The Campaign of 1896 153 



who, in their political principles, were even more 

 alien to the Whigs than were the bulk of the regular 

 Democrats, but who themselves hated these regular 

 Democrats with the peculiar ferocity so often felt 

 by the extremist for the man who goes far, but not 

 quite far enough. In consequence, the President 

 represented Whig principles, the Vice-President rep- 

 resented a rather extreme form of the very principles 

 to which the Whigs were most opposed. The result 

 was that when Harrison died the Presidency fell into 

 the hands of a man who had but a corporal's guard 

 of supporters in the nation, and who proceeded to 

 oppose all the measures of the immense majority 

 of those who elected him. 



A somewhat similar instance was afforded in the 

 case of Lincoln and Johnson. Johnson was put on 

 the ticket largely for geographical reasons, and on 

 the death of Lincoln he tried to reverse the policy of 

 the party which had put him in office. An instance 

 of an entirely different kind is afforded by Garfield 

 and Arthur. The differences between these two 

 party leaders were mainly merely factional. Each 

 stood squarely on the platform of the party, and all 

 the principles advocated by one were advocated by 

 the other ; yet the death of Garfield meant a complete 

 overturn in the personnel of the upper Republican 

 officials, because Arthur had been nominated ex- 

 pressly to placate the group of party leaders who 

 most objected to the nomination of Garfield. Arthur 

 made a very good President, but the bitterness 

 caused by his succession to power nearly tore the 



