Tension and heated confrontations between successive party leaders is not uncommon in the USA. Perhaps it is due to the dominance of two broad-church parties, the method of candidate selection via primaries, or simply the oversized personalities of those involved. Whatever the reason, American history is filled with episodes where consecutive figures from the same party clashed bitterly, reshaping not just their party’s trajectory but often the nation’s as well.
Mitt Romney & Donald Trump
The rivalry between Mitt Romney and Donald Trump illustrates how successive party leaders in the modern Republican Party have often been at open war.
In 2016, Trump bulldozed his way toward the nomination while Romney became one of his fiercest critics. Romney publicly branded him “a phony [and] a fraud” — words that set the tone for years of hostility.
Romney even sought to derail Trump tactically. In the Utah caucus, he voted for Trump’s rival Ted Cruz and reportedly considered a third-party run with Cruz, according to Romney: A Reckoning.
After winning a Senate seat in 2018, Romney solidified his role as Trump’s nemesis inside the GOP. In 2020, he made history as the first senator to vote to convict a president of his own party. After January 6th, 2021, he doubled down, accusing Trump of launching “an unprecedented attack against our democracy” born from “selfish… injured pride.”
Trump’s response was classic Trump: branding Romney a “failed presidential candidate,” “pompous ass,” and “total loser.” He labelled him a RINO for rejecting MAGA orthodoxy, while Romney countered by stating he would sooner vote for a Democrat than ever support Trump.
This feud between successive party leaders symbolised a wider fracture inside the GOP. Figures like John McCain also defied Trump — McCain’s dramatic “thumbs down” vote in 2017 killing Trump’s Obamacare repeal remains a defining symbol of intra-party rebellion.
John Tyler & Henry Clay
One of the earliest examples of bitter strife between successive party leaders came in 1841, when John Tyler assumed the presidency after William Henry Harrison’s sudden death. Tyler was the first vice president to become president due to death in office, seizing authority under ambiguous constitutional language.
This did not sit well with Henry Clay, the Whig Party’s most dominant figure and its presidential standard-bearer in 1824 and 1832. Clay had a clear vision: the re-establishment of a national bank. Tyler vetoed not one, but two bills creating such a bank, citing his states’ rights philosophy.
The backlash was immediate and furious. Crowds denounced Tyler as a traitor, burning him in effigy. Clay personally declared: “Tyler dare not resist; I will drive him before me.”
The Whigs expelled Tyler, making him a president without a party. Clay masterminded a Cabinet revolt — all but one of Tyler’s Cabinet resigned in September 1841. According to The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, Clay’s rage was as personal as it was political: “more than Clay wanted a bank, he wanted to bring down Tyler.”
In 1844, Clay again sought the presidency, but Tyler actively sabotaged him by supporting Democrat James K. Polk, whose annexationist stance Tyler favoured. Polk’s victory over Clay ensured Tyler’s influence outlived his presidency.
James Buchanan & Stephen A. Douglas
The Democratic split of 1860 was another dramatic case of successive party leaders undermining one another to catastrophic effect.
President James Buchanan and Senator Stephen A. Douglas had long been uneasy rivals. Their feud came to a head over the Lecompton Constitution, which would admit Kansas as a slave state. Buchanan demanded party unity; Douglas, championing popular sovereignty, denounced it as a fraud.
Buchanan threatened Douglas bluntly: “No Democrat ever differed from an administration of his own choice without being crushed.” But Douglas resisted, calling it a “fraudulent submission” he would “resist to the last.”
The animosity had roots: Buchanan had opposed Douglas’s ambitions as early as 1852 and pointedly excluded him from his Cabinet. Their rivalry hardened when Buchanan actively supported Douglas’s opponents in the 1858 Illinois Senate race — even if it risked Republican victory.
Douglas survived, thanks to his legendary debates with Abraham Lincoln, which raised his national stature. But the damage to the party was irreparable.
By 1860, Buchanan backed Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, while Douglas secured the Northern nomination. The Democrats split, Lincoln triumphed, and within months the Union was collapsing into Civil War. The enmity between these successive party leaders had torn their party apart at the worst possible moment.
Theodore Roosevelt & William Howard Taft
The clash between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft is one of the most famous ruptures between successive party leaders in American history.
Roosevelt, wildly popular after his presidency, handpicked Taft as his successor in 1908. But once in office, Taft pursued a more conservative line, consulting business interests and reshaping the judiciary in ways Roosevelt despised.
When Roosevelt returned from Africa, he unveiled his “New Nationalism,” a sweeping progressive platform that implicitly criticised Taft. Though he had promised not to run again, Roosevelt broke his word and challenged Taft in 1912.
Roosevelt won 10 of 12 primaries, but party bosses backed Taft. The convention turned violent, with fights between delegates. Roosevelt accused Taft of “stealing” the nomination and compared him to a thief violating the Eighth Commandment.
Bolting the party, Roosevelt founded the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party, championing reforms decades ahead of their time — women’s suffrage, health insurance, social insurance, and a national minimum wage. Taft blasted the movement as reckless and “neurotic.”
The split devastated Republicans. Woodrow Wilson strolled to victory, while Taft suffered the worst result of any incumbent president in history. Roosevelt’s rebellion against his own handpicked successor reshaped the GOP and modern progressivism alike.
Al Smith & Franklin D. Roosevelt
The 1928 and 1932 elections highlight another case of successive party leaders turning on each other with venom.
Al Smith, the first Catholic major-party nominee, lost heavily in 1928, while his ally Franklin D. Roosevelt managed to win New York’s governorship. By 1932, Smith had soured on Roosevelt and tried to block his nomination.
Smith accused Roosevelt of ignoring advice, casting aside loyal allies, and grandstanding. Roosevelt’s “Forgotten Man” speech enraged him further. Smith promised to “fight to the end against any candidate who persists in demagogic appeals to the masses.”
Some historians believe it was personal: Smith felt he had earned another shot in 1932, especially since the Democratic win was virtually guaranteed after the Depression destroyed Republican prospects. But FDR’s momentum — and the support of Smith’s own 1928 running mate, Joseph Taylor Robinson — left Smith powerless.
Smith became a fierce critic of the New Deal, joining the American Liberty League and railing against Social Security and “fascist” agricultural policies. In 1937, he derided New Deal spending as “senseless, useless, fruitless.”
Yet Roosevelt remained generous, maintaining cordial ties with Smith’s family and sending a moving condolence letter when Smith’s wife died in 1944.
Barry Goldwater & Richard Nixon
The relationship between Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon shows how even long-term allies among successive party leaders can collapse under pressure.
Though they supported each other at various points, Nixon subtly blamed Goldwater for the 1964 Republican disaster, calling it a rejection of “racism” and “extremism.” Goldwater quietly resented the remark.
By 1974, Watergate brought their simmering tension to a boil. As Nixon fought for survival, Goldwater abandoned him publicly. In an NBC Today interview, he quipped: “As far as I’m concerned, Mr. Nixon can go to China and stay there.”
It was Goldwater who personally delivered the final message: Nixon had lost Republican support and would be impeached. Within days, Nixon resigned.
Goldwater’s verdict was scathing. In his memoirs, he wrote: “He was the most dishonest individual I ever met in my life.” He added: “President Nixon lied to his wife, his family, his friends, longtime colleagues in Congress, his party, the American people, and the world.”
His contempt was lifelong. When Nixon died, Goldwater refused to attend the funeral, insisting he still had no respect for him.
Conclusion
From John Tyler’s Cabinet revolt to Roosevelt’s third-party rebellion, from Romney’s attacks on Trump to Goldwater’s contempt for Nixon, US history is rich with clashes between successive party leaders. These rivalries have not only defined political careers but also shaped the trajectory of American democracy itself.
