No provision was made in the U.S. Constitution for

political parties, and almost all of the early leaders of the republic hoped

to govern without them. However, by President

George Washington's second term, factionalism was rearing its head.

The Democratic-Republican Party was instituted by

Thomas Jefferson and held together until Andrew Jackson's run for

office in 1824. It had become so torn with dissension that many

began to split off, and by 1832 it was known as just the

"Democrats." It is the oldest continuing

political party in the world.

By 1850 the issue of slavery was another divisive

factor, paving the way for the Republican Party to gain

strength, putting its first president, Abraham Lincoln, in office

in 1861. It held power until Woodrow Wilson in 1912

and then again until Franklin Roosevelt in 1932.

After the Civil War, southern farmers were impoverished

and found that any available funds were being used to rebuild

towns and businesses. Banks were no longer interested in taking

land for credit and things went from bad to worse. The price of

cotton steadily dropped from $1.00 to less than seven cents a pound

it could be used for credit rather than land; yet with

prices dropping, farmers could not afford to do that. It became

a "catch-22" situation.

band together to enter the political arena, hoping to see a

favorable change in their plight.

Originally called "The People's Party," the farmers' effort

evolved as "The Populist Party." Individual clubs within the

party were called "Alliances," and by 1890 the Southern Alliances

had three million members.

There were several Alliances in Fayette County, although the

number of members is not known. The Populist Party waned

by 1910, in part because the Spanish-American War turned

attention from domestic issues to foreign affairs. Also,

the Democrats won over the Populists by promising

to promote agrarian issues. They kept their promise, but

the Republicans won the Presidential election in 1896. The

Populists went downhill thereafter, but left two important legacies: rural

free mail delivery and the lowering of tariffs by the railroads.

On the local political scene, the Democrats ruled for the first

140 years of recorded elections. There were, from time to time,

several Fayette Countians who claimed to be Republican, but it is

thought that they only did so to gain attention or to be appointed

as postmaster.

A newcomer to the county in 1959 requested a

Republican ballot in the primary election; there were none in the county.

A request from someone accustomed to "two

parties" became a topic for discussion for weeks.

Republicans met at a farm in south Fayette County. By 1988 the

county's population increase had considerably added to the

number of Republicans. In fact, a Republican Party dinner that

year drew over 400, up at least 392 from the formation meeting.

In the 1998 primary, 12,535 of the 15,424 who voted

were Republican, up from that first count by a mere 156,000 percent.

As a result of a majority-Republican electorate,

the political climate of Fayette County has changed. A

wizened veteran of local politics reportedly was turned down for

a post on a library board because he is "no longer affiliated with

the socially correct political party."

Musing on the matter, as the Republicans must have

done years ago, the veteran politico said, "What this county needs

is a strong two-party system to equalize things."

Democrat, Populist, Republican Fayette County marches on. If you don't like

the politics of today, it will probably change tomorrow.

Sources: A Constitutional History of Georgia, Albert

Berry Saye; The Oxford Companion to American History, New

York Oxford University Press; The People of Georgia, Mills

Lane; Family Encyclopedia of American History,

Reader's Digest Association

Carolyn Cary is Fayette County's official historian and editor of "The

History of Fayette County," published by the Fayette County Historical Society.

<!--##############