The Fourth Party System is the term used in political science and history for the period in American political history from about 1896 to 1932 that was dominated by the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

, except the 1912 split in which Democrats captured the White House and held it for eight years. American history texts usually call the period the Progressive Era. The concept was introduced under the name "System of 1896" by E. E. Schattschneider in 1960, and the numbering scheme was added by political scientists in the mid-1960s. The period featured a transformation from the issues of the Third Party System, which had focused on the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

, race, and monetary issues. The era began in the severe depression of 1893 and the extraordinarily intense election of 1896. It included the Progressive Era,

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and the start of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The Great Depression caused a realignment that produced the Fifth Party System, dominated by the Democratic New Deal Coalition until the 1970s. The central domestic issues concerned government regulation of railroads and large corporations ("

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the holder of a right gives it to another person or entity who must keep and use it solely for another's benefit. In the Anglo-American common law, the party who entrusts the right is known as the "sett ...

"), the money issue (gold versus silver), the protective tariff, the role of labor unions, child labor, the need for a new banking system, corruption in party politics, primary elections, the introduction of the federal income tax, direct election of senators, racial segregation, efficiency in government, women's suffrage, and control of immigration. Foreign policy centered on the 1898

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

Imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...

, the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

, World War I, and the creation of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. Dominant personalities included presidents

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

(R),

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

(R), and

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(D), three-time presidential candidate

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

(D), and Wisconsin's progressive Republican Robert M. La Follette, Sr.

Beginnings

The period began with the realignment of 1894–96. The 1896 presidential election is often seen as a

realigning election A political realignment, often called a critical election, critical realignment, or realigning election, in the academic fields of political science and political history, is a set of sharp changes in party ideology, issues, party leaders, regiona ...

, in which McKinley's view of a stronger central government building American industry through protective tariffs and a dollar based on gold triumphed. The voting patterns established then displaced the near-deadlock the major parties had held seen since the Civil War; the Republican dominance begun then would continue until 1932, another realigning election with the ascent of

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Phillips argues that, with the possible exception of Iowa Senator Allison, McKinley was the only Republican who could have defeated Bryan—he theorized that eastern candidates such as Morton or Reed would have done badly against the Illinois-born Bryan in the crucial Midwest. According to the biographer, though Bryan was popular among rural voters, "McKinley appealed to a very different industrialized, urbanized America." The Republican victory in 1896 over

and his Democratic Party was relatively close the first time. When Republican victory repeated in 1900 by an even bigger margin, business confidence was restored, a long epoch of prosperity was inaugurated, and most of the issues and personalities of the Third Party System were swept away. Most voting blocs continued unchanged, but some realignment took place giving Republicans dominance in the industrial Northeast and new strength in the border states. Thus, the way was clear for the Progressive Movement to impose a new way of thinking and a new agenda for politics. During this period, a generational shift took place as the veterans of the Civil War aged out and were replaced by a younger generation more concerned with social justice and curbing the inequalities of industrial capitalism. The Democratic Party, after largely being excluded from national politics in the decades following the Civil War, would see a resurgence during this period thanks to the new immigrant voting blocs. The presidency of Woodrow Wilson marked a watershed as a new generation of Democrats without the baggage of slavery and secession. Meanwhile, the Republican Party, after a brief fling with progressivism under

, quickly reasserted itself as the party of big business and laissez-faire capitalism.

The tariff

Protection was the ideological cement holding the Republican coalition together. High tariffs were used by Republicans to promise higher sales to business, higher wages to industrial workers, and higher demand for their crops to farmers. Progressive insurgents said it promoted monopoly. Democrats said it was a tax on the little man. It had greatest support in the Northeast, and greatest opposition in the South and West. The Midwest was the battle ground. The great battle over the high

Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act The Payne–Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909 (ch. 6, 36 Stat. 11), named for Representative Sereno E. Payne (R– NY) and Senator Nelson W. Aldrich (R– RI), began in the United States House of Representatives as a bill raising certain tariffs on g ...

in 1910 ripped the Republicans apart and set up the realignment in favor of the Democrats.

Progressive reforms

Alarmed at the new rules of the game for campaign funding, the Progressives launched investigations and exposures (by the "

muckraker The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist pub ...

" journalists) into corrupt links between party bosses and business. New laws and constitutional amendments weakened the party bosses by installing

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

and directly electing senators.

shared the growing concern with business influence on government. When

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

appeared to be too cozy with pro-business conservatives in terms of tariff and conservation issues, Roosevelt broke with his old friend and his old party. He crusaded for president in 1912 at the head of an ill-fated "Bull Moose" Progressive party. The schism with Roosevelt helped elect

in 1912 and left pro-business conservatives as the dominant force in the GOP. The GOP elected Warren G. Harding and

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

. In 1928

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

became the last president of the Fourth Party System. Many of the Progressives, especially in the Democratic Party supported labor unions. Unions did become important components of the Democratic Party during the Fifth Party System. However, historians have long debated why no Labor Party emerged in the United States, in contrast to Western Europe. The

that began in 1929 spoiled the nation's optimism and ruined Republican chances. In long-term perspective

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Ci ...

in 1928 started a voter realignment—a new coalition—based among ethnics and big cities that spelled the end of classless politics of the Fourth Party System and helped usher in the Fifth Party System with Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal coalition. As one political scientist explains, "The election of 1896 ushered in the Fourth Party System ... utnot until 1928, with the nomination of Al Smith, a northeastern reformer, did Democrats make gains among the urban, blue-collar, and Catholic voters who were later to become core components of the New Deal coalition and break the pattern of minimal class polarization that had characterized the Fourth Party System." In 1932 the landslide victory of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt led to the New Deal coalition which dominated the Fifth Party System, after 1932.

Women's suffrage

Women vigorously defined their role in political parties from 1880 to 1920, with partisan women generally forming auxiliaries to the Republican and Democratic parties. The formation of Roosevelt's Progressive Party in 1912 offered women a chance for equality. Progressive party leader

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of s ...

openly advocated women's partisanship. The Democrats, led by Woodrow Wilson, dodged the feminist demands for the vote by insisting the states should handle the matter, realizing the South strongly opposed women's suffrage. After New York Democrats came out for suffrage, Wilson altered course and supported a national constitutional amendment, which finally passed in 1920 with support from Tennessee. Women's strong support on the home front for the war effort during

energized supporters and weakened the opponents. After the Progressive Party loss in 1912, partisan women continued to form auxiliaries in the major parties. After 1920, inclusion and power in political parties persisted as issues for partisan women. Former suffragists, mobilized into the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

shifted to emphasize the need for women to purify politics, endorse world peace, support prohibition, and create more local support for schools and public health. In the early 1920s both parties paid special acknowledgment to women's interests and named token women to a few highly visible offices. Congress passed a major welfare program sought by women, the Sheppard–Towner Act of 1921. By 1928, it was apparent to male politicians that women had weaker partisanship than men, but their opinions on political issues were parallel with a few exceptions such as peace and prohibition. In the long run, 1870–1940, woman suffrage at the state and federal level was correlated with increases in state government expenditures and revenue and more liberal voting patterns for federal representatives.

Prohibition

In most of the country prohibition was of central importance in progressive politics before World War I, with a strong religious and ethnic dimension. Most Pietistic Protestants were "dries" who advocated

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

as a solution to social problems; they included Methodists,

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs i ...

Disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, and Scandinavian Lutherans. On the "wet" side,

Episcopalians Anglicanism is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Euro ...

, Irish

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, German Lutherans and German Catholics attacked prohibition as a menace to their social customs and personal liberty. Prohibitionists supported direct democracy to enable voters to bypass the state legislature in lawmaking. In the North, the Republican Party championed the interests of the prohibitionists while the Democratic Party represented ethnic group interests. In the South, the Baptist and Methodist churches played a major role in forcing the Democratic party to support prohibition. After 1914 the issue shifted to the Germans' opposition to Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy. In the 1920s, however the sudden, unexpected outburst of big city crime associated with bootlegging undermined support for prohibition, and the Democrats took up the cause for repeal, finally succeeding in 1932.

International policies

The

in 1898 precipitated the end of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

and the Pacific, with the 1898 Treaty of Paris giving the US control over the former Spanish colonies. Permanent ownership of the Philippines was a major issue in the 1900 presidential election. William Jennings Bryan, although strongly supportive of the war against Spain denounced the permanent acquisition of the Philippines which was strongly defended by Republicans, especially the Vice-Presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt in 1904 boasted of his success in gaining control of the Panama Canal, in 1903. Democrats attacked the move, but their attempt to apologize to Colombia failed. The United States also appeared on the world scene in the last years of World War I. President

tried to negotiate peace in Europe, but when Germany began

unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to s ...

against American shipping in early 1917 he called on Congress to declare war. Ignoring military affairs he focused on diplomacy and finance. On the home front he began the first effective draft in 1917, raised billions through

Liberty loans A liberty bond (or liberty loan) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financ ...

, imposed an

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

on the wealthy, set up the

War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Becaus ...

, promoted labor union growth, supervised agriculture and food production through the

Food and Fuel Control Act The Food and Fuel Control Act, , also called the Lever Act or the Lever Food Act was a World War I era US law that among other things created the United States Food Administration and the United States Fuel Administration. Legislative history ...

, took over control of the railroads, and suppressed left-wing anti-war movements. Like the European states, the United States experimented with a war economy. In 1918, Wilson advocated for various international reforms in the Fourteen Points, among them public diplomacy, freedom of navigation, "equality of trade conditions" and removal of economic barriers, an "impartial adjustment of all colonial claims", the creation of a Polish state (the

second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

), and, most importantly the creation of an association of nations. The latter would become the

. The League became highly controversial for Wilson and the Republicans refused to compromise. Voters in 1920 showed little support for the League and the U.S. never joined it. Peace was a major political theme in the 1920s (especially now because women were voting). Under the Harding administration, the Washington Naval Conference of 1922 achieved significant naval disarmament for ten years. The

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in th ...

were marked, on the international scene by the problem of the economic reparations due from Germany to France and Great Britain, as well as by various irredentist claims. The US acted as mediators in this conflict, first with the Dawes Plan in 1924 and then with the Young Plan in 1929.

References

Bibliography

* Burner, David. ''Herbert Hoover: A Public Life''. (1979). * Burnham, Walter Dean, "The System of 1896: An Analysis," in Paul Kleppner, et al., ''The Evolution of American Electoral Systems'', Greenwood. (1983) pp 147–202. ** Burnham, Walter Dean. "Periodization Schemes and 'Party Systems': The "System of 1896" as a Case in Point," ''Social Science History'', Vol. 10, No. 3 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 263–31
online at JSTOR
* Carter, Susan, ed. ''Historical Statistics of the U.S.'' (Millennium Edition) (2006) series Ca11 * Cherny, Robert W. ''A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan'' (1994) * Cooper, John Milton ''The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt''. (1983) a dual biography * Craig, Douglas B. ''After Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, 1920–1934'' (1992) * * Edwards, Rebecca. ''Angels in the Machinery: Gender in American Party Politics from the Civil War to the Progressive Era'' (1997) * Fahey, James J. "Building Populist Discourse: An Analysis of Populist Communication in American Presidential Elections, 1896–2016." ''Social Science Quarterly'' 102.4 (2021): 1268-1288
online
* Folsom, Burton W. "Tinkerers, Tipplers, and Traitors: Ethnicity and Democratic Reform in Nebraska During the Progressive Era." ''Pacific Historical Review'' 1981 50(1): 53-75. * Gosnell, Harold F. ''Boss Platt and His New York Machine: A Study of the Political Leadership of Thomas C. Platt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Others'' (1924) * Gould, Lewis L. ''America in the Progressive Era, 1890–1914'' (2000) * Gould, Lewis L. ''Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics'' (2008
excerpt and text search
* Gustafson, Melanie. "Partisan Women in the Progressive Era: the Struggle for Inclusion in American Political Parties." ''Journal of Women's History'' 1997 9(2): 8–30. Fulltext online at SwetsWise and Ebsco. * Harbaugh, William Henry. ''The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt.'' (1963) * Harrison, Robert. ''Congress, Progressive Reform, and the New American State'' (2004) * Hofstadter, Richard. ''The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R.'' (1955) * Hofstadter, Richard. ''The American Political Tradition'' (1948), chapters on Bryan, Roosevelt, Wilson and Hoover * Jensen, Richard. ''The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888–1896'' (1971) * Jensen, Richard. ''Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854–1983'' (1983) * Kazin, Michael. ''What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party'' (202
excerpt
* Keller, Morton. ''Affairs of State: Public Life in Late Nineteenth Century America'' (1977) * Kleppner, Paul. ''Continuity and Change in Electoral Politics, 1893–1928'' Greenwood. 1987 * * Lee, Demetrius Walker, "The Ballot as a Party-System Switch: The Role of the Australian Ballot in Party-System Change and Development in the USA," ''Party Politics'', Vol. 11, No. 2, 217–241 (2005) * Lichtman, A. J. "Critical elections theory and the reality of American presidential politics, 1916–40." ''American Historical Review'' (1976) 81: 317–348
in JSTOR
* Lichtman, Allan J. ''Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928'' (1979). * Link, Arthur Stanley. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910–1917'' (1972) standard political history of the era * Link, Arthur. ''Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910–1917'' (1963) * McSeveney, Samuel T. "The Fourth Party System and Progressive Politics", in. L. Sandy Maisel and William Shade (eds) ''Parties and Politics in American History'' (1994) * Mahan, Russell L. "William Jennings Bryan and the Presidential Campaign of 1896" ''White House Studies'' 2003 3(2): 215–227. * Morris, Edmund. ''Theodore Rex'' (2002), detailed biography of Roosevelt as president 1901–1909 * Mowry, George. ''The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America, 1900–1912.'' (1954) * Murphy, Paul L. ed. "Political Realignment and the Fourth-Party System, 1896 to 1910," in Paul L. Murphy, ed., ''Political parties in American history: 1890-present'' (vol 3. 1974) pp. 945-1000. * Murphy, Paul L. ed. “The Fourth-Party System in Transition, 1910-1924," in Paul L. Murphy, ed., ''Political parties in American history: 1890-present'' (vol 3. 1974) pp. 1001-1008, * Rothbard, Murray N. ''The Progressive Era'' (2017), libertarian interpretatio
online excerpt
* Sanders, Elizabeth. ''Roots of Reform: Farmers, Workers, and the American State, 1877–1917'' (1999). argues the Democrats were the true progressives and GOP was mostly conservative * Sarasohn, David. ''The Party of Reform: Democrats in the Progressive Era'' (1989), covers 1910–1930. * Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr., ed. ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008'' (2011) 3 vol and 11 vol editions; detailed analysis of each election, with primary documents
online v. 1. 1789-1824 -- v. 2. 1824-1844 -- v. 3. 1848-1868 -- v. 4. 1872-1888 -- v. 5. 1892-1908 -- v. 6. 1912-1924 -- v. 7. 1928-1940 -- v. 8. 1944-1956 -- v. 9. 1960-1968 -- v. 10. 1972-1984 -- v. 11. 1988-2001
* Sundquist, James L. ''Dynamics of the Party System'', (2nd ed. 1983) * Ware, Alan. ''The American Direct Primary: Party Institutionalization and Transformation in the North'' (2002) * Williams, R. Hal. ''Realigning America: McKinley, Bryan, and the Remarkable Election of 1896'' (2010
excerpt and text search

Primary sources

* Bryan, William Jennings. ''First Battle'' (1897), speeches from 1896 campaign
online
* Ginger, Ray, ed. ''William Jennings Bryan; Selections'' (1967)
online
* La Follette, Robert. ''Autobiography'' (1913
online
* Roosevelt, Theodore. ''Autobiography'' (1913
online
* Whicher, George F., ed. ''William Jennings Bryan and the Campaign of 1896'' (1953), primary and secondary sources
online

External links

Photographs of prominent politicians, 1861-1922; these are pre-1923 and out of copyright

* John C. Green and Paul S. Herrnson. "Party Development in the Twentieth Century: Laying the Foundations for Responsible Party Government?" (2000
online version
{{Democratic Party (United States) Political history of the United States Progressive Era in the United States 1890s in the United States 1900s in the United States 1910s in the United States 1920s in the United States