Political Parties Quotes
Before that both parties had liberals and conservatives in profusion. Many of the Democatic Party positions were very conservative. Roosevelt wanted the party to become the liberal and left wing policy. He was able to make the party economically liberal, but the worst of America’s racists were all Democrats at the time and stayed with the Democratic Party led the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Bill of 1963. The Republican Party then created a home for the racist Southern Democrats, who left the Democratic Party in anger.
The press secretary found the President very morose the day after his great triumph of passing the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. Moyers asked why he looked so sad.
Despite his fears, that is exactly what happened. Ironically, he himself was the focus of much dissatisfaction with the administration, and the Federalists led by Adams and the Democratic Republicans led by Jefferson opposed each other, ousting Adams.
Hanna, managing William McKinley’s Presidential Campaign against William Jennings Bryan, outspent is opponents by a factor of ten to one. Few understood that at the time or the profound effect that money could play in national politics. Hanna was a political strategist far ahead of his time.
“Factions” was the word for Political Parties then. Henry, George Washington and other founding fathers were opposed to political parties, while Madison and others thought they needed to controlled. Jefferson thought parties to be important. So there was no uniform consensus among the Founding Fathers. This has his last public speech before his death.
Although the Nazis railed against the Communists & Socialists, the potential opposition they feared the most was the middle class. See also {582967}.
There are many democracies that have run into this problem at many times. Even the United States had situations like this. The Adams-Jefferson Presidential Contest caused President Adams to curtail civil rights so he could not be as viciously attacked. The polarization after the first Black was elected president in 2008 was another period of destructive contention and polarization.
The logical conclusion of the Jeffersonian approach was perhaps best reached by H. L. Mencken: {607257}. This quotation is often used incorrectly to show that Jefferson opposed political parties. While he did in 1789, he changed his position after observing America develop. See {51500} for Jefferson’s later view.
He is credited with the origin of this statement by many sources but a primary quotation has eluded us.
“Republicans” then referred to strong opponents of not only monarchy, but opposed a strong Presidency and federal government. The Federalists who supported John Adams for reelection to a 2nd term, were trounced so badly that it was the end of the Federalist Party. Their attacks on Jefferson had been particularly vicious with the hyperpartisanship as bad as in the early years of the 21st century. Jefferson tried to unify the nation with this quotation. It helped but there was still much bitterness.
The loyalty and sometimes hypocrisy that is often called for by political parties tends to be offensive to people of serious thought and intellect. However, America has developed two major political parties which while from time to time tend to lock-step obedience, over time tolerate wide diversity and there are few areas in which there can be a party loyalty test. In nations where there are many parties each can be very well-defined and narrow, while if essentially only two, they must have broad tents in order to win. Thinkers are more comfortable in that kind of party.
Although the Nazis railed against the Communists & Socialists, the potential opposition they feared the most was the middle class. See also {582966}.
