ABSTRACT
In 1873, Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner published a satirical novel called The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Since then, the term has most often been used to characterize a period of stagnation, laissez-faire economic policies, and endemic corruption in US politics. In 1884, Grover Cleveland became the first Democrat elected to the presidency since end of Congressional Reconstruction. Rather than marking a turn of the political tide, his presidency further exacerbated political divisions. As the 1880 elections approached, the Republican Party’s factions saw their chance to restore the old order of things, particularly when it came to the spoils system. The 1884 election represented a breakthrough for the Democrats—their first presidential election win since the Civil War. Democratic success did not bring to power a party any more united than the outgoing Republicans. Perhaps the most influential Republican in the US Senate, especially after the departure of Blaine and Conkling in 1881, was John Sherman of Ohio.
