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Part Eighty-Eight: Levi Morton, the Republican Folly

The Corporate President: As the election of Levi Morton was more about the nurturing of William Jennings Bryan into the presidency than Morton himself, few people had paid attention to Morton's political positions during the 1896 general campaign. Morton had become successful as a New York businessman before entering politics, and he carried his business savvy and sentiment with him into Congress and the White House. In the Senate, Morton had sided with several other pro-business politicians including Democrats, and vigorously promoted New York's financial interests. Morton was a big proponent of the Tariff of 1882, which raised tariff rates on many finished goods to help Northeastern businesses, and sided with Democrats in getting the act passed.

When he entered the White House, he continued his pro-business stance against the free trade platform of most Republicans. However, he received more criticism for refusing to consider any bill that would repeal the Merriwether-Breckenridge Act. To this criticism, Morton responded by saying that the gold standard was necessary to stabilize the United States economy. "Silver has proven to be the ruin of empires. It ruined Spain, it is ruining China, and it is led the United States to depression. It is destroying the middle class and turning us into a country millionaires and peasants, like the Mexican states and Japan."[1] Morton's skillful speeches[2] calmed most Republicans as the President assured the country that economic stability was what was needed at the time and that removing the gold standard so soon would only destabilize the economy further.

Morton had a busy term as president considering his death later in his term. One of Morton's biggest successes during his presidency was the passage of the Mesoamerican Trade Act. Put forward by Cuba Representative Antonio Maceo Grajales, the act gave incentives to American businesses dealing with Mesoamerica. The act reduced tariffs on agricultural resources such as coffee, sugar, and rubber from Mesoamerica, and improved the port of Veracruz which by now had become essential an outpost of the United States in the region. It also gave funds for improving the ports at Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Havana for improving the country's southern trade routes. The act marked the beginning of American involvement in the Caribbean and Ibero-American affairs.


From People to Progress: The Presidency of Levi Morton drove many ordinary people away from the Republican Party as it made it seem like the party on a national level had abandoned its working class platform. The 1898 midterm elections resulted in a wave of support for the Populist Party. Most of the gains by the Populist Party were in the South, where the Populists already had a modest amount of support. Some politicians ran on Populist and Republican fusion tickets, or switched parties to join the Populists. Among these were Representative Thomas Watson of Georgia who changed his primary affiliation from the Republican to the Populist parties and William Lowe of Alabama switched from the Democratic to the Populist party. They joined Marion Butler of North Carolina and Terencio Sierra[3] of Jackson as the only Populist senators from the former Confederate states.

However, the most surprising gains that the Populist Party made in 1898 were in the Northeast. For most of the end of the 19th century, the Populist Party had achieved little success in the Northeast. Much of the politics in the region was dominated by political machines, and was fought between the Democrats as representatives of business and corporate interests, and Republicans representing the working class. However, dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in 1898 led to some upsets in the electoral races in the region that year. The biggest gain in 1898 was the victory of former New York City mayor Theodore Roosevelt for the governorship of New York. Roosevelt was a popular figure among many New Yorkers, and his leadership of New York and later the Populist Party would continue the party's rise. Roosevelt would in the next decade transform the Populist Party into the Progressive Party that exists today, and become the first Progressive candidate to be elected President of the United States.

[1] Paraphrased Ron Paul to come up with this quote.
[2] Cartoons of the time ITTL referred to Morton as "Wit the Elder" and Bryan as "Wit the Younger".
[3] OTL president of Nicaragua, ITTL came to the US during his time in the shipping industry.