See also “Mark Twain’s Tale of Today:the Celebrated Author Critiques American Politics” on Amazon-  so much of what he said and wrote is highly relevant today.
Twain thought Grant did some good things as president, eg, established the Justice department to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan, established Yellowstone as the first national park, and favored international arbitration over war to settle disputes, etc.
Twain campaigned for Republicans Hayes and Garfield before becoming a Mugwump and supporting Cleveland over the corrupt Republican James Blaine. He liked neither the imperialist McKinley and TR nor the Democrat free money Bryant.
Twain’s assault on legislative corruption had its roots in his days working for his brother’s Hannibal newspaper, in Nevada covering the legislature, as a Senate aide in DC, and in his first underrated novel, The Gilded Age.
There is a reason why MT’s quotes on politics are  so resonant today!
Donald Tiffany Bliss.
Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 5, 2020, at 6:18 PM, conor cunneen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> [EXTERNAL MESSAGE]
> 
> I have written / edited a book titled - Suppose You Were an Idiot - Mark Twain on Politics and Politicians.<https://www.amazon.com/Suppose-Were-Idiot-Mark-Twain/dp/1539442063/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=conor+cunneen&qid=1596661921&sr=8-14>
> 
> I'm nearly afraid to mention an enthusiast's effort in the company of this august group but it does give a very clear insight into his views on politicians rather than simply politics.
> "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
> 
> He truly despised the cant and hypocrisy of US politicians  but also others including Leopold of Belgium "He sits at home and drinks blood," Czar Alexander of Russia "one must descend into hell to find counterpart" (to the Czar's government).
> 
> He thought the Boer War "a sordid and criminal war and in every way shameful and excuseless" and ranted against imperialism in general, "I think that England sinned when she got herself into a war in South Africa which she could have avoided, just as we sinned in getting into a similar war in the Philippines."
> 
> As for his thoughts on Teddy Roosevelt!!!!!
> 
> "Theodore the man is sane; in fairness we ought to keep in mind that Theodore, as statesman and politician, is insane and irresponsible."
> 
> 
> 
> Just to be clear, that is a historical comment about a past President of the United States!
> 
> 
> I'm working on adding new material and hope to have an expanded edition out in a few months.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers and
> 
> Have a top o' the mornin' Day!
> 
> 
> Conor Cunneen - IrishmanSpeaks<http://irishmanspeaks.com/>
> 
> 
> Improving  People,   Performance  and   Productivity    with a smile
> 
> 
> "Conor, In my close to thirty years of association work, I have NEVER seen a speaker as well received as you."
> 
> Incentive Marketing Association
> 
> 
> Phone me at  630 718 1643 for a chat.
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Ladd, Barbara <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 3:28 PM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [External] What were Mark Twain's politics?
> 
> Miki,
> I've been wondering about similar matters and thinking that it would be wonderful if he were alive to comment on politics in 2020!
> 
> You could check out his speech on Tammany and Croker:
> 
> https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3188/3188-h/3188-h.htm#link2H_4_0030
> Mark Twain's Speeches, by Mark Twain<https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3188/3188-h/3188-h.htm#link2H_4_0030>
> THE STORY OF A SPEECH An address delivered in 1877, and a review of it twenty-nine years later. The original speech was delivered at a dinner given by the publishers of The Atlantic Monthly in honor of the seventieth anniversary o f the birth of John Greenleaf Whittier, at the Hotel Brunswick, Boston, December 17, 1877.
> www.gutenberg.org<http://www.gutenberg.org>
> 
> Barbara
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of miki pfeffer <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 3:01 PM
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [External] What were Mark Twain's politics?
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> During a recent interview with Steve Courtney of the Mark Twain House
> (thank you Steve; thank you MTH) as part of the "Trouble at Home" series, I
> was asked this question:
> "What were Grace King's politics?"
> 
> I struggled to answer with clarity in the moment, as I might about my own
> if asked.
> 
> So I am asking you wise ones whose answers I always read with interest (and
> often with amusement):
> What were Mark Twain's politics?
> Likewise, what were Sam Clemens's politics?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Miki Pfeffer
> 
> --
> Miki Pfeffer, Ph D
> *A** New Orlean**s Author i**n Mark Twain's Court: *
> *Letters from Grace King's New England Sojourns   *
> (LSU Press, 2019)
> *Southern Ladies and Suffragists: Julia Ward Howe and Women's Rights at the
> 1884 New Orleans World's Fair   *(University Press of Mississippi, 2014)
> 
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