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→Stalwart faction
===Stalwart faction===
===Stalwart faction===
According to former U.S. senator [[Thomas C. Platt]] in his 1910 published autobiography, Flanagan was a [[Stalwart Republican]] delegate among the "Old Guard" 306 who supported the nomination of [[Ulysses S. Grant]] to a nonconsecutive third term in the [[United States presidential election, 1880|1880 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>Platt, Thomas C. (1910). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Autobiography_of_Thomas_Collier_Plat/6a1YAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=powell%20clayton The Autobiography of Thomas Collier Platt], p. 122. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref> During the Republican National Convention that year, when a [[Massachusetts]] delegate advocated a plank in support of "thorough, radical, and complete" civil service reform, Flanagan famously declared:<ref>Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). [https://archive.org/details/gentlemanbosslif00reev/page/n195/mode/2up?view=theater Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur], p. 173. ''Internet Archive''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref><ref>Peskin, Allan (1984). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2150708 Who Were the Stalwarts? Who Were Their Rivals? Republican Factions in the Gilded Age], p. 709. ''JSTOR''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref>
According to former U.S. senator [[Thomas C. Platt]] in his 1910 published autobiography, Flanagan was a [[Stalwart Republican]] delegate among the "Old Guard" 306 who supported the nomination of [[Ulysses S. Grant]] to a nonconsecutive third term in the [[United States presidential election, 1880|1880 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>Platt, Thomas C. (1910). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Autobiography_of_Thomas_Collier_Plat/6a1YAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=powell%20clayton The Autobiography of Thomas Collier Platt], p. 122. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref> During the Republican National Convention that year, when a [[Massachusetts]] delegate advocated a plank in support of "thorough, radical, and complete" civil service reform, Flanagan famously declared:<ref name=ncsl1924>National Civil Service League (1924). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Good_Government/dqMfPlqGoa8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=webster+flanagan+stalwart&pg=PA103&printsec=frontcover Good Government: Volume 41], p. 103–04. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref><ref>Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). [https://archive.org/details/gentlemanbosslif00reev/page/n195/mode/2up?view=theater Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur], p. 173. ''Internet Archive''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref><ref>Peskin, Allan (1984). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2150708 Who Were the Stalwarts? Who Were Their Rivals? Republican Factions in the Gilded Age], p. 709. ''JSTOR''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref>
{{cquote|Texas has had quite enough of the civil service. There is one plank in the Democratic Party that I have ever admired, and that is, 'To the victors belong the spoils.' After we have won the race as we will, we will give those who are entitled to positions office. What are we up here for? I mean that members of the Republican Party are entitled to office, and if we are victorious we will have office.|||Webster Flanagan, June 1880}}
{{cquote|Texas has had quite enough of civil service reform under the present Administration. Out of 1,340-odd Federal positions, only about 140 are held down by Republicans. We will nominate and elect a Stalwart Republican, who, when elected, will give the hewers of wood and drawers of water the rations they are entitled to...
Flanagan's remarks elicited laughter at the convention, as the majority of delegates sympathetically concurred with his message. Two decades later, [[U.S. Supreme Court]] justice [[David Brewer]] listed the speech among "The World's Best Orations."<ref>Brewer, David J. (1900). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_s_Best_Orations/fA3FmZ0sZt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=webster+flanagan+stalwart&pg=PA4004&printsec=frontcover The World's Best Orations], p. 4,004. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref>
There is one plank in the Democratic Party, and has ever been, that I admire. It is: 'To the victors belong the spoils.' After we have won the race as we will, we will give those who are entitled to positions office. What are we up here for if not the offices? I mean that members of the Republican Party are entitled to office, and if we are victorious we will have office.|||Webster Flanagan, June 1880}}
Flanagan's remarks elicited laughter at the convention, as the majority of delegates sympathetically concurred with his message. Stalwart leader [[Roscoe Conkling]] commented to a group around him:<ref name=ncsl1924/>
{{cquote|I think Flanagan had the courage to do that which most of us were too cowardly to do.|||Roscoe Conkling, June 1880}}
Two decades later, [[U.S. Supreme Court]] justice [[David Brewer]] listed Flanagan's "What are we hear for" speech among "The World's Best Orations."<ref>Brewer, David J. (1900). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_s_Best_Orations/fA3FmZ0sZt4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=webster+flanagan+stalwart&pg=PA4004&printsec=frontcover The World's Best Orations], p. 4,004. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 25, 2023.</ref>
==References==
==References==