The Murchison letter was a

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, party officials and lobbyists can be accused of various illegal, corrupt, unethic ...

during the 1888 US presidential election between

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, the Democratic incumbent, and the Republican nominee,

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

. The letter was sent by Sir Lionel Sackville-West to "Charles F. Murchison," who was actually a political operative posing as a British

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

. In the letter, Sackville-West suggested that Cleveland was preferred as president from the British point of view. The Republicans published this letter just two weeks before the election and turned many Irish-American voters away from Cleveland. That made him lose

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and thus the presidency. Sackville-West was sacked as British ambassador.

History

A California Republican, George Osgoodby, wrote a letter to Sir Lionel Sackville-West, the

British ambassador to the United States The British Ambassador to the United States is in charge of the British Embassy, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to the United States. The official title is His Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America. T ...

, under the assumed name of "Charles F. Murchison", who described himself as a former Englishman who was now a California citizen and asked how he should vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sackville-West wrote back and indiscreetly suggested that

, the Democratic incumbent, was probably the best man from the British point of view: The Republicans published the letter just two weeks before the election, and it had a galvanizing effect on

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

voters exactly comparable to the " Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" blunder of the previous presidential election: by trumpeting Great Britain's support for the Democrats. That drove Irish-American voters into the Republican fold, and Cleveland lost the presidency. Following the election, the lame-duck Cleveland administration brought about Sackville-West's removal as ambassadorCharles S. Campbell, Jr
"The Dismissal of Lord Sackville."
''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' 44:''4'' (March 1958), pp. 635–648. by citing not only Sackville-West's letter, which could have been defended as a private correspondence unintended for publication, but also the content of his subsequent interviews, such as one with a reporter for the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'': On October 1, Sackville-West had become

Lord Sackville George Germain, 1st Viscount Sackville, PC (26 January 1716 – 26 August 1785), styled The Honourable George Sackville until 1720, Lord George Sackville from 1720 to 1770 and Lord George Germain from 1770 to 1782, was a British soldier and p ...

, due to the death of his brother

Mortimer Sackville-West, 1st Baron Sackville Mortimer Sackville-West, 1st Baron Sackville (22 September 1820 – 1 October 1888), was a British peer and court official. Sackville-West was the fourth son of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr, and Elizabeth Sackville, 1st Baroness B ...

. Cleveland returned to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

by winning the 1892 election.

History

See also

Notes

References

Further reading