ABSTRACT
New political issues—for example, monetary policy, civil service reform, and tariff reduction—held the potential for aiding the forgetting process and even, possibly, bringing forward new party leaders. As a radical-conservative factionalism intensified among the Republicans, National Chairman Belmont and other Democrats considered how to make the most of it, particularly after a series of impressive Democratic victories in the 1867 local elections. The platform emphatically approved various greenback proposals and favored a tariff for revenue only, both having become compelling issues in national affairs. At the national committee meeting, August Belmont was again elected national chairman. President Andrew Johnson’s party loyalty had been blemished and his defeats at the hands of the Radical Republicans were costly. After Grant’s election, New York’s ascendancy in the national party was threatened by Seymour’s retirement and by the growing influence of the Tweed Ring. Party regulars among the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats were well disposed toward a David Davis-Horace Greeley ticket.
