The Progressive Movement in the Republican Party

The progressive movement in the Democratic party emphasized the need of freeing government from the domination of special interests. In the Republican party, the progressive movement was fundamentally the same, but manifested itself differently. There, too, the fight was against the control of government by special interests and the prostitution of government to serve the needs of a small minority. But in the Republican party the contest took the form primarily of a struggle against corporations. In 1890, owing to peculiar conditions, the Republican party in Wisconsin was defeated and La Follette failed to be returned to Congress. He felt his defeat keenly and retired to private life, taking up his law practice with the intention of remaining out of politics for good. The Republicans who had long held complete control of the government before the Democratic landslide in 1890 had used the office of state treasurer as a most effective means of political graft.