4 -The presidency & the party system (1932-1972)

Question 1

What marked the post WW2 ?

Answer 1

The post WW2 era was marked by the ascendancy of the presidency and the decline of the traditional party system.

Question 2

When this decline was obvious or not?

Answer 2

This decline was not obvious in the 1940s-1950s but the party crisis confirmed it in the 60s. It led to a reform in the late 60s, early 70s.

The rise of the presidency was not the only cause of party decline but it contributed to it as the President became more and more independent, the parties lost their influence.

As the democratic party was the majority party in the period up to 1968 it is the major reference in the reflection on the President / party relationship

Question 3

Evolution of the party system
The era was marked by 2 episodes :

Answer 3

The partisan realignment in the early 30s (1932-1936)
The social mouvement of the 1960s

Question 4

partisan realignment

Answer 4

1932-1936 : Partisan Realignment

The Great Depression transformed politics by causing ideological changes. The debate on government and society radicalised, politics became more polarised than before and as a result parties affiliation changed.

Question 5

Polarize def

Answer 5

Polarize : to divide or cause to divide into 2 sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs

Question 6

Election of FDR & consequences

Answer 6

The election of FDR in 1932 marked the end of long era of republican domination in national politics. It was linked to the depression : republicans reasserted their conservative philosophy of government based on laissez-faire capitalism (Herbert Hoover).

Roosevelt led the democrats to support a new philosophy based on interventionism and governmental regulation of the economy

⇒ As a result in 1936 the democratic party had become majority party and dominated the national government. It was the beginning of an era of democratic hegemony that lasted up to 1968.

Question 7

Th Democratic party & Roosevelt

Answer 7

In fact, the Democratic party benefited from Roosevelt popularity which was at the origin of the New deal coalition : a set of new constituencies (=élécteurs) was attracted to the democratic party by the New Deal whose voters from then on voted democratic in national elections because the party had adopted New Deal principles as its basic policy

Question 8

The Republican party & Roosevelt

Answer 8

The Republican party came to accept the welfare state after WW2 WW2 but attacked New Dealers as leftist and call for a return to conservatism.

Eisenhower embodied New Republicanism in the 1950s, a moderate conservatism that did not reject the New Deal legacy but wanted to come back to a more traditional view of government not based on an activist executive but on cooperation between congress and the president on equal terms.

Question 9

In the 1950s, the Republican Party was the minority party as for the democratic party it was still divided into

Answer 9

Southern / conservative wing
Notrthen-western / liberal wing

BUT in the late 50s-60s the Southern / conservative wing tended to lose their influence.

The 1958 and 1962 midterm election were marked by important victories by liberal democrats in the north, which changed the balance in favour of liberals.

In 1958 the liberals had a majority in the House and in 1964 a majority in the House & in the Senate

Question 10

Johnson’s action the Civil Right Act and the Voting Right Act consequence

Answer 10

Johnson’s action the Civil Right Act and the Voting Right Act weakened the conservative coalition & transformed the legislative branch in the long run

Question 11

The crisis of the 1960s
consequences

Answer 11

The events of the 60s led to the disintegration of the Democratic parties organisational structure & a relative revitalisation of the Republican party.

Actually, both parties lost supporters as the voters did not recognise themselves in them anymore.

It was a decade characterised by the rise of interest groups, grass-root politics & a growing disillusionment with all institutions, including parties.

The 60s also witnessed the rise of independent politicians and voters not affiliated with either party.

Some experts described the process as de-alignement and it is the case of sundquist.

There were several dividing issues at the time, the civil rights, the vietnam war, law and order : they divided the population and the parties.
⇒ The previous polarisation ; liberal democratic party VS conservative republican party was shattered as the two parties were torn apart by internal conflict.
⇒ So that clear identification with one party on specific issue became impossible

Question 12

The democratic party split into

Answer 12

a national pro-civil rights stance
A powerful southern segregationist wing

Then Vietnam worsen things as some party leader defended Johnson’s war while other opposed it

⇒ The results were the 1968 Presidential campaign & the Chicago convention (Johnson’s withdraw, multiplication of challengers and Humphrey’s controversial nomination) followed by Nixon’s victory.

Question 13

1964 & Republican party

Answer 13

Meanwhile, the Republican party took advantage of the crisis but did not manage to impose itself.

1964 was a turning point when Goldwater won the republican presidential nomination. He was a radical conservative as opposed to the moderate wing that dominated the party.

He tried the southern strategy / a thousand strategy to win white segregationists (who were democrat by tradition) and to win them over the republican cause. He was opposed to the civil right reform and he also call for more repression and a tougher law & order policy.

In 1966, Regan won California’s governorship based on the same stance. This event foreshadowed the rise of the new right in the 70s.

In 1968 Nixon’s election marked the beginning of a new republican era but the party was still weak as an organisation & Nixon had to face a democratic Congress.

In the 1970s, the party declined went on with the rise of participatory democracy & public interest groups. As a consequence, citizen’s groups became more and more connected if not involved with the federal government. It tended to supersede / take the place of traditional parties

Question 14

II. Presidents and their parties
Presidential Elections and the Nomination Process

Answer 14

Before the modern era, party politics was a means to check the power of the president. Historically, parties were created to organise opposition to the executive. They were meant to be the safe guard of a democratic government.

Parties were strong at the state and local level so people voted according to party affiliation even in national elections. Consequently the president’s party usually was the majority party in congress as people did not split their votes.

Then through Congress, the party could easily impose its policy on the president. The situation changed in the progressive era when the local parties started to lose their influence on the population as primary elections spread at the state level. More and more non-partisan elections were organised at the local level. Then the modern presidency undermined the main function of traditional parties providing the population with material benefits.

With the establishment of the welfare state people did not need parties anymore to cope with social or economic… The decline of parties was also favoured by a growth of interest groups. In the modern era, the president depended less and less on his party to govern as he became the chief legislator and has to listened to new constituencies that exerted their influence outside of parties

Question 15

1. Presidential elections and the nomination process

Answer 15

Up to 1968, the main influence of parties was on the presidential nomination process. Primary elections were not the rule at that time so that the party leaders dominated a process in their states. So the presidential candidate was selected by the dominant wing in his party, not by the population. Then, once elected, he had to respect the party’s positions. YET the system gradually changed at the expense of party leaders.

1936 : Democratic convention :
1952 : during the Republican Convention,
1964 during the Democratic Convention

Question 16

Democratic convention

Answer 16

1936 : Democratic convention : abolished two-thirds rule for nomination which enabled the north east and the west to impose majority will on the south.

Question 17

Republican Convention

Answer 17

1952 : during the Republican Convention, Eisenhower won the nomination whereas senator Robert Taft senator from Ohio was the party leader’s favourite. Eisenhower challenged the state delegation whose pro-tafted delegate had been appointed by party leader.

Question 18

Democratic Convention

Answer 18

1964 during the Democratic Convention : the Missispi Freedom Democratic Party’s challenge to Missispi regular delegation. This challenge led to anti-discrimination rules at the 1968 Chicago convention- ⇒ the mississippi was — and the unit rule for delegation for nomination was abolished

=> The system was officially reform after the 1968 democratic convention. The selection process was democratised as primaries became the main mode of designation of delegate

This reform was initiated by the democratic party and then the republican party followed suit

The main result was that independent candidates could win nomination without the support of party leaders

Question 19

B. FDR and the democratic party

Answer 19

With the redefinition of the presidential role in gvt there were 2 options :

→ The president could become a strong party leader
→ He could distance himself & work outside of party channels

FDR tried to control his party but he failed so he distanced himself and went on a separate way.

Question 20

The 1938 purges

Answer 20

After his 1936 landslide reelection, FDR tried to interfere with the 1938 midterm elections to get rid of anti-new deal democrats in Congress.

He campaigned in the thousand states against conservative democrats who opposed him in Congress.He argued that the New Deal could succeed only if the president was supported by a cooperative Congress.

He tried to impose his policy on the party by directly appealing to the people. He used his 1936 victory as a justification declaring that he had a popular mandate.

Yet, in the end, the purge failed and the conservative democrats allied with the Republican in Congress against Roosevelt. It was the birth of a powerful conservative coalition. It was also the decline of traditional patronate practices. Not a radical change, rather a gradual process as the New Deal developed.

Whereas executive appointments had traditionally been controlled by congressional party leaders, the president now selected personnel that was loyal to his program rather than to the party.

Question 21

Hatch Act,

Answer 21

The Hatch Act in 1939 was a congressional reaction against presidential politics : it reduced presidential control over elections and nominating conventions by prohibiting federal officials from participating in partisan campaign.

The election result illustrates the growing independence of the president from his party. In 1932, 1936, 1940,1944 Rooselevt was reelected not because he represented the democratic but thanks to his personal politics. From 1936 on, the New Deal coalition was larger than the Democratic party meaning he was reelected by people from the party & because of the new deal

Question 22

C. Truman

Answer 22

president from 1945 to 1953

His position as Roosevelt successor was difficult. He had to face a Republican Congress then he was the victim of democratic division. He was not supported by a united party. This widened the gap even more btw president and parties.

As Truman further expanded the executive branch, he did not impose himself thanks to his party but OVER it.

Between 1946 and 1948, he had to fight alone against a hostile Congress. It was a time of extensive use of veto and executive orders. In the 1948 elections, he appealed to a wide range of liberal and progressive forces beyond the democratic party.

The party was divided, Henry Wallace created the progressive party and Strome Fermont ran for the state’s rights party weakening Truman position.

Truman’s campaign was managed by the administration not the party.
Truman’s surprise victory confirmed the rise of new non-partisans interest groups at the expense of parties.

Question 23

D. Eisenhower

Answer 23

president from 1953 to 1961

He joined the Republican party before 1952. He was not a party man. Once elected he did not emphasise on partisan politics. He accepted the New Deal legacy and he tried to readjust Republican principles to it. He was the first candidate to set up his campaign organisation apart from the republican national committee in 1952, it was named “citizens for eisenhower”

He then expanded the Executive branch and he made appointments independently from the party. In 1956 he was reelected and like Roosevelt before him he benefited from personal popularity. This was confirmed by the Republican defeat in Congress.

Question 24

E. Kennedy

Answer 24

president from 1961 to 1963
Kennedy marked the advent of the personal presidency. He controlled his campaign and the first televised debate occurred during this campaign.

He campaigned and he governed as an individual not as a party leader. He had difficult relation with Congress and it further isolated the presidency.

Question 25

Johnson

Answer 25

president from 1963 to 1969

Johnson institutionalized the personalization initiated by JFK (Milkis 187). Like FDR,
Johnson made his party adopt an ambitious legislative program. In fact he dominated the party
and looked beyond it (Milkis 178). He imposed presidential politics. After 1964, he confronted
party leadership, then refused to contribute to restructuring it when in crisis.

1964: Johnson v. Goldwater. Open hostility of Southern Democrats to Johnson because of
his defense of civil rights. 5 southern states voted for Goldwater, thus breaking from regional
tradition. Johnson’s landslide victory in the nation gave. Him a personal mandate. He then used
it to press the Democratic Congress into adopting his program.

1968: party weakened by deep divisions. Johnson could have committed himself to
revitalizing the Democratic National Committee, but did not. He withdrew from the presidential
race

Question 26

G. Nixon

Answer 26

president from 1969 to 1974

He represented the moderate wing of the Republican Party. Narrow victory in 1968, but
the Republican Party lost in Congress. It marked the beginning of an era of divided government
and split tickets. It illustrated the separation between the presidency and the legislative branch.
It pursued the separation of the president from his party: creation of Committee to Reelect the
President (CREEP) for the 1972 election. It short-circuited the National Republican Committee
(Milkis 230, Rudalevige for CREEP’s surveillance activities and Watergate scandal)