The word “demagogue” comes from Greek roots that mean leader of the people. In both ancient Greece and contemporary society, “demagogue” came to represent anyone who appealed in visceral terms to the fears and prejudices of the mass of voters. In the United States, it most often has been used to designate agrarian politicians from the South who combined populist appeal, social conservatism, and homespun oratory and who were, for the most part, allied with the Democratic Party. During the late 19th century, southern demagogues emerged as the product of a distinct rural political culture and ascended to some of the most powerful political offices in the region. The failure of the populist movement to improve the conditions of embattled southern white farmers, the sharp division between town and country within the region, the singleparty system that offered no opposition to Democratic Party control of local and state government, and the legacy of racial conflict created the preconditions for the emergence of southern demagogues at the turn of the century. Sometimes stereotyped as rednecks, hillbillies, and yokels, they embraced the traditions of the rural South and white southerners with their earthy language, exaggerated personalities, and homely dress.
Unlike the populist radicals of an earlier day, these agrarian politicians verbally attacked the power of the rich but failed to offer any political solutions to the economic and social woes of the region. Echoing the fears and grievances of the rural poor and middle classes as well as southern workers, demagogues such as Cole Blease of South Carolina and Thomas Watson of Georgia played on racial and religious prejudices while they used class rhetoric and the celebration of Christian white supremacy. Even those who sought to better the lives of their constituents found the way to progressive social legislation blocked by conservative state legislatures and the even more conservative judiciary. Competing with other political forces in the South, most notably rivals within the Democratic Party, southern demagogues offered greater political participation for their rural supporters but did not deliver more than symbolic representation.
As governors, congressmen, and senators, southern demagogues played a major role in state and national politics. Among the best known were Pitchfork Ben Tillman of South Carolina, who was elected governor of that state in 1890. He helped to secure legislation that took the right to vote away from African-American men. Elected as senator from South Carolina in 1894, Tillman served in Congress until his death in 1925. In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, he argued against the U. S. acquisition of the Philippines as a member of the Anti-Imperialist League. He rooted his opposition in his fear of the threat Filipinos presented to White America. While most southern demagogues echoed Tillman’s racism, some also directed their concerns toward issues of education, taxes, and public improvements. Tillman himself believed that he had his greatest accomplishment in establishing a new agricultural college in South Carolina. Theodore Bilbo, known for his racist rhetoric, helped to improve the roads, lower property taxes for farmers, and increase funding for common schools in Mississippi. Cole Blease had a following among white textile workers in the Piedmont region. Others claimed to speak for white farmers and laborers. Other politicians from the South similarly identified as demagogues—men such as Jeff Davis of Arkansas, James K. Vardaman of Mississippi, and Fiddlin’ Bob Taylor of Tennessee—carried the banner of white supremacy in their domestic and foreign politics.
The most famous southern demagogue of the 20th century, and the one whose popularity transcended the region, was Louisiana’s Huey “Kingfish” Long. Growing up, he had heard a speech by Wild Jeff Davis of Arkansas, and he was strongly influenced by demagogues of the South. While he became the most conspicuous heir to its political legacy, Long also expressed its most radical side. His call to “Soak the Rich” and his attempt to broaden the number of his constituents who benefited from government largesse in new educational and social programs expanded his popularity beyond its rural base. Later southern politicians such as Eugene Talmadge of Georgia and George Wallace of Alabama carried the traditions of southern demagoguery into the 1960s with their staunch opposition to school integration and civil rights legislation.
See also race and racial conflict.
Further reading: Raymond Arsenault, The Wild Ass of the Ozarks: Jeff Davis and the Social Bases of Southern Politics (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984); Michael Kazin, The Populist Persuasion, An American History (New York: Basic Books, 1995).
World History
