Who were the three presidents in the gilded age?

Answer 1

The Gilded Age Presidents are also known as "the Forgettable Presidents"

here are the presidents with events and info about them as well as election processes:

Ulysses S. Grant (first president during this age)-scandals

-depression (Panic of 1873)

1. Rutherford B. Hayes

-ends the Reconstruction

-"His Fraudulency" - Compromise of 1877 gets him the presidency

Problems:

• Great Railway Strike of 1877

-Hayes calls out federal troops to deal with strikes - Baltimore and Pittsburgh

• Deals with the Panic of 1873
• Hayes vetoes the Chinese Exclusion Act

-receives backlash and outrage because of this

-it is a law that would limit the number of Chinese immigrants

-cheap labor in California, gold rush in California

Congress passes it the year after Hayes leaves office

Election of 1880

The Republicans were split into the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds

Stalwarts - led by Roscoe Conkling (does not get the NY Port Collectors job he wanted)

-wanted to return to the days of Grant

-VP candidate for the Republicans - Chester A. Arthur (a Stalwart)

Half-Breeds - led by James G. Blaine - secretary of state

Republicans

Democrats

James Garfield

Winfield Hancock

A Half-Breed

Civil war officer

Grew up very poor

Civil War general

James Garfield wins

James Garfield§ very honest

§ one major flaw - he cannot say "no"

[July 2, 1881] tragedy hits

§ a deranged office-seeker, Charles Guiteau, shoots James Garfield

§ Garfield does not die for 11 weeks

§ brought to New Jersey for some fresh shore air

[September 19, 1881] Garfield dies

Chester A. Arthur-when he becomes president, many Stalwarts (including Conkling) believe that they will receive political positions

Arthur surprises them - throws his influence into Civil Service Reform (government jobs)

Result: Pendleton Act of 1883 - establishes a merit system for civil service jobs

§ Sets up a Civil Service Commission

§ Requires that applicants pass an exam for certain jobs

[By 1884] Arthur had classified 10% of all government jobs

[By 1984] over 90% of government jobs are classified

Significance: starts Civil Service Reform

Election of 1884 - mudslinging

Republicans

Democrats

James G. Blaine

Grover Cleveland

From Maine - leader of the Half-Breeds

Secretary of State

Linked to corruption on behalf of a Southern Railroad Company - "Burn, burn, burn this letter"

During a campaign speech, a Republican candidate calls the Democrat party "the Party of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"

-insults the Irish, who vote Democratic

Mayor of Buffalo

Governor of NY

Lawyer

Bachelor

Linked to an illegitimate child in Buffalo

"Maa, Maa, where's my Pa?"

Grover Cleveland wins

Grover Cleveland-First Democrat elected since Buchanan

-not an active president

-Congress is Republican

Pension Legislation is the one area he deals with

-tries to clean it up (pension problems)

-he vetoes several hundred individual pension bills

At the end of his first term, Cleveland wants to reduce the high tariff

-there is a huge surplus in the U.S. Treasury

Election of 1888 - major issue of the election is the tariff

Republicans

Democrats

Benjamin Harrison

Grover Cleveland

Grandson of William Henry Harrison

"Little Tippecanoe"

wants a high tariff

during election - the Republicans pay voters in some states $20 to vote Republican

Wants a lowered tariff

Grover Cleveland wins the popular vote

Benjamin Harrison wins the electoral vote

Benjamin HarrisonHis term lasts from 1889 - 1893

Under Harrison and the Republican-controlled Congress, many legislations are passed

Congress is ruled by (Speaker of the House) Thomas B. Reed, "The Czar"

§ The McKinley Tariff Bill - raises the tariff rate up to 48%

§ The Sherman Silver Purchase Act

-government agrees to buy 4 million ounces of silver per month and turn it into money

§ The Sherman Anti-Trust Act

-makes it illegal to put any restraint on trade

§ The Congress of 1888-1890 "The Billion-Dollar Congress"

-spend a lot of the treasury surplus

river and harbor improvements

Steamship subsidies

Pension Act of 1890 - allows more veterans to collect pension

Return federal taxes paid by Northern states

-deplete the surplus in the Treasury

Election of 1892

Republicans - Benjamin Harrison

Democrats - Grover Cleveland - wins

Populist - James B. Weaver

Grover ClevelandCleveland believes in "hard" money - money that is backed up by gold/gold standard

During his 2nd term, gold reserves are lowered to about $41 million

-threatens to go off the gold standard with such low gold reserves

-use money not backed by gold

-inflation (acceptable minimum for gold reserves is $100 million)

Cleveland asks J.P. Morgan to help raise money for the U.S.

-Morgan sells U.S. bonds overseas and acquires $65 million in gold for the U.S.

Cleveland also gets the Sherman Silver Purchase Act repealed

§ Major depression takes hold in 1893

-Caused by the usual - over-speculation of western lands

-caused by LOW GOLD RESERVES

§ Labor problems

-labor disputes throughout the country

Gold vs. Silver - should silver be used in the money supply?

Election of 1896 - central issue is gold vs. silver

Democrats/Populists

Republicans

William Jennings Bryan

William McKinley

Calls for the free coinage of silver

He is a very strong orator

"Cross of Gold" speech - "Do not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold"

Congressman from Ohio

A Major from the Civil War

Runs a "front porch" campaign - lets Bryan talk himself out - angers

Campaign is run by Marcus Hanna

Gold standard, renewed/higher tariff

McKinley wins - last Gilded Age president

Where are the people of power? Why aren't they in politics?

-They are all in business - can make money, empires, and billions - tycoons

-i.e. the Carnegies, Rockefeller…

William McKinleyThe Farmer's Revolt

-during the Civil War, prices for crops were very high

-after the Civil War, farmers experience many problems

1. Crop prices fall

Wheat - [1873] a bushel of wheat - $1.21

[1885] a bushel of wheat - $0.49

Cotton - [1873] a pound of cotton - $0.21

[1885] a pound of cotton - $0.05

1. Railroad prices are extremely high

-farmers had to ship their goods

1. New farm technology was expensive
2. Many farmers only grow one crop

-In order to solve their problems, farmers begin taking action - form the Patrons of Husbandry

-at first, was a social group

-then, they form cooperatives in order to buy seeds and machinery in bulk

-"Granger Laws" are passed to protect farmers

-Greenback Labor Party is one of the first parties that farmers join

[1892] farmers from the west and the south meet in Nebraska and form the Populist Party

The Populist Party is exclusively the farmer's party

Populist Platform

§ Higher taxes placed on the wealthy

§ Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, telephones

§ Direct election of senators

§ Want free coinage of silver