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Others: Third Parties During the Populist Period (Volume 2)

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There were intense social and political struggles during the period covered by this book. We think our politics today is intense, and it is, but it pales by comparison with the capital-labor struggles of the 1880's, 1890's, and 1900's decade. The book gets into the nitty-gritty of these fierce, unrelenting battles.

With Volume II of his epic history of third parties in America, Darcy G. Richardson has outdone himself. While the first volume laid the foundation for the argument that the founders never intended there to be two major parties, this edition tells the story of minor parties' golden age. First, the book tackles Henry George - the father of modern "geolibertarianism" and the Single Tax movement. His influential campaigns in New York briefly united libertarians and socialists - a coalition that obviously could not last for long. The next several chapters deal with the rise of socialism and "populism" during the period, and the many strong third parties that emerged to advocate socialist and populist causes. This all culminates in the elections of 1896, 1900, and 1908, when the Democrats nominate "populist" William Jennings Bryan - who was also popular with many socialists - to head the national ticket. In retrospect, it is difficult to determine whether the Democrats co-opted the populist/socialist message, or the populists and socialists simply influenced the Democratic Party. Regardless, the results of the "fusion" are with us to this day. This book also focuses on the elevated terms of debate in the late 19th/ early 20th century, in which campaigns were waged and coalitions were formed over a subject as seemingly bland (today) as monetary policy. In fact, many Democrats defected from the national ticket when Bryan was nominated, forming the Gold Democrats. All in all, I learned a lot from reading this wonderful work, even though I already thought I was well-versed on the third-party politics of the time. Being a south-east Michigan resident right on the border with Toledo, I had no idea that the city had a popular independent mayor or that it figured so heavily in national politics at this time. Today, the city is bombarded with more political advertising than any other (due to Ohio's status as a "battleground state" and Michigan's proximity), so I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. I cannot wait for Volume III!