How did a simple letter swing an entire presidential election? In eighteen eighty-eight, President Grover Cleveland was in a tight race against Benjamin Harrison. The most volatile voters were Irish Americans, who held a deep animosity toward Great Britain. All it would take was one political dirty trick to turn them against the president.
In this episode of Monday Madness, Stephen and Leah unpack the story of the Murchison Letter, one of the most effective “October surprises” in political history. Discover how a Republican activist penned a fake letter to the British Ambassador, baiting him into a trap. Learn how the ambassador’s foolish reply was published just weeks before the election, creating a massive scandal that proved Cleveland was “pro-British” and costing him the critical state of New York and the presidency.
Research Links
University of Virginia | Miller Center | The Election of 1888 | https://millercenter.org/president/grover-cleveland/the-election-of-1888
Encyclopedia Britannica | Murchison Letter | https://www.britannica.com/event/murchison-letter
Dickinson College | The Murchison Letter | https://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/1026/the_murchison_letter