1884 thanks to redistricting, stuffed ballots and bribery North Carolina would prove a party stronghold for generations to come. Noyes was hailed an all-conquering hero in Republican circles despite his complete lack of involvement in the campaign. Per tradition he had stayed home. He had gone one further and avoided election coverage altogether, instead spending the autumn re-reading Chaucer. When he was informed of the results by Conkling he merely replied “good good”.

The final months of the Tilden Administration were dominated by projects that would not be finished until well into Noyes’ term. Following up on the Salacia-class, the Government agreed to the building of four cruisers, the Boston-class. Whereas the Salacias were designed with heavy firepower and regional projection in mind, the Bostons would be fast ocean-going ships capable of representing the United States across the entire globe. Tilden also green lit the Sheridan Committee in January 1881, which would oversee the details of restructuring in the US Army in everything from central administration to uniforms. Both packages would be expanded upon by the Republicans, unfairly handing President Noyes a reputation as the instigator of military reform rather than Tilden. Appleton oversaw several treaties in the run-up to March, granting the United States greater economic leverage within Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Blaine would build on these, concluding further agreements with Costa Rica, Haiti and Venezuela by the end of 1881 that had been prepared by the previous Administration. One project not so appreciated by the incoming government was the infamous Chicago World’s Fair of that year. Given half-hearted Federal backing during the height of the election campaign, partisan divisions at a state level and outright corruption amongst private contractors would see the international exposition collapse in disorganisation and poor attendance within weeks of Noyes’ inauguration. Thomas Nast, satirical cartoonist and ferocious critic of the outgoing President would quip the Fair “as fitting an end to the Tilden experiment as I could possibly conjure”.

[1] Blackburn was a vicious foe in Congress but he considered it ‘just business’ and despite his Silverite views was very much a Party man. The idea of standing against an incumbent Democratic president would have been unthinkable to him.
[2] Though a Gold Democrat, Bayard wasn’t Bourbon having risen up in the 1850s as a Mid-Atlantic conservative happy to make dodgy dealings both north and south.
[3] Bourbon Democrats as a rule were very tough on corruption, at least in theory. Its 1880 and they’re politicians, a little dip into the trough isn’t exactly out of the question.
[4] Dougherty was probably the finest public speaker of the age and if he spoke in favour of a candidate at the convention that candidate won.
[5] This was Sherman’s style IOTL too.
[6] More on this next episode.
[7] This is part history part game. NC is heavily Republican in my game and historically the state went Democrats continuously but usually by a percentage point or even less.

DensleyBlair: Yeah I was struggling with who to pick, Garfield just isn't likely and sadly Chester A. Arthur's and his fantastic whiskers are also a very unlikely pick. However I don't like Blaine and I'm not entirely sure why. I see it as the Republicans not fully recovered and turning to a man known for basic competence if nothing else.

volksmarschall: It is a little bizarre at least to an outsider that Ohio has so much influence in US politics but there you go.

Scrapknight: Well Clemens was a corrupt drunk and Noyes isn't so he's got that going for him. The Greenbacks certainly have potential but they require the Big 2 to become unpopular at the same time so they can get exposure in the press, I'm sure they're very happy they held the line in 1880, shows they have a solid support base no matter how small.

Dr. Gonzo: Ho ho ho. No, no Garfield I'm afraid, without the ennui of stale incumbency such a minor figure can't be catapulted forward IMO He's still a big player in Congress though and has risen to the Senate as IOTL so down the line he might have a chance. We'll be dealing with the Alsatian Crisis next, which gives me a chance to tell everyone whats going down in Europe and how it effects America.

Sandino: Yeah, to continue the modern comparisons he was very much Clegg. America is slowly coming out of her shell now so we'll see the nation interact more with her neighbours and the Great Powers from now on, in what form... have to wait and see.

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