Bourbon Triumvirate

The Bourbon Triumvirate was a group of three powerful and influential Georgia politicians, all members of the Democratic Party, in the post-Reconstruction Era: Joseph E. Brown, Alfred H. Colquitt, and John Brown Gordon. The three men occupied positions as governor of Georgia and senators from Georgia between 1872 and 1890 and exercised dominance over the state politics during this era, although the extent to which the three acted as a cohesive group has been debated.

Etymology

The term "Bourbon" refers to rulers who are unable to adapt to new situations and who espouse ideas suited for former eras. In the late 1800s, it was applied to Bourbon Democrats who tried to reverse some of the effects of the Reconstruction Era. The term triumvirate refers to a group of three individuals who exercise political control.

History

Antebellum Era and Civil War

The three men included in the triumvirate, Joseph E. Brown, Alfred H. Colquitt, and John Brown Gordon, were all well-established individuals during the American Civil War, with all three having had political or military experience prior to the Reconstruction Era. Brown, the oldest of the three, had served as the Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865. Colquitt had served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 and had sought the nomination of the Democratic Party for Governor in 1857, losing the nomination to Brown. Additionally, he had served as a member of the Georgia Secession Convention in 1861 and served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, rising to the rank of major general. Gordon, the only member of the triumvirate to not have held political office before the war, served in the Confederate States Army and, like Colquitt, rose to the rank of major general by the end of the war.