page_title: Bourbon Democrat
hierarchical_section_title: Bourbon Democrat
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: "A sail! A sail!!" Abstract: Illustration shows a woman labeled "Dem. Party" on the rocky coast of a deserted island, nearby is an empty jug labeled "Bourbonism the Only Subsistence for 16 Years (1860-76)" and a broken cask labeled "For 8 Years (1876-84) Sustained Life on the Fraud Issue"; she has sighted a ship labeled "Independent Republicans" head her way. John Kelly, dressed like an Indian, is creeping over rocks on the right, he holds a bow labeled "Tammany" in one hand and an arrow labeled "Deal" in the other; he wears a medallion around his neck labeled "J.K." Physical description: 1 print&#160;: chromolithograph. Notes: J. Keppler.; Copyright 1884 by Keppler &amp; Schwarzmann.; Illus. from Puck, v. 15, no. 382, (1884 July 2), centerfold.; Title from item.
context_page_description: Bourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States in the later 19th century to refer to members of the Democratic Party, usually Southern, who were ideologically aligned with conservatism or classical liberalism, especially those who supported presidential candidates Charles O'Conor in 1872, Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1888/1892–1896, and Alton B. Parker in 1904.
  After 1904, the Bourbons faded away. Southerner Woodrow Wilson, who had been a Bourbon, made a deal in 1912 with the leading opponent of the Bourbons, William Jennings Bryan; Bryan endorsed Wilson for the Democratic nomination and Wilson named Bryan Secretary of State. Bourbon Democrats were promoters of a form of laissez-faire capitalism which included opposition to the high-tariff protectionism that the Republicans were then advocating as well as fiscal discipline. They represented business interests, generally supporting the goals of banking and railroads, but opposed to subsidies for them and were unwilling to protect them from competition.
context_section_description: Bourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States in the later 19th century (1872–1904) to refer to members of the Democratic Party, usually Southern, who were ideologically aligned with conservatism or classical liberalism, especially those who supported presidential candidates Charles O'Conor in 1872, Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1888/1892–1896, and Alton B. Parker in 1904.
  After 1904, the Bourbons faded away. Southerner Woodrow Wilson, who had been a Bourbon, made a deal in 1912 with the leading opponent of the Bourbons, William Jennings Bryan; Bryan endorsed Wilson for the Democratic nomination and Wilson named Bryan Secretary of State. Bourbon Democrats were promoters of a form of laissez-faire capitalism which included opposition to the high-tariff protectionism that the Republicans were then advocating as well as fiscal discipline. They represented business interests, generally supporting the goals of banking and railroads, but opposed to subsidies for them and were unwilling to protect them from competition. They opposed American imperialism and overseas expansion, fought for the gold standard against bimetallism, and promoted what they called "hard" and "sound" money. Strong supporters of states' rights and reform movements such as the Civil Service Reform and opponents of the corrupt city bosses, Bourbons led the fight against the Tweed Ring. The anti-corruption theme earned the votes of many Republican Mugwumps in 1884.
  The term "Bourbon Democrats" was never used by the Bourbon Democrats themselves. It was not the name of any specific or formal group and no one running for office ever ran on a Bourbon Democrat ticket. The term "Bourbon"—Bourbon was a Southern drink—was mostly used disparagingly by critics complaining of viewpoints they saw as old-fashioned. A number of splinter Democratic parties, such as the Straight-Out Democratic Party (1872) and the National Democratic Party (1896), that actually ran candidates, fall under the more general label of Bourbon Democrats.
caption: 1884 cartoon illustrating the decline of the "Democrat Bourbonism" (represented as an empty jug) by Joseph Keppler
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