Conservative coalition

The Conservative coalition, in the United States of America, was an unofficial Congressional coalition in American politics bringing together the conservative majority of the Republican Party and the conservative, mostly Southern, minority of the Democratic Party. Except for brief periods, it effectively controlled the United States Congress from 1937 to 1964, and it remained a potent force in congressional politics until the mid-1980s.

The coalition was created in 1937. In 1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt had won a second term in a landslide, sweeping all but two states over his Republican opponent, Alf Landon. For the 1937 session of congress the Republicans would have only 17 Senators (out of 96 total) and 89 congressmen (out of a total of 431). Given his party's overwhelming majorities, Roosevelt decided he could overcome opposition to his liberal New Deal policies by the conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, which had struck down many New Deal agencies as unconstitutional. Roosevelt proposed to expand the size of the court from nine to fifteen justices; he could then "pack" the court with six new liberal justices who would support his policies. However, many conservative Southern Democrats strongly opposed the plan. Among their leaders were Senators Harry Byrd and Carter Glass of Virginia and Vice-President John Nance Garner of Texas. Together they joined their forces with the Republican minority in Congress to block the "court packing" plan, which was defeated. In the 1938 congressional elections the Republicans scored major gains in both houses, picking up six Senate seats and 80 House seats. Thereafter the Southern Democrats and Republicans in both Houses of Congress would often vote together on major economic issues, thus defeating many proposals by liberal Democrats such as Roosevelt, President Harry Truman, and President John F. Kennedy. Not until 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson used his intimate knowledge of the inner workings of Congress, and 1965, when large liberal majorities in both houses took office in the wake of the 1964 elections, were many long-stalled liberal policy goals passed by Congress.

In its heyday in the 1940's and 1950's, the coalition's most important Republican leader was Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio; the leading Democrats in the coalition were Senator Richard Russell, Jr. of Georgia and Congressmen Howard W. Smith of Virginia and Carl Vinson of Georgia.

Although the Southern Democrat-Republican coalition usually voted together on economic issues, they were divided on many foreign-policy goals. Prior to the Second World War most conservative Republicans were isolationists who wanted to stay out of the war at all costs, while most Southern Democrats were interventionists who favored helping the British and their allies defeat Nazi Germany. After the war many conservative Republicans would continue to oppose American military alliances with other nations, such as NATO, while most Southern Democrats would favor such alliances.

U.S. Senator Josiah Bailey (D-NC), a leader of the coalition, released a "Conservative Manifesto" in December 1937.^[1] "Give enterprise a chance, and I will give you the guarantees of a happy and prosperous America," Bailey said. The document called for a balanced federal budget, state's rights, and an end to labor union violence and coercion.^[1] Over 100,000 copies were distributed and it marked a turning point in terms of congressional support for New Deal legislaion.^[1] Between 1937 and 1961, the coalition was able to exercise a virtual veto over domestic legislation. Truman's Fair Deal was passed during a brief period of liberal control in 1949-51.

Under President Lyndon Johnson, liberals broke a southern filibuster led by Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a decisive defeat for the coalition. Conservatives lost many seats in the 1964 election, but regained strength in the congressional elections of 1966. After the "Republican Revolution" in 1994, the Republicans took control of most of the conservative southern districts, so the Southern Democratic part of the coalition evaporated.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Kicker, Troy, "Taking on FDR: Senator Josiah Bailey and the 1937 Conservative Manifesto"

Conservative coalition

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Further Reading

See also