| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 199 electoral votes of the Electoral College 100 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Electoral College results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Confederate States Presidential Election of 1903, the 8th CS presidential election, took place on November 3, 1903. Confederate Party candidate James D. Richardson, running on a unity ticket with the People's Agrarian Party, defeated Southern Party candidate Augustus Octavius Bacon. It was the first unanimous CS presidential election since 1867, and the first to be accomplished in a contested election.
Background[]
The years following the Spanish-Confederate War were very hard times for the Confederacy. Trade embargoes by the major European powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and France, along with a boll weevil infestation that devastated cotton crops, sent the Confederate economy into a total collapse. The election of Benjamin Tillman in 1897 was supposed to show the defiance of the Confederate people in response to these hardships, but all Tillman's presidency accomplished was sending the nation into an even worse depression. Tillman grew increasingly bitter as none of his policies worked and began lashing out at politicians and even the Confederate people who he claimed didn't have the will to fight the European powers.
In an attempt to bring in additional support and halt the momentum of a major third party, the Confederate Party reached out to the People's Agrarian Party in hopes of securing a merger. Notable opposition from within both parties prevented this from happening, but a different deal was struck instead. The two parties would run a unity ticket, with a Confederate Party politician nominated for president and a Farmer's Party politician as his running mate. This was seen as favorable for both parties in the long run, bringing in additional support for the Confederates, bringing increased legitimacy for the Farmers, and nearly guaranteeing a win over the Southern Party in November.
Confederate Party Nomination[]
The Confederate National Convention was held from June 20-25 in New Orleans. Many candidates sought the nomination, hoping to prey on the weakness of the incumbent Southern Party. The most notable candidates were James Hay of Virginia, Joseph Blackburn of Arkansas, Charles Allen Culberson of Texas, and James D. Richardson of Tennessee. Richardson went into the convention with the majority of support, but not enough delegates to win a majority. It took until the third ballot for him to win enough delegates, and his elegant acceptance speech was praised by almost everyone in attendance. Richardson was an educated Freemason, making him a total opposite of the incumbent President Tillman.
Southern Party Nomination[]
The Southern National Convention was held from June 28-July 3 in Charleston. The party members, recognizing the unpopularity of President Tillman, tried to nominate a candidate that had nothing to do with him. Augustus Octavius Bacon, one of the many candidates that lined up to run, fit that bill. Bacon was a self-described "Anglophile" who advocated the opening of negotiations with the U.K. and the other European powers. The party also adopted platform planks that were seen to be in direct conflict with the policies of Tillman. The incumbent president raged when he heard of the convention's results, cursing the party that had "betrayed" him and the CSA.
Farmer's Party Nomination[]
The People's Agrarian Convention was held from June 26-30 in New Orleans. The convention started as soon as the Confederate Convention ended, taking place in the same building and even using the same stage and set-up. The party endorsed James D. Richardson for president and then nominated popular party leader Thomas E. Watson as their choice for vice president. To close the convention, Richardson made an appearance on stage as his new running mate made his acceptance speech. This was not the first time the two men had met, as they served concurrent terms in the House of Representatives from 1894-96, but Richardson did not remember Watson and remarked that he seemed like "an honorable man."
The Campaign[]
From the start, President Tillman occasionally spoke out against both candidates, advising that any "self-respecting Southerner" would do well to support neither campaign. He considered running his own campaign and possibly even starting a new party, but he backed down from this after having a hard time finding any candidate who would run under his banner.
Tillman's rantings hurt Bacon's campaign far more than it hurt Richardson's. Bacon tried his best to ignore the negative comments and to distance himself from the president, while the Confederates tried their best to highlight the Tillman's comments and make voters associate him with the other politicians in his party. Richardson ran a traditional campaign without much traveling, letting Watson do most of the leg work. While many expected that the conflicting policies of Richardson, Watson, and their respective parties would make them ineffective as a duo, the two men actually developed a good chemistry as election day approached. On the campaign trail, Watson stayed away from specific policies and instead spoke about the need for general change in the Confederacy. He told voters that he was confident Richardson would bring that change.
Results and Aftermath[]
The disunity of the Southern Party, the comments coming from Tillman, and the perceived timidness of Bacon spelled doom for his campaign. Richardson and Watson won a triumphant, unanimous victory that proved to be a sound rejecting of Southern Party policies, Richardson being the first Confederate presidential candidate to win over 2 million votes. Despite this huge margin of victory, the public was not as enthusiastic about their new president as one might expect. They were still skeptical of politics-as-usual as the situation in the country continued to decline, and it would take a solid reversal of fortune for the people's confidence in government to return.
Richardson had a productive start to his presidency, as the same electoral wave that delivered him the presidency also gave the Confederates large majorities in both houses of Congress. He promoted the use of government-owned slaves in innovative ways, often using them to spur the growth of industry. He also advocated for the expansion of telegraph and rail lines in an attempt to connect the country.
President Richardson's progress ended when he was shot by Southern Party member Micah Sayers, dying instantly and passing the presidency to the progressive Thomas E. Watson. Watson spent his five years in office pushing his "radical" policies, greatly increasing the popularity of his party. The economic problems finally came to an end during the later part of his presidency, as France and Spain ended their embargoes. As 1909 approached, the People's Agrarian Party had made massive gains in popularity and became capable of competing on its own with the other major parties. The Southern Party, on the other hand, had seen its reputation destroyed after Tillman's presidency and the assassination of Richardson. It would take them years before they returned to a solid level of power in government.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
