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24th President of the United States | |
| Predecessor | William Jennings Bryan |
| Successor | Charles W. Fairbanks |
| Vice President | None |
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23rd Vice President of the United States | |
| Predecessor | Arthur Sewall |
| Successor | Robert R. Hitt |
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US Senator from Delaware | |
| Predecessor | John B. Penington |
| Successor | L. Heisler Ball |
| Born | May 4, 1840 New Castle, Delaware, US |
| Died | August 7, 1925 (aged 85) Wilmington, Delaware, US |
| Political Party | Democratic |
George Gray (May 4, 1840 – August 7, 1925) was an American politician who served as the 24th President of the United States, taking office after the assassination of William Jennings Bryan.
Early Life[]
Political Career[]
Gray was elected to the United States Senate in 1884, taking office in 1885. He served an unremarkable three terms in this office, becoming known as a moderate conservative in the party. When the progressive William Jennings Bryan was elected president in 1896, he became one of the leaders of the conservative Democrat faction in Congress which opposed many of Bryan's more radical reforms.
He was briefly considered as a candidate for the vice presidential nomination at the 1900 Democratic National Convention, as delegates tried to replace Arthur Sewall, who was widely seen as incompetent. However, it was David B. Hill of New York who eventually won the backing of conservative delegates. The debate ultimately came to naught as neither side was able to triumph, and Sewall was simply re-nominated as an unhappy compromise.
The vice presidential debate reignited when Sewall unexpectedly died in September. Party leadership knew they had to find a capable candidate who could fill in quickly as Bryan's running mate. Conservative leaders still mostly controlled the party at this point, and with the progressive delegates of the convention a long gone memory, they decided to put forth one of their own for the position. Hill was out because it was feared that he would enflame tensions left over from the convention. Gray, then, was brought up as the next choice, as his decades of experience in politics and law seemed to make him the perfect choice for a low profile, yet competent, candidate. Bryan was unhappy that his new running mate wasn't a progressive like himself, but he accepted the choice if only to avoid causing further infighting in his party as the election rapidly approached.
Gray, as expected, filled in diligently in his sudden new role, traveling both with Bryan and on his own to campaign around the country. He was often sent to the conservative Northeastern states, where the progressive Bryan was largely seen with distrust, in order to try to play peacemaker and get conservatives on board with the ticket. He and Bryan won a firm victory.
Vice Presidency[]
Resembling his time in the Senate, Gray's tenure as vice president was mostly uneventful for him. In stark contrast to his predecessor, he was seen as a solid and competent administrator, as well as someone who could effectively cooperate with Congress to get the administration's agenda passed. Though he still personally disagreed with many of the president's policies, he saw it as his duty to help forge a united front in the Democratic Party and get the proposed laws through Congress.
Gray ultimately only served a little under eight months in the vice presidential office, as he was thrust into the presidency when President Bryan died in October after having been shot by the anarchist Leon Czolgosz.
Presidency[]
Taking over a shocked and grieving nation, President Gray tried to alleviate some of their concerns by pledging to simply continue the administration's course and keep pressing for Bryan's proposals to be passed. He initially stuck to this promise, shifting to the left on several issues and asking most of Bryan's cabinet to stay on, but by the end of 1902 it was clear that the president was returning to his ideological roots. During Gray's presidency, conservatives solidly regained control of the Democratic Party, including getting many conservatives elected to Congress.
The economic recovery that started under Bryan continued under Gray. Combined with his steady, experienced demeanor, this made him a fairly popular president. What could have been a time of great strife following the second assassinated president in 16 years actually turned out to be a calm period, as people felt well taken care of with Gray at the helm. The president felt that he had a decent chance at reelection and was re-nominated unanimously at the 1904 Democratic National Convention.
On the campaign trail, his first nationwide campaign at the head of the ticket, Gray tried to strike a balance between presenting his administration as a continuation of Bryan's while also letting his policies stand on their own. He ended up staying away from how his policies differed from the old president, instead praising Bryan as a man and as a leader. There have been debates on whether this was the most successful strategy; some historians believe that Gray would have done better for himself if he simply ran as his own man and kept Bryan out of it. As it was, people couldn't help but compare the two, and for some that comparison was disappointing.
Both Gray and his opponent Charles W. Fairbanks were conservatives, with little actual difference in their policy. This led to the race becoming a battle of personalities, or rather of age- Gray was 64 at the time and had been in politics since the 1870's while Fairbanks was 52 and had only recently become a senator in 1897. Fairbanks repeatedly promised that he would return the country to normalcy, using tariffs to bring the economy back to levels of prosperity not seen since before the war. These promises and his relative fresh-face won him a lot of believers, and he won the presidency by 78 electoral votes.
Post-Presidency[]
Gray was disappointed at his loss but satisfied with his time as president, believing he had successfully left his mark on history and ran a respectable campaign against his eventual successor. While progressives briefly retained control of the party in time for the 1908 elections, Gray's presidency had succeeded in returning the country's power base to the conservatives, as a truly roaring economy under President Fairbanks seemed to prove the effectiveness of their ideas. In retirement from politics, he went back to being a lawyer on and off, retiring completely in 1916. The conservative political order finally collapsed in the early 1920's, as socialist ideals became more popular, eventually leading to a revolution that Gray would not live to see. He died in August 1925, one month before the outbreak of widespread violence.
Legacy[]
George Gray, in his time, was seen as a respectable leader who served his country honorably in a time of great confusion and unrest. This was his image for a good twenty years after he left office, but the public perception changed as socialist sentiment spread and a new government took over. Many leftists resented Gray for his governance after Bryan's death, as he said he would continue to push the same policies but ultimately abandoned them before long. Historians today look back on his presidency as a possible starting point for the general leftward shift in American politics, for it was his administration that pushed the country back towards conservatism, leading many needed reforms to be ignored and many progressive followers of Bryan to find their political refuge elsewhere- with the socialists. Gray never made such a connection himself, and to the end of his life he remained proud of his time in the White House, even as the flames of revolution burned around him.
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