Presidential Election of 1884

The Democrats

The Democrats convened in Chicago on July 8, and had four major candidates to choose from. In addition to Cleveland, other Democratic hopefuls included Thomas F. Bayard, a senator from Delaware who had also sought the party's nomination in 1876 and 1880; Thomas A. Hendricks, a former senator (1863–69) and governor (1873–77) from Indiana who had been the Democratic Party's unsuccessful vice presidential candidate in 1876; and Congressman Samuel J. Randall of Pennsylvania, who had served as speaker of the House (1876–81) and had unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 1880. Ohio's Democrats also put forward Allen G. Thurman, a former U.S. senator from Ohio (1869–81), [Page 597]who had been a “favorite son” candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1876 and 1880.

Cleveland, the front-runner going into the convention, was opposed by Tammany Hall, the Democratic organization in New York City whose dominance he challenged as governor of the Empire State. Tammany supported Hendricks, and tried to rally support for his candidacy, to no avail. Cleveland was a leader of the Bourbon (conservative) faction of the party. Bourbon Democrats supported laissez-faire capitalism, opposed American overseas expansion, and supported the gold standard. The Bourbons also supported civil service reform (which had recently been implemented at the federal level with the passage of the Pendleton Act), and opposed urban political machines, which they believed to be corrupt. Following their selection of Cleveland, the convention selected Hendricks as the vice presidential candidate.

The Republicans

The Republican Party also held its convention in Chicago, from June 3 to June 6. The leading candidates were President Chester Alan Arthur, who had succeeded to the office following the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881; James G. Blaine, who had served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1863–76), served as its speaker, and then served five years in the Senate (1876–81) before serving briefly as secretary of state under Garfield and Arthur in 1881; and George E Edmunds, a U.S. senator from Vermont who was president pro tempore of the body and known as the sponsor of the 1882 Edmunds Act, which designated polygamy a felony and imposed other sanctions on polygamists, who were predominantly members of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in Utah Territory. A potential candidate was Civil War hero William Tecumseh Sherman, who had recently retired as commanding general of the U.S. Army. Sherman, who hated politics, and rejected the entreaties of Republicans, stating that, “If drafted, I will not run; if nominated I will not accept; if elected I will not serve.”

Blaine, who led throughout the convention, prevailed on the fourth ballot. The convention nominated U.S. Senator John A. Logan of Illinois, who had served in the Mexican War and as a Union General during the Civil War, for vice president. Logan was a member of the radical wing of the Republican Party and his strong following among members of the Grand Army of the Republic (an organization of Union Army Civil War veterans) was a major factor in his selection as Blaine's running mate.

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