Mugwumps were Republicans who supported the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland, during the 1884 presidential election. The term comes from an Algonquin word meaning “person of importance” or “war leader.” It is now used to refer to those who revolt against their own group, and can also mean someone who is indecisive. The term has also appeared in popular culture, including in the Harry Potter books and William Burroughs’ novel Naked Lunch.
Mugwumps were members of the Republican party of American politics who, during the 1884 presidential election, chose not to support the Republican candidate and instead ran behind the Democratic candidate, Grover Cleveland. While the term has had a number of different meanings and is only used in fairly unusual or specialized circumstances today, the common usage is understood to refer to the political mugwums of the late 19th century, and is typically used to refer to those who revolt against one’s own group, usually in a political sense. In the 19 election, Grover Cleveland won the election, and his victory in several key states, such as New York, is often cited as being due to the actions of the mugwumps in those regions.
The term itself comes from an American Indian Algonquin word mugguomp, which is typically translated as “person of importance” or “war leader.” This word was also used before the actions of Republicans during the 1884 election and often referred to someone who seemed to think he was overly important. In that usage it was also commonly understood as a derogatory label and often associated with someone who had recently gained some semblance of power and had immediately used that little power to become very annoying to others.
After the 1884 election, however, mugwumps became synonymous with Republicans who had chosen to support Cleveland rather than the Republican candidate, James G. Blain. Charles Anderson Dana, editor of the New York Sun at the time, is generally reported to have named the mugwumps and used the term derisively. While the term has fallen out of popular usage, it has still been occasionally cited when referring to members of a political party or movement who make efforts against their own party. It can also be used in reference to someone who is unable or unwilling to make a decision, as mugwumps were often said to be, and is used to refer to someone who is “sitting on the fence” about a decision. In these cases, the person is often said to be sitting with his “cup on one side” and his “wump on the other.”
The term has also managed to survive in a number of different references within popular culture, including minor use in the popular Harry Potter books and William Burroughs’ novel Naked Lunch. In the Harry Potter books, a character named Professor Dumbledore refers to himself as the “Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards,” and Burroughs used the word for an imaginary creature in his rather psychedelic novel. During the 1960s, a short-lived band in New York formed under the name “The Mugwumps,” although they produced no major hits.
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