The official platforms of American political parties are often short on substance and long on platitudes. Sometimes they are a mishmash of contradictions and promises that won’t be kept. Almost nobody reads them even in the year of their adoption, let alone a century later. Except for me. I’m a history buff.
A Party That Stood on Principle, Not Promises
Among the many platforms I’ve read over the years, I do have some favorites. One was that of a faction of the Democratic Party known as the Locofocos (see “Additional Reading” below). The Locofocos emerged in the early years of the Democratic Party as an anti-Tammany, pro-worker group. They stood for Jeffersonian principles—small and honest government, no subsidies and special favors, sound money, private property, and the rights of the individual. Many Locofoco beliefs became canon in the Democratic Party for decades, right through the presidencies of Grover Cleveland in the 1880s and 1890s.
Lawrence W. Reed
Author
Lawrence Reed is president emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta and the author of “Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction“ and the best-seller “Was Jesus a Socialist?”
