The Liberal Republican Party was a short-lived political party in the U.S. that was formed after the American Civil War, splitting from the early Republican Party out of opposition to Ulysses S. Grant and many Radical Republicans. The party largely opposed the corruptions that were present in Grant's administration and advocated for lower tariffs, civil service reform, and a Reconstruction policy towards the South that was more conciliatory than the Radical Republican's proposals.
Both the Liberal Republican Party and the Democratic Party nominated Horace Greeley to challenge the then-incumbent Ulysses S. Grant for the 1872 presidential election. Grant was easily re-elected, and Greeley's loss set off the Liberal Republican Party's disbandment very quickly, with many members either returning to the Republican Party or joining the Democratic Party.
Categories: [United States Politics] [United States Political Parties] [Republican Party] [Liberal Republicans]