Bourbon Democrat was a term used in the United States in the later 19th century (1872–1904) to refer to members of the Democratic Party, usually Southern, who were ideologically aligned with conservatism or classical liberalism, especially those who supported presidential candidates Charles O'Conor in 1872, Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, President Grover Cleveland in 1884–1888/1892–1896, and Alton B. Parker in 1904.
After 1904, the Bourbons faded away. Southerner Woodrow Wilson, made a deal in 1912 with the leading opponent of the Bourbons, William Jennings Bryan; Bryan endorsed Wilson for the Democratic nomination and Wilson named Bryan Secretary of State. Bourbon Democrats were promoters of a form of laissez-faire capitalism which included opposition to the high-tariff protectionism that the Republicans were then advocating as well as fiscal discipline.