TheAlbany Regency was a group ofpoliticians who controlled theNew York state government between 1822[1] and 1838. Originally called the"Holy Alliance", it was instituted byMartin Van Buren, who remained its dominating spirit for many years.[1] The group was among the first Americanpolitical machines. In the beginning they were the leading figures of theBucktails faction of theDemocratic-Republican Party, later theJacksonian Democrats, and finally theHunkers faction of theDemocratic Party.
The Albany Regency was a loosely organized group of politicians with similar views and goals who resided in or nearAlbany, New York, the state capital. They controlled thenominating conventions andpatronage of their party within New York State, and by dictating its general policy, exerted a powerful influence in national as well as state politics. They derived their power largely from their personal influence and political sagacity, and were, for the most part, earnest opponents ofpolitical corruption, though they uniformly acted upon the principle, first formulated in 1833 by one of their number (Marcy), that "to the victors belong the spoils."[2]
The Regency developed party discipline and originated the control ofparty conventions through officeholders and others subservient to it. Thespoils system they had created would dominate late-19th-century American politics, but in the beginning, observed the technical qualifications of the candidates for office they nominated.Thurlow Weed, who coined the name "Albany Regency", wrote he "had never known a body of men who possessed so much power and used it so well".[3] However, this also may have been intended by Weed to be a disparaging remark.
The leading figure of the Albany Regency wasMartin Van Buren. Upon Van Buren's election to theUnited States Senate in 1821, several of his friends and aides, includingBenjamin F. Butler,Samuel A. Talcott,Silas Wright,William L. Marcy, andAzariah C. Flagg, took over the day-to-day management of the political organization that had been developed under Van Buren.Roger Skinner, state printerEdwin Croswell,Benjamin Knower,John Adams Dix, andCharles E. Dudley also became members of the Regency. Their organ was theArgus newspaper of Albany, founded in 1813 byJesse Buel (1778–1839) and edited from 1824 to 1854 byEdwin Croswell.[4] The Regency was powerful enough during this era that it largely dictated policy toNew York City'sTammany Hall Democratic organization.[5]
The Regency ended when Marcy was defeated in the election forGovernor of New York by the opposingWhig's candidateWilliam H. Seward in 1838, which led to a radical change in state politics. Also cited as a factor is a bitter factional split in 1848 (seeBarnburners) which gave the other party the patronage the Regency used to use against it. The Regency was reduced in a few years to unorganized individuals.[6]
In 1845 Mackenzie published private letters betweenJesse Hoyt and various members of the Albany Regency. These letters described negotiations between various members of the Regency for financial transactions and appointments to government office and exposed how members of the Regency were able to profit from speculatory notes and political corruption.[7]
