By the time
Monroe had served his second term the discrediting of the caucus
was made complete by the nomination of Crawford by a thinly
attended gathering of his adherents, who presumed to act for the
party. The Virginia Dynasty had no further favorites to foster,
and a new political force swept into power behind the dominating
personality of Andrew Jackson.
The new Democracy, however, did not remove the aristocratic power
of the slaveholder; and from Jackson's day to Buchanan's this
became an increasing force in the party councils. The slavery
question illustrates how a compact group of capable and
determined men, dominated by an economic motive, can exercise for
years in the political arena a preponderating influence, even
though they represent an actual minority of the nation. This
untoward condition was made possible by the political sagacity
and persistence of the party managers and by the unwillingness of
a large portion of the people to bring the real issue to a head.
Before the Civil War, then, party organization had become a fixed
and necessary incident in American politics. The war changed the
face of our national affairs. The changes wrought multiplied the
opportunities of the professional politician, and in these
opportunities, as well as in the transfused energies and ideals
of the people, we must seek the causes for those perversions of
party and party machinery which have characterized our modern
epoch.
CHAPTER III.
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