When Conservatives Were Ascendant

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US News and World Report:

n 1924, the West Virginia congressman John Davis became the last conservative nominated for president by the Democratic Party
Katy Hopkins
October 7, 2010


Though the partisan identities of Democrats and Republicans now stand, for the most part, in stark contrast, there was a time when both parties had powerful conservative factions. In High Tide of American Conservatism: Davis, Coolidge, and the 1924 Election, author Garland Tucker recounts the unique electoral battle between a conservative Republican, President Calvin Coolidge (who had succeeded to the presidency after the death of incumbent President Warren Harding in 1923), and a conservative Democrat, prominent lawyer and former West Virginia congressman John W. Davis. The election took place four years after a bruising economic recession and marked, Tucker says, the last time the Democratic Party nominated a conservative as its presidential candidate. Tucker, president and CEO of specialty finance company Triangle Capital Corp., recently spoke with U.S. News. Excerpts:
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What made the 1924 presidential election particularly notable?

It was the last time that both major parties nominated a conservative candidate. We're very used to the idea that the Republican Party is right of center and the Democratic Party is left of center. Prior to 1924, both parties had a very vigorous rivalry between the progressives and the conservatives. Even though this election has never gotten much attention from historians, it really was something of a watershed. Another reason that led me to write the book is that the two candidates were just outstanding individuals who have gotten generally very little attention from historians.

As the conservative Democrat, what did Davis stand for?

His view was that the government's responsibility was limited by the Constitution and should remain limited to providing law and order domestically and providing national defense. Coolidge had very much the same small-government view.

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