The 1888 campaign trail is sure to be bumpy. Garfield is extremely popular right now, but it's always important to remember that the Liberals own both houses of Congress. Garfield also holds no "hostage" in the Vice Presidential spot to keep the coalition strong.
Triple Calamity: What if the Three Most Important Men in the Executive Branch Died in One Night?
- Thread starter Mr.Q
- Start date
A bit off topic, but this comment is reminding me of @Alt History Buff ATL Civil War TL with each successive President getting tired of being in the White House the moment they get elected, they just want to head home 🤣🤣🤣.
Refinery No. 1, September 18, 1888
Thomas Allen Hunt was a tired man. Since the early hours of the morning he had been working tirelessly at Refinery No. 1, in Osage County. His job was originally manual labor, but ever since the gate controller got sick last week it was his job to open it open for the refinery wagons. As he sat there eating his sandwich on a hot Sequoyah day he realized something odd. He had only been working the gate for a week but it felt like an awful lot less wagons had come in. Hunt grabbed the new fangled telephone that had been installed a few months back and called the office.
"Hello, operator?"
"Who is this?"
"Hunt, down at the gate. Were there any shipments expected today?"
"Uh, let me check Mr. Hunt, hold please." Hunt heard the metal of the phone on the other line clank together and the operator shuffled some papers.
"Why yes Mr. Hu-........." The line cut out.
"Excuse me? Operator?" Hunt put the small receiver back on the clunky box.
"Damn machine," He went back to his meal when
BOOM!
Hunt hit the ground in shock, his small cubicle collapsed on him. He screamed as he threw the rubble off of himself and saw the blue sky... or black sky. Deliriously he turned, one of the tanks in the refinery was in flame, the smoke engulfed near everything. Hunt's eyes adjusted to the light as he heard screaming, or war cries, they sounded like... no, Indians?
BOOM!
The second tank just went up in flame. Hunt was flung by the impact into the wall, out cold...
EXTRA EXTRA!
BLACK GOLD REFINERY IN FLAME!
MR. FREEDMAN ALLEGES AN ATTACK!
OVER 200 DEAD!
WERE INDIANS INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK? Read on pg. 3
-from the New York Times Front page September 19th 1888
"Hello, operator?"
"Who is this?"
"Hunt, down at the gate. Were there any shipments expected today?"
"Uh, let me check Mr. Hunt, hold please." Hunt heard the metal of the phone on the other line clank together and the operator shuffled some papers.
"Why yes Mr. Hu-........." The line cut out.
"Excuse me? Operator?" Hunt put the small receiver back on the clunky box.
"Damn machine," He went back to his meal when
BOOM!
Hunt hit the ground in shock, his small cubicle collapsed on him. He screamed as he threw the rubble off of himself and saw the blue sky... or black sky. Deliriously he turned, one of the tanks in the refinery was in flame, the smoke engulfed near everything. Hunt's eyes adjusted to the light as he heard screaming, or war cries, they sounded like... no, Indians?
BOOM!
The second tank just went up in flame. Hunt was flung by the impact into the wall, out cold...
EXTRA EXTRA!
BLACK GOLD REFINERY IN FLAME!
MR. FREEDMAN ALLEGES AN ATTACK!
OVER 200 DEAD!
WERE INDIANS INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK? Read on pg. 3
-from the New York Times Front page September 19th 1888
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I'm gonna expect a major backlash if natives were involved in the attack. Black Americans will look at Native Americans with hate if they were responsible for destroying the tools/machinery to lift up the entire Black community across the US. On the investigative side, I imagine Redeemers were responsible for this attack. I personally don't see Mr. Freedman or other black businessmen being so risky to destroy something like this.
It would be nice if the US just took some land from them.
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I could see a unique dislike between Black Americans and Native Americans. Blacks look down on Natives due to not successfully modernizing themselves while Natives see Blacks no different in comparison to Whites. Wouldn't help (and be quite funny) if even the most racist White person possibly sides with a Black over a Native 🤣🤣🤣.
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Chapter 24 Pt.2: Let us Continue
LNC: Boston, September 1st
"The second LNC of 1888 was held in the very same city as the first, a month later. The hall and day were dedicated nearly entirely to President Adams, the decorations, the drapes, the speeches. It was practically a second funeral for the man. In the lead up to the convention Adams' brother Henry was hounded by establishment Liberals, practically begging him to run for office, Henry, distraught and recently facing the death of his father as well, declined. Though he did agree to chair the convention and also give a speech in his brothers honor. While Adams did get a few votes on the presidential ballots, his desperate hope to not be nominated was generally respected.
The actual players for the nomination were Vice Presidential nominee, George Armstrong Custer was gearing up to gain the actual nomination. Though silently distraught at the news, Custer and his family were secretly quite pleased with the turn of events, thinking they had a real shot at winning the nomination proper. After all Custer should have had the whole Bourbon wing locked down. His only opponent should be Sherman and the Half-breeds...
Obviously that is not what happened. The bitter Cleveland would split the Bourbon vote and attempt to gain the nomination himself, the shock of this deadlocked the convention. The Halfbreeds couldn't win on their own so some sort of deal would have to be made to un-deadlock the whole thing. There was talk of a compromise or dark horse, first and foremost Henry Adams, so the Custers worked fast to soften up the Half-breeds before that could happen. The truth was Sherman was equally unwilling to see another Adams sweep the hall. He also believed that between the Political Bourbon and War hero Bourbon, Custer was the better option. On the fifth ballot the Half-breeds endorsed Custer in exchange for a Half-breed running mate.
Upon securing a majority, Custer endorsed Levi Morton of New York as his running mate. Morton was quickly selected to avoid further bloodshed. Henry Adams came in second on the Vice Presidential ballot. Cleveland and his supporters were absolutely furious, there was talk of walking out for a second time, however the Governor dissuaded them. Cleveland said that he would refuse to endorse Mr. Custer, but he wouldn't sink the party.
LIBERAL NOMINEES
For President: George Armstrong Custer
For Vice President: Levi Parsons Morton
FNC: Birmingham, September 8th
Shall we nominate James Garfield for the Presidency?
Shall we nominated Frederick Grant for Vice President?
"The FNC was originally scheduled for August 14th. However with the events of the month cancelling the campaign it was moved into September. This FNC would be much larger than the first, with the most delegates of any National Convention that year at 1,117. Every black man of profile was there, from Booker T. to Senator Cincinatus, to Mr. Freedman of black gold. One person missing however was Frederick Douglass, the chair of the 1884 convention purposefully avoided the 1888 convention due to their breach of his request to not be nominated.
When the Convention began the moderates of the party motioned to nominate James Garfield for the Presidency. Many radicals were outraged by this, but most people in the party were expecting it. They weren't stupid, they knew that Garfield was in a good position and they knew he'd need black support. When the motion passed with 2/3rds the radicals looked like they were going to walk. That was until Representative Booker T. Washington of Alabama, motioned to nominate their own Vice Presidential candidate. It was a close vote, considering that many moderates liked Grant, but it successfully passed with a majority.
There were around 24 candidates who got votes on the Vice Presidential ballot, again though for many the choice was clear. Frederick Douglass secured the Vice Presidential nomination. When word reached him of his nomination he didn't disavow or denounce it as some expected! That said he didn't endorse it either, he simply stayed silent. This was as good as an endorsement to the FNC who happily declared an alliance with the RNC.
Why Douglass stayed silent is still unknown by historians, the best guess is that he knew Grant would be chosen by the electors if Garfield won and he genuinely wanted to see Mr. Garfield win.
Mr. Freedman and the Black Gold Company weren't particularly thrilled with this outcome. He had hoped that the Freedmen's candidate would be sponsored by his company. Garfield and the Republicans had gotten cold towards big business to appeal to Union workers in the Midwest, Freedman knew Black Gold wouldn't get any special treatment. Then again he agreed it was best not to make enemies and became the biggest corporate donor of the Republicans in the 1888 campaign.
FREEDMEN NOMINEES
For President: James Abram Garfield
For Vice President: Frederick Douglass
INC: Tulsa, September 10th
The Indian National Convention was held in Tulsa, Sequoyah. The Indian National Conventions are interesting in the way that they are set up. Delegates aren't apportioned by state but by Tribe, every people in what used to be Indian Territory (ie the voting Indians), were gifted a number of voters based on population and would select their candidate after deliberation in private chambers. The plains and southwest Indians were also invited to the hall as 'observers'. Considering they couldn't vote and weren't citizens, they were awarded no voting delegates.
The first week of the convention was reserved for celebration and feasts over the great advancement of the State of Sequoyah. It was also a time for networking. Nearly every tribe was looking to make this a quick convention. Debate was unnecessary. Throughout the week of celebration Sitting Bull the former Sioux Chief and current 'actor' in the Wild West tour, told stories and acted as an unofficial Chairman. As a non Indian Territory citizen and technically a felon he was not eligible for the nomination, though he very likely would've been nominated if he were. Sitting Bull gave his endorsement to Seminole Chief and current Sequoyah Governor John Brown. When balloting started Brown won the vast, vast majority of the tribal delegates. It's easy to credit Sitting Bull for this, but it's important to remember that as the Indian with the highest political office, he was by far the favorite.
For the Vice Presidential nomination, basically every tribe had its own choice. It ended up coming down to two men. Charles Blue Jacket a former Shawnee Chief who was generally among the more populist natives and Nimrod Jarrett Smith of the Cherokee Indians. Smith was the far more conservative choice and had even served in the Confederate Army during the war. Though he now disavowed Confederates, most people in the convention saw this as unsavory, especially for the climate of the nation. Blue Jacket was chosen.
The hope of the party was simply to attract Government attention, just like the Freedmen. They were at a disadvantage compared to the Freedmen though. Lincoln was practically a one party state and black people were a nationwide electorate. Sequoyah had a strong Democratic and Liberal Party, on top of that Indians were mostly localized. 'Voting Indians' that is..."
INDIAN NOMINEES
For President: John Brown of the Seminole Tribe
For Vice President: Charles Blue Jacket of the Shawnee Tribe
-From Every National Convention in American History
by Jacob Cohen, published 2012
| Presidential Ballots | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Vice President Ballot | 1 |
| George A. Custer | 288 | 289 | 290 | 301 | 467 | Levi Morton | 556 |
| John Sherman | 309 | 340 | 344 | 345 | 85 | Henry Adams | 101 |
| Grover Cleveland | 255 | 258 | 257 | 250 | 345 | Grover Cleveland | 99 |
| Others | 48 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | Others | 144 |
"The second LNC of 1888 was held in the very same city as the first, a month later. The hall and day were dedicated nearly entirely to President Adams, the decorations, the drapes, the speeches. It was practically a second funeral for the man. In the lead up to the convention Adams' brother Henry was hounded by establishment Liberals, practically begging him to run for office, Henry, distraught and recently facing the death of his father as well, declined. Though he did agree to chair the convention and also give a speech in his brothers honor. While Adams did get a few votes on the presidential ballots, his desperate hope to not be nominated was generally respected.
The actual players for the nomination were Vice Presidential nominee, George Armstrong Custer was gearing up to gain the actual nomination. Though silently distraught at the news, Custer and his family were secretly quite pleased with the turn of events, thinking they had a real shot at winning the nomination proper. After all Custer should have had the whole Bourbon wing locked down. His only opponent should be Sherman and the Half-breeds...
Obviously that is not what happened. The bitter Cleveland would split the Bourbon vote and attempt to gain the nomination himself, the shock of this deadlocked the convention. The Halfbreeds couldn't win on their own so some sort of deal would have to be made to un-deadlock the whole thing. There was talk of a compromise or dark horse, first and foremost Henry Adams, so the Custers worked fast to soften up the Half-breeds before that could happen. The truth was Sherman was equally unwilling to see another Adams sweep the hall. He also believed that between the Political Bourbon and War hero Bourbon, Custer was the better option. On the fifth ballot the Half-breeds endorsed Custer in exchange for a Half-breed running mate.
Upon securing a majority, Custer endorsed Levi Morton of New York as his running mate. Morton was quickly selected to avoid further bloodshed. Henry Adams came in second on the Vice Presidential ballot. Cleveland and his supporters were absolutely furious, there was talk of walking out for a second time, however the Governor dissuaded them. Cleveland said that he would refuse to endorse Mr. Custer, but he wouldn't sink the party.
LIBERAL NOMINEES
For President: George Armstrong Custer
For Vice President: Levi Parsons Morton
FNC: Birmingham, September 8th
Shall we nominate James Garfield for the Presidency?
| Yes | 799 |
| No | 318 |
Shall we nominated Frederick Grant for Vice President?
| No | 602 |
| Yes | 515 |
| Vice Presidential Ballot | 1 |
| Frederick Douglass | 866 |
| Others | 251 |
"The FNC was originally scheduled for August 14th. However with the events of the month cancelling the campaign it was moved into September. This FNC would be much larger than the first, with the most delegates of any National Convention that year at 1,117. Every black man of profile was there, from Booker T. to Senator Cincinatus, to Mr. Freedman of black gold. One person missing however was Frederick Douglass, the chair of the 1884 convention purposefully avoided the 1888 convention due to their breach of his request to not be nominated.
When the Convention began the moderates of the party motioned to nominate James Garfield for the Presidency. Many radicals were outraged by this, but most people in the party were expecting it. They weren't stupid, they knew that Garfield was in a good position and they knew he'd need black support. When the motion passed with 2/3rds the radicals looked like they were going to walk. That was until Representative Booker T. Washington of Alabama, motioned to nominate their own Vice Presidential candidate. It was a close vote, considering that many moderates liked Grant, but it successfully passed with a majority.
There were around 24 candidates who got votes on the Vice Presidential ballot, again though for many the choice was clear. Frederick Douglass secured the Vice Presidential nomination. When word reached him of his nomination he didn't disavow or denounce it as some expected! That said he didn't endorse it either, he simply stayed silent. This was as good as an endorsement to the FNC who happily declared an alliance with the RNC.
Why Douglass stayed silent is still unknown by historians, the best guess is that he knew Grant would be chosen by the electors if Garfield won and he genuinely wanted to see Mr. Garfield win.
Mr. Freedman and the Black Gold Company weren't particularly thrilled with this outcome. He had hoped that the Freedmen's candidate would be sponsored by his company. Garfield and the Republicans had gotten cold towards big business to appeal to Union workers in the Midwest, Freedman knew Black Gold wouldn't get any special treatment. Then again he agreed it was best not to make enemies and became the biggest corporate donor of the Republicans in the 1888 campaign.
FREEDMEN NOMINEES
For President: James Abram Garfield
For Vice President: Frederick Douglass
INC: Tulsa, September 10th
| Presidential Ballot | 1 | Vice Presidential Ballot | 1 |
| John Brown | 911 | Charles Blue Jacket | 525 |
| Nimrod Jarrett Smith | 28 | Nimrod Jarrett Smith | 311 |
| Others | 55 | Others | 158 |
The Indian National Convention was held in Tulsa, Sequoyah. The Indian National Conventions are interesting in the way that they are set up. Delegates aren't apportioned by state but by Tribe, every people in what used to be Indian Territory (ie the voting Indians), were gifted a number of voters based on population and would select their candidate after deliberation in private chambers. The plains and southwest Indians were also invited to the hall as 'observers'. Considering they couldn't vote and weren't citizens, they were awarded no voting delegates.
The first week of the convention was reserved for celebration and feasts over the great advancement of the State of Sequoyah. It was also a time for networking. Nearly every tribe was looking to make this a quick convention. Debate was unnecessary. Throughout the week of celebration Sitting Bull the former Sioux Chief and current 'actor' in the Wild West tour, told stories and acted as an unofficial Chairman. As a non Indian Territory citizen and technically a felon he was not eligible for the nomination, though he very likely would've been nominated if he were. Sitting Bull gave his endorsement to Seminole Chief and current Sequoyah Governor John Brown. When balloting started Brown won the vast, vast majority of the tribal delegates. It's easy to credit Sitting Bull for this, but it's important to remember that as the Indian with the highest political office, he was by far the favorite.
For the Vice Presidential nomination, basically every tribe had its own choice. It ended up coming down to two men. Charles Blue Jacket a former Shawnee Chief who was generally among the more populist natives and Nimrod Jarrett Smith of the Cherokee Indians. Smith was the far more conservative choice and had even served in the Confederate Army during the war. Though he now disavowed Confederates, most people in the convention saw this as unsavory, especially for the climate of the nation. Blue Jacket was chosen.
The hope of the party was simply to attract Government attention, just like the Freedmen. They were at a disadvantage compared to the Freedmen though. Lincoln was practically a one party state and black people were a nationwide electorate. Sequoyah had a strong Democratic and Liberal Party, on top of that Indians were mostly localized. 'Voting Indians' that is..."
INDIAN NOMINEES
For President: John Brown of the Seminole Tribe
For Vice President: Charles Blue Jacket of the Shawnee Tribe
-From Every National Convention in American History
by Jacob Cohen, published 2012
-
ALRIGHTY! I'll try to get the 1888 chapter to you all ASAP! But she'll be a long one. I must also consult with @InsertCoolUsernameHere for the map as always.
For those wondering yes the Prohibition Party has been running people this whole time. (Mostly similar to OTL) you can just switch people around. This year they nominated Garfield and Bidwell.
Also the Union Party and Agrarian League have endorsed Garfield. Just understand that both of these organizations plan to make a Populist Party the second the Republicans nominate a moderate/business oriented candidate.
ALRIGHTY! I'll try to get the 1888 chapter to you all ASAP! But she'll be a long one. I must also consult with @InsertCoolUsernameHere for the map as always.
For those wondering yes the Prohibition Party has been running people this whole time. (Mostly similar to OTL) you can just switch people around. This year they nominated Garfield and Bidwell.
Also the Union Party and Agrarian League have endorsed Garfield. Just understand that both of these organizations plan to make a Populist Party the second the Republicans nominate a moderate/business oriented candidate.
TTL USA will have so many powerful political parties around that it's impossible for a President to have two consecutive terms 🤣🤣🤣.
It’s starting to become impossible to get a majority in the electoral college that’s for sure. The good news is at this point really only the Libs and Reps have a shot at winning. But with both parties splitting further apart each day, the coalition continues to crumble.
Adams Infobox
Now that I'm home I quickly made this and added some context to the speech Adams was giving.
Chapter 25: Election Night 88'
"It was a hot, humid night on August 4th, 1888. It was however on this night that President Garfield discussed the Presidential campaign to come. Back in 1884 the 'no open campaign' rule seemed to have been broken. Mr. Garfield identified this. He however had no intent of crisscrossing the nation giving speeches. He saw a much greater opportunity in gaining the will of the people... Garfield would send Frederick Grant, Rutherford Hayes, Ben Harrison, Robert Todd Lincoln, Henry Cabot Lodge and other famed Republicans to campaign on his behalf. In the meantime, he would stay in DC, perform his duties as President and show the Liberals for what they were... Power hungry obstructionists...
The month of August was however, to be reserved to Mr. Adams and his legacy. Both Custer and Garfield attempted to shape the week around themselves. Custer heard of the assassination while he was home in Ohio. Upon learning of it he dropped everything to get on a train to DC. He took Libbie with him. Before leaving he wrote to Thomas and Boston Custer, he told them to rush to Boston and get a foundation ready to swoop in and take the nomination.
When Custer arrived in Washington he was greeted by black drapes on every window, paintings and pins of Garfield hand in hand with Adams being handed out in the street and a memorial in every public space. He realized that even though campaigning had been placed on 'pause', the truth was this funeral would be the first battle of the war. Garfield was on his home turf and relished in this. He would make a total of 126 eulogies over the three day funeral, most were published and all were widely talked about, after all Garfield was a famed orator.
Custer did his best to gain attention in the city, after a day he realized it was locked down. Instead, Custer did something more daring, he used connections in Congress to get himself appointed as the head escort of Adams' casket. Custer would lead the pallbearers to the train station. When Garfield learned of this mere minutes after delivering his most heavily attended eulogy on the Capitol steps, he was furious. Though he let no one see that. The President quickly took off for the train station, racing the funeral procession there. After five minutes he arrived and stood on the platform. Custer upon arriving was shocked and dismayed to see Garfield. The President shed a tear and extended his arms to the General, he embraced Custer and thanked him for leading the procession in a heavy publized moment. Then Garfield replaced one of the pallbearers and took the casket to the train.
What seemed like a nice moment devoid of politics was just the opposite. Garfield, embracing Custer and thanking him in an unrehearsed moment, melted the hearts of the grieving nation, Garfield would gain the praise for the action and him carrying Adams to the train metaphorically showed that he, and not Custer was the custodian DC and inheritor of Adams’ legacy. In the moment Custer noticed this, he made a face of disdain when Garfield replaced one of the pallbearers. This face was photographed. Custer ran to find and stop the reporter. He was successful, destroying the man's camera and saving himself from widespread embarrassment... for now.
After the funeral Custer went to Boston for the LNC. Garfield of course, stayed in Washington. First, in a bipartisan move Garfield and the Liberals in Congress passed an act meant to add a new monument to the National Mall, honoring Adams. Garfield knew this would be the end of bipartisanship. He would soon ignore Congress and have members of the administration routinely condemn them for their unwillingness to work with him on the economy. This was untrue, in 1888 the economy was fine. In fact the Republican fear mongering would hurt the stock market. Becoming a self fulfilling prophecy, that Garfield blamed on the Liberals. You might then wonder why Speaker Reed and Senator Sherman didn't shoot back.
Well, they did, just ineffectively. In August and September the newspapers, especially in DC were enthusiastic Garfield supporters, the President knew this. He thus also knew that his administration's attacks would be wildey published and the counters would be largely ignored. At least until the Adams assasination's affect died down...
...Custer had a harder time than expected getting nominated, this led to an endorsement split among the Liberals. Grover Cleveland and his supporters refused to endorse Custer, some even supporting Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson understood the horrid position he was in during the campaign. He and the DNC understood they had no shot of victory after the Nichols trial. That being said they wanted to avoid complete embarrassment. The Democratic strategy was generally to deflect on the southern issue and focus on economics. During the 1888 campaign trail Stevenson went from town to town prophesying of imminent economic recession.
The Democrats adopted 'Free Silver' as a major campaign plank. Stevenson himself was generally apathetic on the metal issue, however he saw an opportunity in endorsing bimetallism and thus adopted it in his speeches as the major way to stop catastrophe."
-from The Troubled 80's
by Bob Schwartz, published 1978
"The 1888 campaign wasn't about policy so much as it was one of our nations, first truly nasty campaign. Yes all the candidates strongly differed in policy, Custer was a Bourbon Democrat on the Conservative wing of the Liberals who argued for strict moderation, as well as pacification of the west (A Sheridan talking point). Garfield was generally a pragmatic Republican with some radical views, he believed in a diplomatic solution to the west and strict Republican economics and Southern Control. Stevenson ran a surprisingly populist campaign focused on the border states and midwest. Brown and the Indians ran a campaign based on Indian advancement (obviously). But when scholars write of the election and why the results turned out the way they did, the policy is not what is discussed.
Garfield never bad mouthed Custer, in fact he rarely spoke of the man, he did however mobilize the RNC to bad mouth Custer. Rutherford Hayes and the RNC dug up the nastiest rumors they could find on Custer, from native genocide to false rumors of Civil War cowardice, to personal attacks about his wife controlling him, his brothers being brutes following his ever will, so on and so forth. Custer slandered the RNC back attacking them for the mudslinging and accusing Garfield of ordering it. (This was a conspiracy theory at the time.) In public Garfield never addressed Custer, ironically thus, all of his attacks on Garfield backfired. Political cartoons of the age portray the General as a mini McClellan, a hot head, unsuited for office.
The Hayes machine was also brutal to the Democrats, they viscously ripped into the Louisianian affair. They linked Stevenson and Blackburn to it. They declared that the Democrats were indeed the party of the 'White Man', 'The White Supremacist Man'. All of this bloody rag waving was dog whistling to black voters. With the Freedmen not running a candidate, the Republicans knew they needed to supercharge that vote. There was no better way to do so than to wave that old bloody rag, high and loudly. It's possible Stevenson could've turned this attack into a petty one, seen as how long ago the civil war was. His own party however had emboldened the bloody rag by committing that damned insurrection.
John Brown and Indians faced a deep crisis in campaign on September 18th. Famously it was that day that the Black Gold refinery was attacked. Rumors spread like wildfire that the Indians had done it. Almost immediately there was an uptick in Freedmen violence against them. Black Gold also demanded renegotiated contracts with the State. Custer and the Liberals took advantage, immediately blaming the Indians for the attack before an investigation even commenced. The Democrats did the same, Stevenson believed that Sequoyah was open for the taking seen as the white population in the state was so high. In many states the Indian Party was removed from the ballot, John Brown was heckled at every event and eventually had to stay inside the Sequoyah Governor's mansion, exiled in his own state.
Congress wouldn't authorize an investigation into the event until October and it's results wouldn't be available until February 1889...
...Two things happened just days before the election of November 3rd 1888. First Charles Guiteau was hanged after being found guilty of first degree murder. President Garfield was in attendance and after the hanging he made a speech, once again commemorating Adams, saying 'He has been vindicated'. This gave him a boost, but it was nothing in comparison to the photo on the front page of the Washington Post that day.
The picture of Custer looking disgusted as Garfield carried Adams' casket into the train station had not been destroyed as Custer believed. At the same time the reporter who Custer assaulted took his picture, a second photographer took a similar one from a different angle. He decided to hold onto it, instead of immediately publishing it. On top of that the reporter whose camera was destroyed by the Presidential nominee gave his testimony of the account on the same page as the photo. He announced that he planned to press charges against Custer.
This 'November Surprise', certainly had an effect on the results...
The month of August was however, to be reserved to Mr. Adams and his legacy. Both Custer and Garfield attempted to shape the week around themselves. Custer heard of the assassination while he was home in Ohio. Upon learning of it he dropped everything to get on a train to DC. He took Libbie with him. Before leaving he wrote to Thomas and Boston Custer, he told them to rush to Boston and get a foundation ready to swoop in and take the nomination.
When Custer arrived in Washington he was greeted by black drapes on every window, paintings and pins of Garfield hand in hand with Adams being handed out in the street and a memorial in every public space. He realized that even though campaigning had been placed on 'pause', the truth was this funeral would be the first battle of the war. Garfield was on his home turf and relished in this. He would make a total of 126 eulogies over the three day funeral, most were published and all were widely talked about, after all Garfield was a famed orator.
Custer did his best to gain attention in the city, after a day he realized it was locked down. Instead, Custer did something more daring, he used connections in Congress to get himself appointed as the head escort of Adams' casket. Custer would lead the pallbearers to the train station. When Garfield learned of this mere minutes after delivering his most heavily attended eulogy on the Capitol steps, he was furious. Though he let no one see that. The President quickly took off for the train station, racing the funeral procession there. After five minutes he arrived and stood on the platform. Custer upon arriving was shocked and dismayed to see Garfield. The President shed a tear and extended his arms to the General, he embraced Custer and thanked him for leading the procession in a heavy publized moment. Then Garfield replaced one of the pallbearers and took the casket to the train.
What seemed like a nice moment devoid of politics was just the opposite. Garfield, embracing Custer and thanking him in an unrehearsed moment, melted the hearts of the grieving nation, Garfield would gain the praise for the action and him carrying Adams to the train metaphorically showed that he, and not Custer was the custodian DC and inheritor of Adams’ legacy. In the moment Custer noticed this, he made a face of disdain when Garfield replaced one of the pallbearers. This face was photographed. Custer ran to find and stop the reporter. He was successful, destroying the man's camera and saving himself from widespread embarrassment... for now.
After the funeral Custer went to Boston for the LNC. Garfield of course, stayed in Washington. First, in a bipartisan move Garfield and the Liberals in Congress passed an act meant to add a new monument to the National Mall, honoring Adams. Garfield knew this would be the end of bipartisanship. He would soon ignore Congress and have members of the administration routinely condemn them for their unwillingness to work with him on the economy. This was untrue, in 1888 the economy was fine. In fact the Republican fear mongering would hurt the stock market. Becoming a self fulfilling prophecy, that Garfield blamed on the Liberals. You might then wonder why Speaker Reed and Senator Sherman didn't shoot back.
Well, they did, just ineffectively. In August and September the newspapers, especially in DC were enthusiastic Garfield supporters, the President knew this. He thus also knew that his administration's attacks would be wildey published and the counters would be largely ignored. At least until the Adams assasination's affect died down...
...Custer had a harder time than expected getting nominated, this led to an endorsement split among the Liberals. Grover Cleveland and his supporters refused to endorse Custer, some even supporting Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson understood the horrid position he was in during the campaign. He and the DNC understood they had no shot of victory after the Nichols trial. That being said they wanted to avoid complete embarrassment. The Democratic strategy was generally to deflect on the southern issue and focus on economics. During the 1888 campaign trail Stevenson went from town to town prophesying of imminent economic recession.
The Democrats adopted 'Free Silver' as a major campaign plank. Stevenson himself was generally apathetic on the metal issue, however he saw an opportunity in endorsing bimetallism and thus adopted it in his speeches as the major way to stop catastrophe."
-from The Troubled 80's
by Bob Schwartz, published 1978
"The 1888 campaign wasn't about policy so much as it was one of our nations, first truly nasty campaign. Yes all the candidates strongly differed in policy, Custer was a Bourbon Democrat on the Conservative wing of the Liberals who argued for strict moderation, as well as pacification of the west (A Sheridan talking point). Garfield was generally a pragmatic Republican with some radical views, he believed in a diplomatic solution to the west and strict Republican economics and Southern Control. Stevenson ran a surprisingly populist campaign focused on the border states and midwest. Brown and the Indians ran a campaign based on Indian advancement (obviously). But when scholars write of the election and why the results turned out the way they did, the policy is not what is discussed.
Garfield never bad mouthed Custer, in fact he rarely spoke of the man, he did however mobilize the RNC to bad mouth Custer. Rutherford Hayes and the RNC dug up the nastiest rumors they could find on Custer, from native genocide to false rumors of Civil War cowardice, to personal attacks about his wife controlling him, his brothers being brutes following his ever will, so on and so forth. Custer slandered the RNC back attacking them for the mudslinging and accusing Garfield of ordering it. (This was a conspiracy theory at the time.) In public Garfield never addressed Custer, ironically thus, all of his attacks on Garfield backfired. Political cartoons of the age portray the General as a mini McClellan, a hot head, unsuited for office.
The Hayes machine was also brutal to the Democrats, they viscously ripped into the Louisianian affair. They linked Stevenson and Blackburn to it. They declared that the Democrats were indeed the party of the 'White Man', 'The White Supremacist Man'. All of this bloody rag waving was dog whistling to black voters. With the Freedmen not running a candidate, the Republicans knew they needed to supercharge that vote. There was no better way to do so than to wave that old bloody rag, high and loudly. It's possible Stevenson could've turned this attack into a petty one, seen as how long ago the civil war was. His own party however had emboldened the bloody rag by committing that damned insurrection.
John Brown and Indians faced a deep crisis in campaign on September 18th. Famously it was that day that the Black Gold refinery was attacked. Rumors spread like wildfire that the Indians had done it. Almost immediately there was an uptick in Freedmen violence against them. Black Gold also demanded renegotiated contracts with the State. Custer and the Liberals took advantage, immediately blaming the Indians for the attack before an investigation even commenced. The Democrats did the same, Stevenson believed that Sequoyah was open for the taking seen as the white population in the state was so high. In many states the Indian Party was removed from the ballot, John Brown was heckled at every event and eventually had to stay inside the Sequoyah Governor's mansion, exiled in his own state.
Congress wouldn't authorize an investigation into the event until October and it's results wouldn't be available until February 1889...
...Two things happened just days before the election of November 3rd 1888. First Charles Guiteau was hanged after being found guilty of first degree murder. President Garfield was in attendance and after the hanging he made a speech, once again commemorating Adams, saying 'He has been vindicated'. This gave him a boost, but it was nothing in comparison to the photo on the front page of the Washington Post that day.
The picture of Custer looking disgusted as Garfield carried Adams' casket into the train station had not been destroyed as Custer believed. At the same time the reporter who Custer assaulted took his picture, a second photographer took a similar one from a different angle. He decided to hold onto it, instead of immediately publishing it. On top of that the reporter whose camera was destroyed by the Presidential nominee gave his testimony of the account on the same page as the photo. He announced that he planned to press charges against Custer.
This 'November Surprise', certainly had an effect on the results...
GENERAL CUSTER'S LAST STAND!
GARFIELD SENT HIM RUNNING!
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1880, A CANDIDATE WON OUTRIGHT!
-from the New York Times on November 11th 1888
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ALRIGHTY! There you have it! Hope it was a fun read, I'll post the congressional elections tomorrow.
FOR THE RECORD! Due to the Refinery attack the Indians lost momentum and didn't win Sequoyah. They got around 2.3 percent of the popular vote.
The Prohibition Party got around 1.5 Percent of the Popular Vote
ALSO OBVIOUSLY THE ELECTORS CHOOSE GRANT OVER DOUGLASS FOR GARFIELD'S VEEP.
Finally feel free to ask any questions about the result! Love all the engagement as of late!
GARFIELD SENT HIM RUNNING!
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1880, A CANDIDATE WON OUTRIGHT!
-from the New York Times on November 11th 1888
-
ALRIGHTY! There you have it! Hope it was a fun read, I'll post the congressional elections tomorrow.
FOR THE RECORD! Due to the Refinery attack the Indians lost momentum and didn't win Sequoyah. They got around 2.3 percent of the popular vote.
The Prohibition Party got around 1.5 Percent of the Popular Vote
ALSO OBVIOUSLY THE ELECTORS CHOOSE GRANT OVER DOUGLASS FOR GARFIELD'S VEEP.
Finally feel free to ask any questions about the result! Love all the engagement as of late!
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Nice chapter, good on the Republicans for winning the 1888 Election outright, no need for any backroom deals. Will be interesting to see how Garfield does as President. The Democrats once again lost this election, the Liberal Party will only grow stronger with Democrats leaving their party for something else. Can't wait to see the conclusion to this incident with Black Gold, Blacks and Indians will be at each other throats for quite a while. Keep up the great work 👍👍👍👍.