Prior to the Liberal Republican convention , Democratic leaders had given the Liberal Republicans assurances that they would nominate the Liberal Republican ticket . The Democrats believed that they could not win the 1872 election without anti-Grant Republicans and Democratic leaders hoped that they would reap patronage rewards from a Liberal Republican presidency . However , Democratic leaders were dismayed by the nomination of Greeley . Many Southern Democrats were eager to elect any candidate that might put an end to Grant 's Reconstruction policies , but Greeley 's frequent attacks on the Democratic Party had earned the enmity of many Democrats , especially in the Northeast . Despite these qualms , most Democrats decided that Greeley was better than Grant and represented their only chance to defeat the Republican President . Though several state conventions endured considerable debate , every state Democratic convention other than Delaware 's convention ultimately endorsed Greeley . By a wide margin , the July 1872 Democratic National Convention voted to endorse the Liberal Republican ticket and accept the party 's platform without modification . After the convention , a group of disaffected Democrats led by Blanton Duncan nominated Charles O'Conor and John Quincy Adams II on the Straight-Out Democratic Party ticket , but both refused the nomination and neither actively campaigned
1872 Democratic National Convention
1872 Democratic National Convention
Liberal Republican Party (United States)