United States presidential election, 1884

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Category: United States presidential elections

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United States presidential election, 1884

The Contenders

Governor S. Grover Cleveland of New York, Democrat

Former Secretary of State James G. Blaine of Maine, Republican

The Issues

The Result

This is generally considered one of the, if not the, nastiest campaigns in US hsitory. After President Chester Arthur was defeated for renomination, the Democrats lined up Governor Grover Cleveland of New York to face off against Arthur's replacement, former Secretary of State James G. Blaine. The elections in this time period were marked by very tight victory margins: the 1876 race essentially ended in a draw, the 1880 election was almost as close, and in the 1888 election, the winner of the popular vote and the electoral vote were not the same man.

The two campaigns began faily primitive smear tactics. After Cleveland admitted to fathering an illegitimate child, the Republicans taunted him by saying, "Ma,ma, where is Pa?". Cleveland's supporters answered hopefully "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!" Blaine was colored as "the continental liar from the State of Maine" by the Cleveland campaign.

In the end, it was one final smear that made the difference. A New York City bishop and a supporter of Blaine asserted that the Democratic party was the "party of Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion". Naturally, this infuriated the city's very large Irish Catholic population, which then cast its vote for Cleveland and allowed him to carry the crucial state of New York and to win the election.

See also