Southern Democrats: Encyclopedia II - Southern Democrats - Post-Reconstruction to modern times

Southern Democrats - Post-Reconstruction to modern times

At the beginning of the 20th century the Democrats, led by the dominant Southern wing, had the majority in both houses of Congress. In 1912 incumbent Republican W. Howard Taft was defeated in an electoral landslide, losing to Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat from New Jersey (Though he was Southern and thus a parachute candidate). And from 1912 through 1918, the three branches of government were controlled by the Democratic Party. However when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, and with isolationism running high, the Republicans ran the 1918 elections on a platform of pacifism and rejection of the internationalist sentiment favored by Wilson. (See U.S. House election, 1918 and U.S. Senate election, 1918) The Democrats lost the Congress, and in 1920, Warren Harding was elected president in a landslide, which was widely viewed as a repudiation of Wilson's policies.

From 1918 until 1932, the Democrats were relegated to second place status in politics, controlling no branch of the government. However, with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Republicans lost the Congress in 1930 and the White House in 1932 by huge margins. By this time, however, the Democratic Party leadership began to change its tone somewhat. With the Great Depression gripping the nation, and with the lives of most Americans disrupted, the assisting of African-Americans in American society was seen as necessary by the new government.

This new tone irked many Southern loyalists. This was the beginning of the change of the party. Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program would unite the different party factions for over three decades, but Southerners began to see the change.

After World War II, the civil rights movement took hold. A new wave of young, liberal Democrats were changing the face of the party, and Southerners were feeling alienated. However, most still voted loyally for their party. The old conservative stalwarts were trying to resist the changes that were sweeping the nation. With the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it was the final straw for many Southern Democrats, who began voting against Democratic incumbents for GOP candidates. The Republicans carried many Southern states for the first time since before the Great Depression.

When Richard Nixon courted voters with his Southern Strategy, many Democrats became Republicans and the South became fertile ground for the GOP, which conversely was becoming more conservative as the Democrats were becoming more liberal. However, Democratic incumbents still held sway over voters in many states, especially those of the Deep South. In fact, until the 1980s, Democrats still had much control over Southern politics. It wasn't until the 1990s that Democratic control collapsed, starting with the elections of 1994, in which Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress, through the rest of the decade. Southern Democrats of today are mostly urban liberals, while rural residents tend to be either Republicans, although there are a sizable number of conservative Democrats.

A huge portion of Representatives, Senators, and voters who were referred to as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s were conservative Southern Democrats.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Post-Reconstruction to modern times", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki