<P> During the latter part of the American Civil War and during the Reconstruction Era, many former Whigs tried to regroup in the South, calling themselves "conservatives" and hoping to reconnect with the ex Whigs in the North . These were merged into the Democratic Party in the South, but they continued to promote modernization policies such as large - scale railroad construction and the founding of public schools . </P> <P> In today's discourse in American politics, the Whig Party is often cited as an example of a political party that lost its followers and its reason for being as by the expression "going the way of the Whigs", a term referred to by Donald Critchlow in his book, The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History . Critchlow points out that the application of the term by Republicans in the Republican Party of 1974 may have been a misnomer--the old Whig party enjoyed more political support before its demise than the Republican Party in the aftermath of Nixon's resignation . </P> <P> The Whigs suffered greatly from factionalism throughout their existence as well as weak party loyalty that stood in contrast to the strong party discipline that was the hallmark of a tight Democratic Party organization . One strength of the Whigs was a superb network of newspapers--their leading editor was Horace Greeley of the powerful New - York Daily Tribune . </P> <P> In the 1840s, Whigs won 49 percent of gubernatorial elections, with strong bases in the manufacturing Northeast and in the border states . The trend over time was for the Democratic vote to grow faster and for the Whigs to lose more and more marginal states and districts . After the close 1844 contest, the Democratic advantage widened and the Whigs could win the White House only if the Democrats split . This was partly because of the increased political importance of the Western states, which generally voted for Democrats; and Irish Catholic and German immigrants, who voted heavily for the Democrats . </P>

Who was the first leader of the democratic party that was formed to oppose the governing whig party