jan 30, 1884 - Party Patronage: Stalwarts, Halfbreeds, Mugwumps (POL)

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Given the all time political low America was in, during this period, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans demonstrated any particular drive to achieve a legislative agenda and politics became about winning and providing jobs for faithful supporters rather than producing any significant change to the political sphere. For instance, during this time, New York Republican Senator Roscoe Conkling rose up as a strong political leader amongst the Republicans by appointing jobs to other Republican party members. His supporters were known as Stalwarts while the opponents to the Stalwarts were known as Halfbreeds who were led by Republican James G. Blaine. The main priority of the supporters and their leaders was to secure patronage jobs for their supporters. Those who were not interested in the patronage jobs and were not involved in the rivalry between the Halfbreeds and the Stalwarts were known as Mugwumps because they sat on the fence between the two sides with their “mugs” on one side and their “wumps'' on the other. With no other drive than to secure jobs for supporters and win the elections, this period proved to be the lowest point in American politics with no drive for drastic change nor political nor social progression.

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