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The
Republican Nomination
The presumptive presidential
nominee of the Republican Party in 1888 was its 1884
standard-bearer, James G. Blaine of Maine. The former
congressman, senator, and secretary of state was immensely
popular with the party’s rank-and-file and had lost the previous
contest against Cleveland by only a thin margin—essentially, the
electoral votes of New York. Blaine had also led the
charge against the president’s tariff message of December 1887,
a move viewed by many as a prelude to his candidacy. In
fact, Blaine had already decided not to seek the nomination
because of ill health, the emotional and financial toll of the
vitriolic 1884 campaign, and fear of dividing the party again.
Persistent rumors, though, forced Blaine to write two public
letters (in January and May 1888) explicitly disavowing the
intent to have his name placed in nomination. Still, the
possibility lingered in the minds of many that he would accept a
draft if the convention could not agree on a candidate.
Senator John
Sherman of Ohio, a former congressman and treasury secretary,
believed that 1888 would be his turn after losing the nomination
in 1880 and 1884. By mid-June he had achieved frontrunner
status by securing pledges from over half the number of
delegates needed for nomination, primarily from the South, his
home state, and parts of New England. However, much of the
support, even within Ohio, was soft, and Thomas C. Platt, the
state boss of New York Republicans, was adamantly opposed to
Sherman’s nomination.
Another major
contender was Walter Q. Gresham, a former Union brigadier
general who had served as postmaster general and treasury
secretary in the Arthur administration (1883-1884) before
appointment as a U.S. Circuit Court judge. His home state
of Indiana was an important swing state Republicans needed to
win, but the ardent civil service reformer was opposed by
Blaine, Platt, and Senator Matthew Quay, the party boss of
Pennsylvania. Leading favorite-son candidates included
Russell Alger, a former governor of Michigan, Senator William
Allison of Iowa, and Chauncey Depew of New York, president of
the New York Central Railroad.
The campaign
for Benjamin Harrison of Indiana had been initiated quietly but
early, at the end of his single Senate term in the winter of
1886-1887, by Wharton Barker, the Philadelphia banker who had
masterminded James Garfield’s surprise nomination in 1880, and
Louis Michener, the attorney general of Indiana. Although
Harrison had only minor political experience before reaching the
Senate, where his record was unimpressive, he was from a key
swing state and had name recognition as a Civil War hero and
grandson of President William Henry Harrison (1841).
By mid-1887,
Blaine and Stephen Elkins, a wealthy industrialist and party
leader, both indicated their approval of Harrison. Elkins
joined the former senator’s campaign management, allowing the
men to divide the territory for soliciting support.
Harrison’s team placed favorable editorials in newspapers,
distributed campaign literature, and downplayed Harrison’s
opposition to Chinese exclusion, while the candidate himself
delivered two well-covered speeches. The first important
victory came in April 1888 when the Harrison forces defeated
those of Gresham for control of the Indiana delegation to the
national convention.
When the
Republican National Convention opened in Chicago on June 19, the
crowded field of candidates meant that securing the nomination
would not be easy. Harrison’s men distributed literature
and encouraged delegates of other candidates to reserve him as
their second choice—an inoffensive but effective way to gain
support. On June 21, the delegates approved a platform
upholding protective tariffs; denouncing the Mills bill;
endorsing Chinese exclusion, statehood for several western
territories, bimetallism, and free schools; and criticizing the
Cleveland administration’s “inefficiency and cowardice” in its
alleged failure to enforce the Monroe Doctrine and back American
fishing rights.
When voting
began the next day, Sherman’s first-ballot tally of 229 was more
than twice that of his nearest challenger, Gresham (107), but
just over half the total needed to win the nomination.
Other candidates with sizable votes were Depew with 99, Harrison
85, Alger 84, and Allison 72, while 8 men not officially
nominated (including Blaine) shared the remaining 150 votes.
The second and third ballots saw the top tier all gain votes,
but Sherman’s candidacy was not showing sufficient momentum.
When Depew withdrew during the recess, Platt convinced most of
the New York delegation to back Harrison. The votes from
New York as well as Wisconsin propelled the former senator into
second place on the fourth and fifth ballots.
Sherman’s
strength then began eroding as southerners looked to Alger and
some fellow-Ohioans turned to Congressman William McKinley.
To end speculation of a Blaine draft, Elkins telegraphed Blaine
in Scotland and received a reply endorsing a ticket of Harrison
and William Walter Phelps, a longtime Blaine ally, as vice
president. Balloting resumed on Monday, June 25, with the
sixth ballot showing a slight gain for Harrison. The
switch of California and smaller delegations gave Harrison the
lead on the seventh ballot, and the votes of Iowa, Pennsylvania,
and four other states put him over the top, with 544 votes, on
the eighth ballot.
Phelps’s name
was placed in nomination for vice president, but despite
Blaine’s endorsement, the respect of the party, and his home in
the swing state of New Jersey, delegates selected Levi P. Morton
of New York—a banker and former congressman and diplomat—by a
five-to-one margin. Morton gave geographical balance to
the ticket like Phelps would have, but the financier also was
from a crucial electoral state, backed by the Platt machine, and
brought considerable personal wealth and fundraising ability to
the ticket.
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Warning
1860
