The Populists were formed mainly by farmers in the South and the West who were angry at the railroads for charging too much to move their products, as well as the banks that charged high interest rates on loans and politicians that didn't do anything to help them. Remember, it was the Republican Party that pushed for a transcontinental railroad in the 1850s and 1860s - hence one of the Populists big targets was the GOP.
The Populists made large in-roads in the 1892 election. "Their candidate for president received more than 1 million votes. Nationwide, they elected 1,500 candidates to state and local positions including three governors, five U. S. senators and ten members of the House." Cite. However, when the Populists joined forces with the Democrats in the 1896 election in an attempt to crush the GOP they failed miserably.
In fact, the Republican Party held onto the White House for the next 16 years with Presidents like William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.
McKinley, who won the White House in 1896, was a Civil War vet and lawyer who lived in Canton, Ohio. During his tenure as President he enacted the highest tariff ever seen in America at that time. He also sent troops to Cuba to fight the 100 Days War where the U.S. destroyed the Spanish fleet and occupied Puerto Rico. Soon after he annexed the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. A year after he won his second term he was assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt took over as President.
Teddy Roosevelt presided over a great era of change in U.S. history. Roosevelt was known as the "trust buster" because "he held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none." Cite. Consequently, the Sherman Act was enacted by Congress in an attempt to further Roosevelt's trust busting policies.
During Roosevelt's tenure the United States also became more involved in international politics, a decided break from the Founding Fathers' isolationist philosophy. This was in part due to the increased trade and interactions amongst the countries of the world due to new technologies in communication and transportation. Roosevelt also drafted U.S. foreign policy regarding its involvement in Latin America, which affects relationships with those countries to this day.
He was also a large fan of land conservation and increased national forest acreage exponentially in the West. So for all those tree huggers who say Republicans hate the environment, note that one of our Presidents created some of the national forests you protect today.
Note that most conservatives in America at the time of Teddy's Presidency hated his Progressive ideas and his stretching of the powers of the President. However, although he may have run as President on the Progressive ticket in 1912, he was still one of ours and represented the Republican Party for eight years.
After Teddy came Taft, who was a terrible politician yet a decent President. He made some bumbles, like failing to get a trade agreement with Canada actually passed in Canada. He also supported a bill with that upheld high tariffs. However, "his administration initiated 80 antitrust suits and that Congress submitted to the states amendments for a Federal income tax and the direct election of Senators. A postal savings system was established, and the Interstate Commerce Commission was directed to set railroad rates." Cite. During his tenure as President he was constantly attacked by Progressives for his failure to do thing their way.
By the election of 1912 the Republican Party faced its second biggest political challenge... and lost.
By today's standards these Presidents may not consider themselves hard-core Republicans - in fact some may consider themselves Democrats. How can a party shift from seemingly progressive and Democrat ideals to today's modern GOP? Tune in next week to find out.
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