1868 Election: Grant (R) v. Seymour (D)
"Waving the Bloody Shirt " "Vote as you shot"
>Era of Good Stealings: Waste, Extravagance, Speculation, & Graft
Jim Fisk & Jay Gould tried to "corner" the gold market that led to "Black Friday" price of gold ^
Tweed ring in NYC led by "Boss" Tweed milked NYC for $200 Million
Credit Mobilier Scandal: RP Construction Company formed by the Union Pacific RR was hired to build the line, paying themselves $50,000 a mile for construction that cost only $30,000 a mile
Whiskey Ring robbed the Treasury of millions in excise-tax revenues
Secretary of War Belknap made $24,000 by selling the privilege of disbursing supplies to the Indians
1872- Liberal Republicans formed led by Horace Greedy > "Turn the rascals out" but Grant reelected
Politics in the Glided Age:
- Close elections, indecisive politicians
- Higher voter interest > 80% voter turnout
- Party Loyalists enjoyed successful political careers as a result of patronage and the Spoils system
> Republican infighting: "Stalwarts" led by Roscoe Conkling and the "Half-breeds" led by James Blaine
1876 Election: Hayes (R) v. Tilden (D)
> Compromise of 1877: Hayes became President in return for withdrawal of Federal troops from the South (reconstruction was over )
Labor unrest in the 1870's and 1880's > Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that outlawed Chinese immigration (until 1943)
1880 Election: Garfield (R) v. Hancock (D)
Garfield became the 2nd President to be assassinated (by a disappointed office seeker [spoilsman] Charles J. Guiteau) which led to demands for civil service reform
1883 - Pendleton Act required appointees to public office to take a competitive exam and set up the civil service commission
1884 Election: Blaine (R) v. Cleveland (D)
Cleveland elected thanks to the support of reform minded Republicans called "Mugwumps"
Cleveland as President: Believed in laissez-faire
Appointed two former Confederates to his cabinet
Vetoed increased pension funds for the G.A.R.
Proposed a tariff reduction
Retrieved 81 million acres of the public domain in the West
1888 Election: Harrison (R) v. Cleveland (D)
Major issue was Cleveland's proposal to lower the tariff
The "Forgettable Presidents" of the Glided Age:
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, & Harrison
The real center of political power was in Congress and talented men sought economic profits rather than political power