1880 United States Presidential Election (Brothers No More)

The United States Presidential Election of 1880, the 24th U.S. presidential election, took place on November 2, 1880. In the first election contested by the National American Party, incumbent President Samuel J. Tilden defeated George F. Edmunds by 24 electoral votes.

Background
Samuel J. Tilden only received 45% of the popular vote en route to a victory in the 1876 election, owing his victory only to disorganized and divided opposition. His presidency was seen as somewhat illegitimate from the start due to this fact, and the stain of President Pendleton's visit with the Confederate President Stonewall Jackson led Americans to be suspicious of their new leader. President Tilden, however, managed to win over the public through his honesty and eloquence. He distanced himself from the actions of Pendleton and pushed through several reforms in his first term. By the time 1880 rolled around, the Democratic Party was still unpopular. Tilden, on the other hand, was well-liked.

Democratic Nomination
The Democratic National Convention was held from June 22 to 24, 1880. President Samuel J. Tilden, despite facing some opposition from anti-reform Democrats, was nominated easily on the first ballot.

National American Nomination
The first ever National American National Convention was held from June 28 to July 3, 1880. The National Party and the American Party had officially unified only a year prior and now had to find a way to coexist as a single unit. From the beginning, factions formed around members of each old party- former National Party members supported James G. Blaine for the nomination, while former American Party members supported John Sherman. The factions deadlocked for ten ballots before a compromise candidate gained traction- George F. Edmunds of Vermont. Edmunds had been a National Party Member, but supported American candidate Roscoe Conkling in 1876. He was nominated on ballot number 12.

The Campaign
The National Americans found it hard to target Tilden during the campaign- he had maintained his image of an honest, uncorruptible candidate. Some party members accused him of election fraud, but these accusations rang hollow. Other gripes against him mostly centered around how little popular support he had in winning the 1876 election. Mostly, the National Americans focused on Pendleton's mistake and tried to carry over animosity against the Democrats from that event. Edmunds pledged to reverse Confederate-friendly policies and institute higher tariffs.

The Democrats pointed to how they had built the country back up from the failed war effort and brought in a new era of prosperity (although this "prosperity" was still not much compared to how things were before the war.). They ignored the Pendleton incident when talking about their past, and instead pointed out the integrity and accomplishments of the current president.

Results and Aftermath
This time, Tilden won both the popular and electoral votes. Despite this, it was a razor-thin margin. Tilden won by a comfortable margin in his home state of New York, which helped secure the national popular vote in his favor. His lead was less pronounced in states like Michigan and Kansas. If Michigan had flipped, Edmunds would have won.

The National Americans were frustrated at the loss and began to wonder if the Democrats would ever lose the White House. The party went on to win congressional majorities in 1882.

Tilden's second term was not nearly as successful as his first. With every other Democratic platform plank having been passed in the last 16 years, the president began to push for serious civil service reform. In this quest, he met opposition mainly from his own party. 16 years of being in almost total control of the country had caused quite a wave of corruption in the Democratic Party, and now about half of the Democrats in Congress opposed any major changes on that front. Tilden's health also steadily declined during this term, lessening his ability to fight for his cause. He would die just a few months after leaving office in 1885.