1888 United States Presidential Election (Brothers No More)

The United States Presidential Election of 1888, the 26th U.S. presidential election, took place on November 6, 1888. John G. Carlisle defeated Russell A. Alger to put the Democrats back in power after only one term of National American control.

Background
The United States seemed to be heading on a new path after the election of National American William B. Allison in the 1884 election. Allison wanted to pass popular policies that promoted the economy and toughened up on the Confederacy. There was great potential in his presidency, but he was unfortunately shot and killed just three months into his term. Levi P. Morton then took over as president. He went on to pass the laws passed by his National American Congress, putting in place most of the legislation that Allison championed. Corruption soon became rampant in his administration, though, overshadowing any of the other positive changes he made. This led to an increase in support for anti-corruption measures in government, which the Democrats quickly took advantage of. Ironically, the party that had overseen the most corrupt period of governance in American history was now seen as the anti-corruption party.

Democratic Nomination
The 1888 Democratic National Convention was held from June 5-10 in St. Louis. Many candidates came forward in support of civil service reform. There was one problem with this, that being that almost all of those candidates had themselves participated in numerous corruption scandals. One of the Democratic politicians that had not had any major scandals over the past decade was John G. Carlisle, a representative from Kentucky. While Carlisle was the front runner, Democratic politicians were worried about nominating a man from a border state. They had already been under fire from their opponents for being too sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and they were afraid that Carlisle would draw the same criticisms. Despite their worries, Carlisle prevailed on the third ballot. Daniel W. Vorhees of Indiana won the vice presidential nomination.

National American Nomination
The 1888 National American National Convention was held from June 27-July 2 in New York. Incumbent President Levi P. Morton sought the nomination but was not expected to win it. His corrupt administration and perceived weak leadership left him with little chance of being elected in his own right. Russell A. Alger of Michigan, John Sherman of Ohio, and Walter Q. Gresham of Indiana were the other major candidates. James G. Blaine had a fair amount of support among the delegates, but he declined to seek the nomination. After 10 ballots of flip-flopping and deal making, Alger became the party's nominee for president. William O'Connell Bradley of Kentucky was nominated for vice president.

The Campaign
The two candidates ran very different campaigns. Carlisle was aggressive and transparent. He advocated for vast civil service reform and constantly expressed his contempt for the Confederacy. Alger stayed at home and stuck to the traditional platform points of higher tariffs, civil rights advancement, and opposition to the Confederacy, along with some token support for civil service reform. Alger soon gained a reputation of being distant and out of touch. Despite this, he never truly believed that he could lose to a Democrat from Kentucky in the current anti-Southern climate.

Results and Aftermath
It was an uphill battle for Carlisle all the way, as he had to convince the people that he was not a secret Confederate sympathizer. In the end, his personal integrity and advocacy for anti-corruption reform won him the support of the public. Many believe that this campaign was more of a loss by Alger than a win by Carlisle, and that if Alger had run a more aggressive campaign he would have won handily.

President Carlisle went on to accomplish his goals of reforming civil service. His administration was far less corrupt than Morton's. He would also be very aggressive towards the Confederacy, setting high tariffs on trade across the border and nearly bringing the two nations to war in 1892. His trade restrictions on the Confederacy would end up sending both nations into an economic shock in 1893, although by then Carlisle was out of office.