Butler Campaign Paperweight, 1884

Unknown artist

Benjamin Butler was one of the most unique politicians in 19th century America, jumping from party to party and cause to cause. He often presented himself as a populist ally of working people, and African-Americans, against the wealthy forces that dominated Gilded Age America. To some, he symbolized the effort to expand the money supply, to help poor people, and to limit monopolies. To others, he was a demagogue who merely wanted office. Though he was successful in his home state of Massachusetts, as governor and congressman, he never won the presidency or the support of many voters nationwide, losing in his bid for the presidency in 1884 as the presidential nominee for the Greenbacker party, to both Grover Cleveland and James G Blaine.