however, did not
name Clinton, and the convention was not assembled. The first state
nominating convention was held in Utica, New York, in 1824 by that
faction of the Democratic party calling itself the People's party.
The custom soon spread to every State, so that by 1835 it was firmly
established. County and city conventions also took the place of the
caucus for naming local candidates.

But nominations are only the beginning of the contest, and obviously
caucuses and conventions cannot conduct campaigns. So from the beginning
these nominating bodies appointed campaign committees. With the increase
in population came the increased complexity of the committee system. By
1830 many of the States had perfected a series of state, district, and
county committees.

There remained the necessity of knitting these committees into a
national unity. The national convention which nominated Clay in 1831
appointed a "Central State Corresponding Committee" in each State where
none existed, and it recommended "to the several States to organize
subordinate corresponding committees in each county and town." This
was the beginning of what soon was to evolve into a complete national
hierarchy of committees. In 1848 the Democratic convention appointed a
permanent national committee, composed of one member from each State.
This committee was given the power to call the next national convention,
and from the start became the national executive body of the party.

It is a common notion that the politician and his machine are of
comparatively recent origin. But the American politician arose
contemporaneously with the party, and with such singular fecundity of
ways and means that it is doubtful if his modern successors could teach
him anything. McMaster declares: "A very little study of long-forgotten
politics will suffice to show that in filibustering and gerrymandering,
in stealing governorships and legislatures, in using force at the polls,
in colonizing and in distributing patronage to whom patronage is due, in
all the frauds and tricks that go to make up the worst form of practical
politics, the men who founded our state and national governments were
always our equals, and often our masters." And this at a time when
only propertied persons could vote in any of the States and when only
professed Christians could either vote or hold office in two of them!

While Washington was President, Tammany Hall, the first municipal
machine, began