Glennandrews I would think they could unite behind Horace, and his vice presidential pick Benjamin Gratz Brown would probably succeed him since that’s how Andrew Johnson became president after Abe Lincoln was assassinated.
There's actually a very good chance that Greeley never would have died had he not lost the election. He dealt with the death of his wife, the election loss, and, as a consequence for the souring of his public image through his campaign and defeat, several high ranking members of his newspaper launched a coup against him, all in very quick succession. Because of this, he fell into a deep depression that dramatically worsened his health. It is also speculated that the medicine given to him by the doctors at the time to help him actually made his physical condition even worse. It's not really known what exactly his cause of death was, but there is a very good chance that every voter who chose Grant in this election indirectly voted to kill a man.
Fun fact: Benjamin Gratz Brown, Horace Greeley's running mate, was the grandfather of Margaret Wise Brown, the author of the famous children's book "Goodnight Moon."
A sad note about Schuyler Colfax: He died of a heart attack in a train station in Mankato, Minnesota. No one in the train station recognized him, so he had to be identified by the papers he carried with him. A park and memorial to Colfax now stand on the site today.
The Republicans got the nickname "Grand Old Party" from this election. In earlier elections, this phrase meant the Democratic Party since they are the older of the two major parties. In 1872, it was Grant's Republicans versus Greeley's newly created Liberal Republicans. So Grant's supporters could claim the GOP title.
I don't think that is true. The term "Grand Old Party" or "Gallant Old Party" was beginning to be used as a nickname for the Republican party in the mid-1870s. "Gallant Old Party", in particular, was used in reference to the successful defense of the Union by a Republican leader during the civil war. There is no record of this term being used in reference to the democratic party. The first record of the "GOP" abbreviation is from 1884.
Here is an 1862 speech by Congressman Vallandigham (D-Ohio): "If they meant that I am a Democrat, devoted to the principles and policy, and faithful to the organization of that grand old party.." You can find hundreds of 19th century references in the online newspaper collection at the Library of Congress. I found a reference to the Democrats as the grand old party dated January 24, 1867. As far as "Gallant Old Party" goes, that was once a reference to the Democrats as well. In 1851, the Dems were using it to refer to themselves at the Ohio state convention.
A additional tidbit on Frederick Douglass, who was nominated for VP by the Equal Rights Party, though did not acknowledge that: For this election he served as one of Grant's electors for the state of New York.
Had Greeley won but still died before taking office, Grant would likely have been re-elected instead. Since the Constitution didn't specify what would happen in this scenario, the Democratic electors would have split their votes for president like they did in real life, and then the House, which was controlled by the Republicans in 1872, would have voted for Grant. It would have been the election of 1824 all over again.
"President Grant, your cabinet is corrupt, you ignore talented men in favor of your friends. You have had several scandals attached to your name and your vice president is a radical crazy old man. Why shouls people vote for you?" "I defeated Lee and ended the civil war." .... "Shit that's a good point though."
My AP US History had us take an assignment for our AMSCO book to review this election. There was one problem... there was no description of the 1872 election.... but let;s just say I knew someone who could help me with that ;)
This was the period where the two party ideologies began to switch identities. If you are interested in the change, start researching from Grant's Presidency. Interesting.
Ds actually control big business now (corporations have gone woke and controlled by woke corporate executives who do woke marketing and support the liberals on social issues like Disney in Florida), and Ds control Big Media, Big Tech, Hollywood, and entertainment.
@@denisebetteridge-johnson647I would say it is more that the Democrats finally settled back into their original role while the Republicans ultimately filled the void left behind by the Whigs as the realignment over the issues around the Civil War Era stated to break down due to those debates effectively being resolved. The old dynamic is unambiguously reasserting itself by the 1896 presidential electron between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan at least but the process is arguably not fully completed until the rise of the New Deal Coalition.
This is the last election where the Ds and Rs did not face off for President. The Rs nominated Grant, but the Ds just advanced no candidate and got behind Liberal Rs. Every election since 1872 has been Rs against Ds (and of course third parties that never win).
What if scenario: Lets say if Greeley won or it were the other way around and Grant died before the electoral college met. What would happen then? I know the Constitution states, "If a winning Presidential candidate dies or becomes incapacitated between the counting of electoral votes in Congress and the inauguration, the Vice President elect will become President," but what would happen if the winning candidate dies before the counting of electoral votes like Greeley did? Would the electoral votes that the winning candidate received go to his running mate or would the electors cast their votes for a candidate or person of their choice? I know it seems weird that I'm asking this, but this election had a very unusual occurrence with what happened to Greeley.
Colfax would finish Grant's first term as president but the question is about the second term, for which he was elected in 1872. Would the votes go for Wilson? Interesting enough is that Henry Wilson died in office as VP, so he would never complete all four years as president anyway...
The electoral college would have voted anyway, but the voters for Grant would have been free to vote for whomever they want. If no candidate gets a majority of the electoral college, it goes to the house. It would have been more complicated if Grant died between the electoral college vote and inauguration since I don't think the Vice-President elected would have become President automatically until the twentieth Amendment. Maybe they would have inaugurated the Vice-President then immediately inaugurated him as President.
It's honestly not that surprising. America has had a long history as a birthplace of radical new ideas and philosophies. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, the Society of Universal Friends was founded: a Quaker offshoot quasi-socialist religious commune led by a non-binary preacher who claimed to have died as a woman and become the genderless reincarnation of Jesus Christ. The Friends were very egalitarian, women held prominent positions of power, it was particularly attractive to single women - again, this was in 1776. And while this was very notable, it wasn't entirely out of keeping with the culture of the US at the time. There were a fair few new religious denominations at the time that re-examined the role of (almost always white, admittedly) women in society in pretty radical ways. Also, this is a bit of a nitpick, but the UK doesn't choose its government leaders the way the US does - you vote for the party, not a candidate for the head of government, and the head of the main party that forms the government (who is elected by the party, not the people) becomes the new head of government. So whether the UK elects a black Prime Minister or not isn't entirely up to the voters.
@@Talisguy That last bit is something I hate about my nation's government. As far as I know, we Brits ended slavery at least 30 years before America did. We are also radical in our own ways, we actually have a popular socialist political party and we have had three female PMs, (Don't judge me but when it came to how effective they were, only the second one seemed mildly good)
@@mattthesilent777RED I thought you might be American, my bad. I'm not American either, for the record, I'm Scottish. Also...yeah, the UK did end slavery (at least at home, not in its colonies) sixty or so years ahead of the US, but the political class (and thus access to elected office) was so much more stratified by class in the UK at the time than it was in the US that a black man could never have been a contender for Prime Minister in 19th-century Britain. Several POTUSes were literally born in log cabins, dirt poor, and I could never imagine that happening in Britain because the political establishment is so dominated by upper class Eton dipshits (not that I could imagine someone becoming President after being born dirt poor in the modern US, either,) and that tends to mean people who come from money, and that just... wasn't the case for many black British people at the time. You did get one or two cases of the biracial sons of slave-owning aristocrats becoming MPs, but that was basically it. Whereas in the US, you had former slaves serving in Congress and the Senate around this time (they all represented the South, to add to the unexpected). A black man actually becoming president at this time would have been highly unlikely, but a black presidential nominee during Reconstruction? More likely than you'd think. ...Certainly much more likely than the idea would become between the end of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Act, sadly.
Grant VS Greeley in 72. Grant and Greeley in a Debate. Grant: I know I have corruption In my Cabinet But I cool. Greeley: I want to Be The First journalist To became President how About That Grant.
Victoria Woodhull was actually brought up in Mysteries of the Museum. Don't ask which one as I been benge watching episode after episode on Discovery Plus during the day (using night to catch up on youtube) and often loss track whereI am in the show
In a Scenario That Greeley Wins,It Looks Like Some Real Scenario In Brazil. In 1985,Tancredo Neves Wins The Elections Against Paulo Maluf,Tancredo Died Before he Turned President.
That has happened when people get elected to Congress but die before the new Congress convenes. Luke Letlow died of COVID after his election but before his inauguration (his wife Julia got elected in a special election to fill his US House seat).
I will note that Greeley had minimal political experience and couldn't campaign to save himself, while Brown was an ineffectual Governor and raging alcoholic: the whole 1872 Democrat/Liberal Republican ticket was, quite simply, a complete shambles. The three electors who cast their vote for the late Horace Greeley as President had their votes rejected (their VP votes for Brown were accepted), along with all 14 electoral votes from Louisiana and Arkansas (these were due to various irregularities, including allegations of electoral fraud: these states voted for Grant).
Indeed, it was the last election where we did not get Rs and Ds facing off. Ds sat out and got behind Liberal Rs and Rs nominated Grant. We have had Ds and Rs in presidential elections without fail ever since (and some third parties that never win).
Not only did David Davis have an awesome name, but he was considered one of the heaviest men in America at the time. He weighed over 400 lbs when he was on the court and supposedly weighed close to 600 in his final years.
This is my favorite election, really wish Horace Greeley won, then the Liberal Republicans might've taken up space, we might've ended up being the multiparty state we can be
@@iammrbeat I'm pretty sure this one had more, 2016 had 10 and this one had 63 (the electors were pledged to vote for Greeley even if he was dead, only 3 of them actually did even though said votes were rejected for doing so)
Even with the 25th amendment in place theres still no answer to this question. I guess the electoral college would just vote the way they wanted (like they did with greely electoral votes anyways) but im guesssing the pressure would be on to elect the vice president elect
Liberal republicans or adams' right is the silly branch of republican party. In 1964 Reagan supported goldwater, not rockefeller, the liberal republican of the day.
Ok, listen, I have no idea if this will be responded to by you or someone cause this video is old, but I have a question. On Wikipedia it says the liberal republicans were classical liberals, and created to oppose the corruption of Grant, but also his radical reconstruction, and his radical republican supporters. However, it is also the case that Greeley was a socialist, fairly radical, and that radical republicans like Charles Sumner supported the liberal republicans. This confuses me? Which description of the liberal republicans is more correct?
Socialist was not as Radical of an idea back then, in fact Moderate Republican savior Abraham Lincoln was pen pals with Karl Marx. The Liberal Republican party was grasping at straws with Greeley, really. I doubt they actually adhered to Liberalism considering their closeness to the Democratic Party, which was itself an amalgimation of Libertarianism, Liberalism, Social Democracy and Social Conservatism. Idk though, Greeley could've just been a Social Democrat and not an actual Socialist, Socialism and Liberalism do not exactly go well together..
@@moontruther7519 When I asked this I knew a lot less about the history of socialism. One of the most popular brands of socialism especially in the US was individualist socialism, and that distinctly adhered to the classical liberal idea. So did Proudhons socialism, and in certain aspects, Marx’s socialism. Lincoln never personally wrote to Marx but the Marx wrote to his office on behalf of the First International and his office sent a favorable reply. Marx was a protesting hero of the movement to keep Britain from joining the confederacy, and gathering support for the Unions. Marx and Engels were also editors of the Republican party’s main newspapers first international publishing office in London. And the Labor theory of value, which was seen as common sense morality, and the moral credit of liberalism, since Smith created it as a benefit of the market system under his belief Liberalism entailed perfect freedom, which would naturally by human nature cause perfect equality through the equitable skills and capacity of humans given equitable means. Of course the capitalist critique is pointing out the system that came about following mercantilism was not Smiths liberalism, and the labor theory of value is not fulfilled for that reason.
Michael Weiske I understand your point and I knew that before, I just didn’t think they would judge someone in politics back then for being vegetarian. I’m vegan myself anyway.
