Albany Regency
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Albany Regency. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
in American history, the name given a circle of New York statesmen who dominated the politics of that state for a third of a century. This "regency" consisted of the "bosses" of the Democratic party . The members were men of upright character, and imbued with statesmanlike views. The regency had no definite membership, but it included such men as William L. Marcy, Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, and John A. Dix. As a means of party control, the leaders stood stanchly for the Jeffersonian spoils system. Indeed, Marcy is credited with coining the expression "To the victors belong the spoils." Naturally enough, the regency included the prominent occupants of the state house at Albany. The state treasurer, the state printer, an editor or two, and others were desirable allies. The Democracy lost control of state patronage in 1848. The "regency," always informal, came into control about 1820. It may be said to have dissolved by 1854. The traditions and policy were perpetuated by Samuel J. Tilden, Daniel Manning, and other leaders of integrity.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
THE, a name given in American political history to a powerful combination of eminent Democratic leaders of New York State. It was instituted in 1822 by Martin Van Buren, who remained its dominating spirit for many years. It continued to exercise large power until 1854, with such men as William L. Marcy, Silas Wright, John A. Dix, and Horatio Seymour identified with it. Afterward Samuel J. Tilden, Dean Richmond, and Daniel Manning preserved in a manner its traditions.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The facts have held up: no historian disputes that Van Buren, Marcy, Wright and Dix ran New York politics from the early 1820s until the Democratic split of the 1850s, though the founding date is usually put at 1821-22, when Van Buren left for the U.S. Senate, rather than Aiton's "about 1820." What has shifted is the tone. Aiton's 1910 praise of "men of upright character" imbued with "statesmanlike views" who "stood stanchly for the Jeffersonian spoils system" would not be written that way now; since the mid-20th century the Regency has been studied as the prototype of the disciplined American party machine, the model for the second party system and for Tammany after it. The spoils system itself was legislated away in Marcy's own state in 1883, when New York passed a civil service law in the same year as the federal Pendleton Act, and Marcy's line "to the victors belong the spoils" (from an 1832 Senate speech) survives as a reproach rather than a principle.
Written for this edition, 2026.