High poll numbers notwithstanding, few people believe Donald Trump, Ben Carson or Bernie Sanders will get nominated, much less win the general election. If these populists eventually fall, will their early dominance be anything more than a historical footnote?
Footnote status appears to have been the fate of many insurgent 19th-century politicians: men and women who ultimately formed the People’s Party, or Populists.
These reformers made a concerted bid for the White House in 1896, nominating William Jennings Bryan, who was trounced by William McKinley. The People’s Party soon vanished — but their platform survived.
When the Populists met in 1892 and drafted what became known as the Omaha Platform, their demands contained a number of changes that never would come to pass.
But many proposals were later reincarnated.
The Omaha Platform, for example, contained the idea of a graduated income tax to replace protective tariffs that had long served as the federal government’s main source of revenue. The reaction of the mainstream press at the time was contemptuous.
And although Populists and their allies secured the passage of an income tax in 1894, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional a year later.
But the idea never died. In 1913, after a series of state-level battles, the U.S. ratified the 16th Amendment, legalizing the income tax. Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1913. That was hardly the Populist Party’s only accomplishment from beyond the grave. One of its hobby horses was reform of the political process: they advocated for women’s suffrage; the adoption of the “secret ballot,” to shield citizens from coercion at the voting booth; direct election of senators, and using state-wide referendums and initiatives to settle political questions. All became law after 1896.
The list goes on. The eight-hour workday? Populists demanded it in the 1890s.
Populists also pushed the creation of a system of government warehouses where farmers could store their products — and use them as collateral for loans — while awaiting better prices. The idea fell flat in the 1890s. But in 1916, Congress passed the Warehouse Act, which implemented a similar system of storage facilities and provisions for loans to farmers.
Which brings us back to the politicians now channeling the spirit of the Populists. None of them is likely to be elected. But don’t be surprised if some of their more radical proposals one day become law.
Stephen Mihm is an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia.
