Butlerism

Butlerism was a political term in the United States during the Gilded Age applied as a pejorative by its opponents[1][2] that referred to the political causes of Radical Republican and Stalwart[3][4] politician Benjamin Butler, a U.S. representative from Massachusetts. A populist movement, it was criticized for its "spirit of the European mob," and appealed to support for women's suffrage, Irish nationalism, an eight-hour work day, monetary inflation, and the usage of greenbacks to pay off the national debt.[5]

Portrait of Benjamin F. Butler.

The ideology and political themes of Butlerism, which opposed civil service reform, advocated inflationary monetary policy, and assailed capitalism as exploiting workmen, clashed with the aims of liberal reformers in the Gilded Age.[5] Its left-wing stances on monetary policy came at odds with the considerably more conservative members of the Republican Party, including Ulysses S. Grant and James G. Blaine. When Butler and Democratic congressman George H. Pendleton led a bipartisan wing of inflationists advocating the continued usage of greenbacks, Blaine emerged as the first member of Congress antagonizing the repudiation theory.[6] After President Grant in 1874 vetoed Butler's "inflation bill,"[7] Harper's Weekly published a cartoon by Thomas Nast depicting Grant, a supporter of sound money, as having "bottled up" Butlerism.[8]

In spite of Butlerism's radical elements during its time, Butler during the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes was closely aligned with the politics of the conservative Stalwart faction in his support for Ulysses S. Grant due to their shared concern for civil rights, tendency to "wave the bloody shirt," and antipathy towards the hardline civil service reform efforts.[3] These aims were in turn harshly lamented by reformers including Charles Francis Adams, Jr., and Carl Schurz.

Opponents of Butler derided the ideology as involving "no principle which is elevating, it inspires no sentiment which is ennobling."[1] In turn, defenders of Butlerism retorted:

There is one thing that this unholy alliance cannot efface, that General Butler has pluck and brains, and they will find that the more people believe in men of that make-up. The country today needs more "Butlerism" and less "toadyism."

Among assails against Butlerism included an excoriation by Kentucky Democrat John Y. Brown in February 1874, who complained: "If I wished to describe all that was pusillanimous in war, inhuman in peace, forbidden in morals, and infamous in politics, I should call it 'Butlerism.'"[2] Brown subsequently faced a censure for his remarks, and bickering on the House floor soon followed.