esidency was thrown to the Conkling men, falling upon Chester A.
Arthur, who accepted it against the desires of his leader. The platform
was a "code of memories" as it had been in 1876 and 1872, congratulating
the party on its successes of the past and having no clear vision of the
future.

The Democratic party in 1880 was without leader or issue, as it had been
since 1860. Tilden, who might have been renominated and run on the
charge that he was counted out in 1876, was sick. He was unwilling to
run unless the demand were more spontaneous than it appeared to be. In
its perplexity the party turned to a military hero who called himself a
Democrat and had been passed over in 1876. General Winfield Scott
Hancock had never been in active politics, but was now nominated over a
long list of local candidates. William H. English, of Indiana, who was
known to have money, and was believed to be ready to use it in the
campaign, was the vice-presidential candidate.

The canvass of 1880 was fought during a prosperous summer on issues that
were largely personal. As Sherman said of Ohio in 1879, so he might have
said of the country in 1880, that "the revival of industries and peace
and happiness was a shrewd political trick of the Republicans to carry"
the United States. Following their practice for three campaigns, the old
line speakers dwelt upon the conditions in the South. An Indiana rhyme
"for young Democrats" ran:--

"Sing a song of shotguns,
Pocket full of knives,
Four-and-twenty black men,
Running for their lives;
When the polls are open
Shut the nigger's mouth,
Isn't that a bully way
To make a solid South?"

But the audiences were unresponsive. An old political reporter remembers
being in the national headquarters late in the campaign, and hearing
Blaine, who had been stumping for Garfield, say, "You want to fold up
the bloody shirt and lay it away. It's of no use to us. You want to
shift the main issue to protection." Not until the campaign was nearly
over did a real issue emerge.

The protective tariff had not played a large part in any campaign since
1860. In 1868 and 1872 both parties had looked forward to the reduction
of revenue to a peace basis, adopting mild planks to that effect. In
1876 the topic had been more prominent in the platforms, but not in the
canvass. In 1880 Hancock was questioned on the tariff during one of his
speeches. The question was probably unpremeditated, b