The Democrats in Turmoil

The Bitter Fights to Select a Presidential Nominee, 1896-1924

Bradley C. Nahrstadt

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9798765132456
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Recounting the Democratic National Conventions in 1896, 1904, 1912, 1920, and 1924, this book details the bitter inner-party struggles that almost always led to Democratic losses in the fall. The Democrats couldn't win an election around the turn of the 20th century-not because they couldn't find good candidates but because of the infighting and bitter nomination battles that took place prior to and during their national conventions. With the exception of 1912, when Woodrow Wilson won the presidency because of the rift between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft (and 1916, when Wilson barely won reelection), the Democrats lost six of the eight presidential elections that took place between 1896 and 1924. In 1896, 1904, 1920 and 1924, that loss was directly attributable to the bruising convention fights that preceded the November general election. This book tells the story of each of these contentious conventions-the issues facing the country heading into the conventions and the general election, the background and personalities of the men who fought for the nomination, and the tumultuous rivalries among Democratic factions in the face of the Republicans' relative unity.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 The Political Landscape in 1896: The Battle for Bimetallism
• 2 All in for “Free Silver”: The Democratic Field in 1896
• 3 Clash of the Currencies: The 1896 Democratic National Convention
• 4 Turn-of-the-Century Politics
• 5 The Old Guard versus the Progressives: 1904’s Democratic Contenders
• 6 The Judge and the Newspaperman: Parker, Hearst, and the 1904 Democratic Convention
• 7 Tariffs, Trusts, and Temperance: The Issues the Country Faced in 1912
• 8 The 1912 Candidates: From Woodrow Wilson to “Champ” Clark
• 9 Forty-Six Ballots: The Grueling 1912 Democratic Convention
• 10 Politics After the First World War: Challenges for the Democrats
• 11 After Wilson, Who? The 1920 Democratic Candidates
• 12 The Divisive Nomination Battle of 1920
• 13 The Roaring 20s Politics: The Democrats’ Uphill Battle
• 14 Anybody’s Race: The Contenders for the 1924 Nomination
• 15 The 1924 Democratic Convention: Three Factions Compete
• 16 Victory at Last: FDR and the Forging of a New Coalition
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index