Southern Democrats

Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the American South. In the 19th century, they were the definitive pro-slavery wing of the party, opposed to both the anti-slavery Republicans (GOP) and the more liberal Northern Democrats.

Eventually "Redemption" was finalized in the Compromise of 1877 and the Redeemers gained control throughout the South. As the New Deal began to move Democrats as a whole to the left (at least economically), Southern Democrats largely stayed as conservative as they had always been, with some even breaking off to form farther right-wing splinters like the Dixiecrats. After the Civil Rights Movement successfully challenged the Jim Crow laws and other forms of institutionalized racism, and after the Democrats as a whole came to symbolize the mainstream left of the United States, the form, if not the content, of Southern Democratic politics began to change. At that point, most Southern Democrats defected to the Republican Party, and helped accelerate the latter's transformation into a more conservative organization.

After World War II, during the civil rights movement, Democrats in the South initially still voted loyally with their party. After the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, white voters who became tolerant of diversity began voting against Democratic incumbents for GOP candidates. The Republicans carried many Southern states for the first time since before the Great Depression. Rising educational levels and rising prosperity in the South, combined with shifts to the left by the national Democratic Party on a variety of socio-economic issues, led to widespread abandonment of the Democratic Party by white voters and Republican dominance in many Southern states by the 1990s and 2000s.

When Richard Nixon courted voters with his Southern Strategy, many Democrats became Republicans and the South became fertile ground for the GOP, which conversely was becoming more conservative as the Democrats were becoming more liberal. However, Democratic incumbents still held sway over voters in many states, especially those of the Deep South. In fact, until 2002, Democrats still had much control over Southern politics. It wasn't until the 1990s that Democratic control gradually collapsed, starting with the elections of 1994, in which Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress, through the rest of the decade. Southern Democrats of today who vote for the Democratic ticket are mostly urban liberals. Rural residents tend to vote for the Republican ticket, although there are a sizable number of conservative Democrats.

A huge portion of Representatives, Senators, and voters who were referred to as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s were conservative Southern Democrats. An interesting exception to this trend is Arkansas, where to this day all statewide elected officials are Democrats. (The state has, however, given its electoral votes to the GOP in the past three Presidential elections, although in 1992 and 1996, "favorite son" Bill Clinton was the candidate and won each time.)

The Democratic Party still has a strong presence in Louisiana also, though Republicans have made notable progress there in recent years, most notably with the election of Senator David Vitter in 2004 and the runaway victory of Governor Bobby Jindal in 2007. Another exception is North Carolina. Despite the fact that the state has voted for Republicans in every presidential election from 1980 until 2004, the governorship, legislature, as well as most statewide offices remain in Democratic control, and with the election of Heath Shuler in 2006, the congressional delegation once again is majority Democratic.

Today, Southern Democrats are conservative Democrats who follow the principles of a hawkish foreign policy, low taxation, fiscal conservatism, and support for legislating "family values".

Early background

Main article: History of the United States Democratic Party

The Democrats have their beginnings in the South, going back to the founding of the Democratic-Republican Party in 1793 by Austen Parker, a Virginian. The party was formed from former Anti-Federalist elements opposed to Federalist policies. After being the dominant party in U.S. politics from 1800 to 1829, the Democratic-Republicans split into two factions by 1828: the federalist National Republicans, and the Democrats, who made appeals to traditional party principles.

However, by the 1850s, with the crumbling of the Whigs, infighting which was kept at bay for years burst out. Northern Democrats were in serious opposition to Southern Democrats on the issue of slavery; Northerners opposed it, and Southerners fiercely defended it. Meanwhile, remaining and former elements of the Whig party were bolting to the newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party, which was rapidly gaining influence. In the 1860 presidential election, the Republicans nominated Abraham Lincoln, but the divide among Democrats led to the nomination of two candidates: John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky represented Southern Democrats, and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois represented Northern Democrats. This splitting of the Democratic vote led to the election of Lincoln and the demise of the Democrats' antebellum grip on national power.

American Civil War and post-Reconstruction

After the election of Abraham Lincoln, Southern Democrats led the charge to secede from the Union and form the Confederate States of America. The Congress was dominated by Republicans, save for Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the only senator from a state in rebellion to reject secession. The Border States of Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were torn by political turmoil. Kentucky and Missouri were both governed by pro-secessionist Southern Democratic Governors who vehemently rejected Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops. Kentucky and Missouri both held secession conventions and seceded while under Federal occupation. Southern Democrats in Maryland faced a Unionist Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks and the Union Army. Armed with the suspension of habeas corpus and Union troops, Governor Hicks was able to stop Maryland's secession movement. Maryland was the only state south of the Mason-Dixon Line whose governor affirmed Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops.

After secession, many Northern Democrats fled the party to join the Republicans. When the war was over, and the Confederacy destroyed, a deep resentment among white Southern citizens toward Republicans helped propel the Democratic Party to a majority in Congress by the 1870s and bring an end to Reconstruction. The Democrats were now the party of states rights, the party of the South, and would remain that way until the mid-1960s. Their dominance in Southern politics would give rise to the phrase the "Solid South".

At the beginning of the 20th century the Democrats, led by the dominant Southern wing, had the majority in both houses of Congress. In 1912 incumbent Republican William Howard Taft was defeated in an electoral landslide, losing to Woodrow Wilson, a Democratic Governor of New Jersey (though he was from Virginia). And from 1912 through 1918, the three branches of government were controlled by the Democratic Party. However when the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, and with isolationism running high, the Republicans ran the 1918 elections on a platform that rejected the internationalist sentiment favored by Wilson. (See U.S. House election, 1918 and U.S. Senate election, 1918.) The Democrats lost the Congress, and in 1920, Warren Harding was elected president in a landslide, which was widely viewed as a repudiation of Wilson's policies.

From 1918 until 1932, the Democrats were relegated to second place status in politics, controlling no branch of the government. However, with the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Republicans lost the Congress in 1930 and the White House in 1932 by huge margins. By this time, however, the Democratic Party leadership began to change its tone somewhat. With the Great Depression gripping the nation, and with the lives of most Americans disrupted, the assisting of African-Americans in American society was seen as necessary by the new government.

The New Deal and After

Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program would unite the different party factions for over three decades, since Southerners, like Northern urban populations, were hit particularly hard and generally benefited from the massive governmental relief program. It was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s that finally put an end to this coalition of interests.

The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was widely opposed by white Southerners, was the event that finally moved the majority of Southerners to the Republican Party on a national level. From the end of the Civil War to 1960 Democrats had solid control over the southern states in presidential elections, hence the term "Solid South" to describe the states' Democratic preference. After the passage of this act however their support on a presidential level shifted to the Republicans. Republican candidate Barry Goldwater won many of the "Solid South" states over Democratic candidate Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and this Republican support for those states continues to this day. It was also bolstered in the next two elections by the "Southern Strategy" of Richard Nixon.

Southern Democrats still did and do see much support on the local level however, and many of them are not nearly as liberal as the Democratic party as a whole. As an example, the state upper and lower houses in the states of Arkansas still has Democratic majorities.

Notable modern and former Southern Democrats

• Huey P. Long, former Louisiana governor and former U.S. Senator
• Earl Long, former three-term Louisiana governor Paul Newman played him in the movie Blaze regarding the life of Blaze Starr
• Lloyd Bentsen, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Texas, former Secretary of the Treasury, and Democratic candidate for Vice President in 1988
• Jefferson Davis, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Mississippi, President of Confederacy
• James O. Eastland, former U.S. Senator from Mississippi
• John R. Edwards, former U.S. Senator from North Carolina, 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008.
• D. Robert Graham, former U.S. Senator from Florida and former Governor of Florida
• Richard Russell, former Georgia governor and former U.S. Senator from Georgia
• Lawton Chiles, former U.S. Senator from Florida and former Governor of Florida
• Estes Kefauver, former Representative, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee and 1956 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee
• Lyndon B. Johnson, former U.S. Representative and former Senator from Texas, Vice President of the United States (1961–1963), and President of the United States (1963–1969)
• Jimmy Carter, former Governor of Georgia and President of the United States (1977–1981)
• Bill Clinton, former Governor of Arkansas and President of the United States (1993–2001)
• Al Gore, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, Vice President of the United States (1993–2001) and 2000 Democratic nominee for President
• Paul Patton, former Governor of Kentucky
• J. William Fulbright, former Representative from Arkansas, former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and longest-served chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
• Sam Rayburn, former Congressman from Texas and longest-served Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives-longest served in the House's history
• Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator from Georgia
• Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator from Georgia
• James Hovis Hodges, former Governor of South Carolina
• Fritz Hollings, former U.S. Senator from South Carolina, former Governor of South Carolina, 1984 U.S. Presidential candidate
• Olin D. Johnston, former U.S. Senator from South Carolina and former Governor of South Carolina
• James F. Byrnes, former U.S. Secretary of State, former Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, former Representative, former U.S. Senator, former Governor of South Carolina
• John Stennis, former U.S. Senator from Mississippi
• John McClellan, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Arkansas
• Spessard Holland, former U.S. Senator from Florida and former Governor of Florida
• Reubin Askew, former Governor of Florida and 1984 U.S. Presidential candidate
• Phil Bredesen, former Governor of Tennessee
• Kathleen Blanco, former Governor of Louisiana
• Roy Barnes, former Governor of Georgia
• Blanche Lincoln, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Arkansas
• Mark Pryor, current U.S. Senator from Arkansas
• David Pryor, former Representative, former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and former Governor of Arkansas
• Dale Bumpers, former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and former Governor of Arkansas
• Alben Barkley, former Representative, former U.S. Senator from Kentucky and former U.S. Vice President
• Travis Childers, former U.S. representative from Mississippi
• J. Bennett Johnston, former U.S. Senator from Louisiana
• Mary Landrieu, current U.S. Senator from Louisiana
• John Breaux, former Representative and former U.S. Senator from Louisiana
• Edwin Edwards, former Representative and former Governor of Louisiana
• Zell B. Miller, former U.S. Senator from Georgia and former Georgia governor
• Terry Sanford, former U.S. Senator and former Governor from North Carolina
• Kay Hagan, current U.S. Senator from North Carolina
• Richard Shelby, former Representative, current U.S. Senator from Alabama (Democrat until 1994, now Republican)
• J. Strom Thurmond, former U.S. Senator from South Carolina and former Governor of South Carolina (Democrat until 1964, then Republican until death), States' Right candidate (Dixiecrat) for President in 1948
• Mark R. Warner, Current U.S. Senator of Virginia, former Virginia governor
• Douglas Wilder, former Virginia Governor, first African-American ever elected Governor in the U.S., tried to go for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1991, but eventually withdrew in 1992
• Ralph Yarborough, former U.S. Senator from Texas
• Sonny Perdue, former Governor of Georgia (was once a Democrat, now Republican)
• Robert Byrd, former Representative, former U.S. Senator from West Virginia, presidential candidate, 1976
• Bill Nelson, former Representative, current U.S. Senator from Florida
• Howell Heflin, former senator from Alabama
• Mike Beebe, current Governor of Arkansas
• George C. Wallace, former governor of Alabama, American Independent Party candidate for President in 1968, ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976
• Lester Maddox, former governor of Georgia
• Joseph Manchin III, former governor of West Virginia, current U.S. Senator from West Virginia, and former Southern Governors' Association chairman
• Wendell Ford, former Governor and former Senator from Kentucky
• A.B. "Happy" Chandler, former Governor and former Senator from Kentucky
• Steve Beshear, current Governor of Kentucky
• Martha Layne Collins, former Governor of Kentucky and chair of the 1984 Democratic National Convention
• Ben Chandler, former Attorney General of Kentucky and current Congressman from Kentucky
• Lawrence Patton McDonald, Former Representative from Georgia
• Tim Kaine, former Governor of Virginia and former Chairman of the DNC (now Debbie Wasserman Schultz)

See also

• Blue Dog Democrats
• Boll weevil (politics)
• Conservative Democrat
• Dixiecrat
• Yellow dog Democrats
• Democratic Party