Reform
The election of Reform Democrat De Lesseps Story Morrison to Mayor in 1946 marked the end of RDO hegemony in New Orleans. The RDO's defeat was due in large measure to behind-the-scenes workings of Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis and the Uptown New Orleans elite, who specifically sought to end the machine that had run New Orleans for six decades. The Democratic Party's switch to progressive principles in the late 1960s eroded the conservative RDO's residual influence in government, with the victory of integrationist Democrat Moon Landrieu for mayor in 1970 reflecting the liberal ascendancy. Correspondingly, RDO has maintained its initials while touting "Republicans, Democrats, Others" as alternative underlying words. RDO detached from the Democratic Party and began tactically endorsing candidates irrespective of partisan affiliation.
Read more about this topic: Regular Democratic Organization
Famous quotes containing the word reform:
“... most reform movements in our country have been cursed by a lunatic fringe and have mingled sound ideas for social progress with utopian nonsense.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“We must reform society before we can reform ourselves.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“The reform [of the civil service] should be thorough, radical, and complete.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)