Candidate

Party

Electoral

Popular

Grover Cleveland

Democratic

219

48.5%

James G. Blaine

Republican

182

48.2%

Benjanmin F. Butler

Greenback-Labor

1.8%

John St. John

Prohibiton

1.5%

Key Terms

  1. patronage/spoils system

  2. Stalwarts and Half-breeds
  3. Mugwumps
  4. "Ma Ma, where's my pa?"
  5. "burn this letter"
  6. NY reform governor/Tammany Hall
  7. "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion"
  8. tariff debate
  9. GAR pensions

The Election of 1884 (The Mugwumps) Kathy Crucet

At the Republican convention of 1884, James Blaine, a strong supporter of the spoils system, was nominated as the presidential candidate choice. The Democrats wisely choose a sharply contrasting nominee, New York's reform governor Grover Cleveland, which led Republican reformers to support the Democrats' choice. These independent-minded Republicans were quickly nicknamed Mugwumps, an Alogonquin Indian term meaning renegade chief. The Mugwumps threw their support towards Cleveland because of his flawless public career, which differed from the record of James Blaine, who allegedly improperly secured a land grant for an Arkansas railroad.

A serious problem for Cleveland was opposition by Tammany Hall, the New York City Democratic machine he had previously fought as governor. If its immigrant voters chose not to cast their ballots, Cleveland was sure to lose his home state of New York. The Mugwumps' defection, though, enabled Cleveland to win New York and the election of 1884.