Liberal Republican party definition of Liberal Republican party in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Liberal Republican party, in U.S. history, organization formed in 1872 by Republicans discontented at the political corruption and the policies of President Grant's first administration. Other disaffected elements were drawn into the party. Among its leaders were Carl Schurz Schurz, Carl (sh

rts), 1829–1906, American political leader, b. Germany.
..... Click the link for more information. and B. Gratz Brown Brown, Benjamin Gratz, 1826–85, U.S. Senator (1863–67) and governor of Missouri (1871–73), b. Lexington, Ky. An able lawyer in St. Louis, Brown was a leader in the Free-Soil movement in Missouri and later helped form the Republican party there.
..... Click the link for more information. , both of Missouri, who had defeated the regular Republicans in the state election of 1870, Horace Greeley Greeley, Horace, 1811–72, American newspaper editor, founder of the New York Tribune, b. Amherst, N.H.

Early Life

His irregular schooling, ending at 15, was followed by a four-year apprenticeship (1826–30) on a country weekly at
..... Click the link for more information. , Charles Sumner Sumner, Charles, 1811–74, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1851–74), b. Boston. He attended (1831–33) and was later a lecturer at Harvard law school, was admitted (1834) to the bar, and practiced in Boston. He spent the years 1837 to 1840 in Europe.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Lyman Trumbull Trumbull, Lyman, 1813–96, U.S. Senator from Illinois (1855–73), b. Colchester, Conn. He taught school in Georgia, was admitted to the bar, and in 1837 moved to Illinois.
..... Click the link for more information. . The party convention, held at Cincinnati in May, passed over Charles Francis Adams Adams, Charles Francis, 1807–86, American public official, minister to Great Britain (1861–68), b. Boston; son of John Quincy Adams . After a boyhood spent in various European capitals, he was graduated (1825) from Harvard and studied law under Daniel
..... Click the link for more information. (1807–86), David Davis Davis, David, 1815–86, American jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1862–77), b. Cecil co., Md., grad. Kenyon College, 1832; cousin of Henry Winter Davis. In 1836 he settled as a lawyer in Bloomington, Ill., his home thereafter.
..... Click the link for more information. , and others to nominate Greeley for President; Brown was named for Vice President. In their convention at Baltimore, the Democrats also accepted these candidates. The party program called for civil service reform and an end to the strong Reconstruction program of the radical Republicans; so as not to offend the party's divergent segments, it avoided adopting a position on the tariff question. Greeley's nomination was not popular with many of the party leaders, who supported him without enthusiasm, and Grant was easily reelected.

Bibliography

See E. D. Ross, The Liberal Republican Movement (1919, repr. 1971).