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National Democratic Party (United States)

National Democratic Party
LeadersJohn M. Palmer
William F. Vilas
Grover Cleveland
Simon B. Buckner
Henry K. Douglas
Founded1896 (1896)
Dissolved1900 (1900)
Split fromDemocratic Party
Preceded byBourbon faction of the Democratic Party
Merged intoDemocratic Party
IdeologyLiberalism (American)
National liberalism
Classical liberalism
Anti-imperialism
Pro-gold standard
Political positionCenter-right[1][2][3]
National affiliationDemocratic Party
Colors  Gold

The National Democratic Party, also known as Gold Democrats, was a short-lived political party of Bourbon Democrats who opposed the regular party nominee William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 presidential election. The party was then a "liberal" party in the context of the times, which is more of a fiscal-conservative or classical-liberal in the political context of the United States today.

Most members were admirers of Grover Cleveland as they considered Bryan a dangerous man and charged that his "free silver" proposals would devastate the economy. They nominated the Democratic politicians John M. Palmer, a former Republican governor of Illinois and Union general; and Simon Bolivar Buckner, a former governor of Kentucky and Confederate general, for president and vice president, respectively.[4]

They also ran a few candidates for Congress and other offices, including William Campbell Preston Breckinridge in Kentucky.

  1. ^ Rothbard, Murray N. (August 30, 2002). History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II (PDF). Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 0-945466-33-1.
  2. ^ McClanahan, Brion (April 7, 2009). "National Democratic Party (NDP)". Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  3. ^ Rothbard, Murray N. (November 9, 2017). The Progressive Era (PDF). Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute. ISBN 978-1-61016-674-4.
  4. ^ David T. Beito, and Linda Royster Beito, 2000.