The representative of an industrial region, Randall became known as a staunch defender of protective tariffs designed to assist domestic producers of manufactured goods.

Randall's support for high tariffs began to alienate him from most Democrats, and when that party regained control of the House in 1883, he was denied another term as Speaker.

[15] As historian Albert V. House explained, "[h]is military career was respectable, but far from arduous, most of his duties being routine reconnoitering which seldom led him under fire.

[15] Gaining the Democratic nomination was, thus, tantamount to election; Randall defeated former mayor Richard Vaux for their party's endorsement and won easily over his Republican opponent, Edward G.

[23] When a bill was proposed to allow President Abraham Lincoln to promote Ulysses S. Grant to lieutenant general, Randall voted in favor, unlike most in his party.

[25] Claiming opposition to slavery, Randall said his objections stemmed instead from a belief that the amendment was "a beginning of changes in the Constitution and the forerunner of usurpation".

[26] In 1867, the Republicans proposed requiring an ironclad oath from all Southerners wishing to vote, hold office, or practice law in federal courts, making them swear they had never borne arms against the United States.

[36] He also believed the income tax, first enacted during the Civil War, was being administered unfairly, with large refunds often accruing to powerful business interests.

[43] During the Grant administration, he questioned thousands of items in the appropriation bills, often gaining the support of Republicans in excising expenditures that were in excess of the departments' needs.

[46] Randall's role in the investigation was limited, but he proposed bills to ban such frauds and sought to impeach Vice President Schuyler Colfax, who had been implicated in the scandal.

Previous acts had seen the use of federal courts and troops to guarantee that black men and women could not be deprived of their civil rights by any state.

[53] When Sumner died in 1874, his bill had not passed, but others from the radical wing of the Republican Party, including Representative Benjamin Butler of Massachusetts, continued to work for its enactment.

[55] In the meantime, the outgoing Republicans made one last effort to pass Sumner's civil rights bill; Randall and other Democrats immediately used parliamentary maneuvers to bring action to a stand-still, hoping to delay passage until the Congress ended.

[21] Kerr's health was fragile, and he was often absent from sessions, but Randall refused to take his place as speaker on a temporary basis, preferring to concentrate on his appropriations work.

[67] After Kerr's death, Randall was the consensus choice of the Democratic caucus, and was elected to the Speakership when Congress returned to Washington on December 2, 1876.

[71] The counts of the disputed ballots were inconclusive, with each of the states in question producing two sets of returns: one signed by Democratic officials, the other by Republicans, each claiming victory for their man.

Justice David Davis, an independent respected by both parties, was expected to be their choice, but he upset the careful planning by accepting election to the Senate by the state of Illinois and refusing to serve on the commission.

[84] That Act, passed when Republicans last controlled the House, was intended to gradually withdraw all greenbacks from circulation, replacing them with dollars backed in specie (i.e., gold or silver).

Democratic Representative Richard P. Bland of Missouri proposed a bill that would require the United States to buy as much silver as miners could sell the government and strike it into coins, a system that would increase the money supply and aid debtors.

[90] In the House, Tilden supporter Clarkson Nott Potter of New York sought an investigation into the 1876 election in Florida and Louisiana, hoping that evidence of Republican malfeasance would harm that party's candidate in 1880.

[90] Some in the caucus wished to investigate the entire election, but Randall and the more moderate members worked to limit the committee's reach to the two disputed states.

[96] Many of Randall's fellow Democrats differed with him over protectionism and his lack of support for Southern railroad subsidies, and considered choosing Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn of Kentucky as their nominee for Speaker, instead.

[96] Several other Southerners' names were floated, too, as anti-Randall Democrats tried to coalesce around a single candidate; in the end, none could be found and the caucus chose Randall as their nominee with 107 votes out of 152.

[96] Randall's determination to cut spending, combined with Southern Democrats' desire to reduce federal power in their home states, led the House to pass an army appropriation bill with a rider that repealed the Enforcement Acts, which had been used to suppress the Ku Klux Klan.

[97] Randall's role in the process was limited, but the Democrats' failure to force Hayes's acquiescence weakened his appeal as a potential presidential candidate in 1880.

[101] Some of his allies' enthusiasm backfired against him, however, after McMullen and some supporters broke up an anti-Randall meeting in Philadelphia's 5th ward with such violence that one man was left dead.

[118] Carlisle selected William Ralls Morrison, another tariff reformer, to lead the Ways and Means committee, but allowed Randall to take charge of Appropriations.

[128] In February 1886, Morrison, still the chairman of Ways and Means, proposed a bill to decrease the surplus by buying and cancelling $10 million worth of federal bonds each month.

[129] In the lame-duck session of 1887, Randall attempted a compromise tariff that would eliminate duties on some raw materials while also dispensing with excises on tobacco and some liquors.

[134] At the same time, Randall seemingly reversed his long-standing commitment to fiscal economy by voting with the Republicans to override Cleveland's veto of the Dependent and Disability Pension Act.