Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine Practically Invented The Term "Mudslinging"

People think that political races in this day and age are nasty but nothing will compare to the incredibly dark Presidential race that took place in 1884 between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine.

In fact, the 1884 Presidential race was practically the birthplace of the term "mudslinging" in politics.

Heading into the 1884 elections, people were growing tired of Republican rule after six straight Republican wins.

James G. Blaine had corruption rumors swirling about him, largely tied to a questionable bond deal that saw him get paid a substantial amount of money for nearly worthless bonds. Many people at the time thought that this was a bribe that was paid in exchange for a railroad charter.

When the 1884 Democratic National Convention ended and Grover Cleveland was officially named the Democratic candidate for President, many people thought that he would walk to an easy victory.

A few days after the 1884 DNC came to an end, a bombshell was dropped in the form of a Buffalo Evening Telegraph expose.

The story centered around Maria Halpin and her relationship with Grover Cleveland.

The story was as bad as you could get for Cleveland, as Halpin alleged that:

-Cleveland had pursued her relentlessly

-Cleveland had forced himself on Halpin at a boarding house

-Halpin birthed a son as a result of the non-consensual encounter

-Halpin had been committed to a mental asylum at the direction of Cleveland, even though she wasn't insane

-Halpin's son, Oscar Folsom Cleveland, had been taken and given to an orphanage

This scandal absolutely rocked Cleveland's campaign, and Cleveland quickly issued his side of the story.

Cleveland said that he had had a consensual relationship with Halpin, and that Halpin had been with a number of other people, including one of Cleveland's friends. Cleveland said that despite not knowing if he was actually the father, he helped Halpin find a home for the baby.

The papers continued to dig and found that Halpin had indeed been committed to the Providence Lunatic Asylum without proper legal procedures, and that a doctor had found no evidence that she was insane. Also, there were rumors that Cleveland had offered Halpin $500 to give up custody of her son.

The Republicans seized on these allegations and the story became a central focus of the 1884 Presidential race.

In fact, Republican supporters came up with a chant that referenced the allegations: "Ma, ma, where's my Pa?"

The election continued to devolve into more mudslinging, as James G. Blaine was also accused of personal marital scandals.

In the end, Grover Cleveland ended up winning by a narrow margin, largely due to some pretty egregious gaffes committed by Blaine at the end of the race. It's likely that a competent, scandal-free Republican would have easily won the 1884 Presidential election.

A seemingly easy win turned into a fight for his political life, as Cleveland ended up with 219 electoral votes compared to 182 for Blaine, and the popular vote was even closer.

Filed under: General Knowledge