By 1896, populist issues had become so important that the Democratic candidate for president, William Jennings Bryan, pledged to support them and went on to win most of the South and West. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. The song was "Sift Sand, Sal", the source does not explain the relevance of this to Bryan. McKinley was supported by middle-class and wealthy voters, urban laborers, and prosperous farmers; this coalition would keep the Republicans mostly in power until the 1930s. [140] The Democratic Party preserved control in the eastern cities through machine politics and the continued loyalty of the Irish-American voter; Bryan's loss over the silver issue of many German-American voters, previously solidly Democratic, helped ensure his defeat in the Midwest. There was little advantage to the Democratic Party in nominating a candidate from Nebraska, a state small in population that had never voted for a Democrat. "[101] Many Populists saw the election of Bryan, whose positions on many issues were not far from theirs, as the quickest path to the reforms they sought; a majority of delegates to the convention in St. Louis favored him. However, the economy was booming under the leadership of McKinley. But probably the most important reasons why they lost the elections are because they did not sufficiently address issues related to the problems of urban workers and immigrants, and free silver proved to be an issue of less interest for the national campaign. The smell of victory seemed to hang in the air. Ever since the election of 1800, American presidential contests had, on some level, been a referendum on whether the country should be governed by agrarian interests (rural indebted farmers-the countryside-"main street") or industrial interests (business-the city-"wall street"). [14] After his election to Congress, Bryan studied the currency question carefully, and came to believe in free silver; he also saw its political potential. Hayes and Harrison both won in the electoral college but lost the popular vote, for example. The book, composed of accounts of (fictitious) lectures on the silver issue given by an adolescent named Coin to Chicago audiences, became an immense bestseller. Now among the most famous politicians in the country, Bryan would run twice more for president, losing again to McKinley in 1900 and to William Howard Taft in 1908. Taken prisoner after his plane was shot down, he suffered five and a half years of torture and confinement before his release in 1973. Senator Tillman, a fiery speaker who wore a pitchfork on his lapel, began the debate. [96][97] According to Stanley Jones, "the Democratic endorsement of silver and Bryan at Chicago precipitated the disintegration" of the Populist Party;[98] it was never again a force in national politics after 1896. On July 26, 1925, five days after the verdict was issued, Bryan died in his sleep after suffering a stroke. [133][134] Beginning in September, the Republicans concentrated on the tariff question, and as Election Day, November 3, approached, they were confident of victory. The billionaire businessman ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 read more, John McCain first entered the public spotlight as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. Their enthusiasm at the unrehearsed rear platform appearances and in the formal speeches was spontaneous and contagious. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Those that served principally as agricultural centers or had been founded along the railroad favored Bryan. McKinley won with 7.1 million votes to Bryan's 6.5 million, 51% to 47%. William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. The nation was regionally split, with the industrial East and Midwest for McKinley, and with Bryan carrying the Solid South and the silver strongholds of the Rocky Mountain states. [e] In his account, Bryan quoted a letter by Senator Jones: "No matter in how small sums, no matter by what humble contributions, let the friends of liberty and national honor contribute all they can to the good cause. He was followed by Senator William Vilas of Wisconsin and former Massachusetts Governor William D. Russell. In 1904, Taft took on the role of secretary of war in the administration read more, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) launched his career by taking charge of his fathers struggling newspaper the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. [18], In 1893, bimetallism had been just one of many proposals by Populists and others. In August 1893, Bryan earned admiration from free silverites with his three-hour speech in Congress decrying President Grover Clevelands (ultimately successful) effort to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 and again tie U.S. currency to the gold standard. [21] By then, he had come to see his nomination for that office as possible, even likely. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. Everybody seemed to go mad at once. "[145] Bryan's own explanation was brief: "I have borne the sins of Grover Cleveland. "[110][111][112] August 12 was an extremely hot day in New York, especially for the crowd jammed into the Garden; when Missouri Governor William J. [137], The 1896 presidential election was close by modern measurements, but less so by the standards of the day, which had seen close-run elections over the previous 20 years. Although they nominated Bryan for president, they chose Georgia's Thomas E. Watson as vice-presidential candidate; some hoped Bryan would dump Sewall from his ticket. "[19] A Minnesota correspondent wrote in Outlook magazine: "high school boys are about equally divided between silver and baseball, with a decided leaning toward the former". Bryan spent most of October there160 of his final 250 train stops were in the Midwest. After several days in upstate New York, during which he had a dinner with Senator Hill[c] at which the subject of politics was carefully avoided, Bryan began a circuitous journey back to Lincoln by train. [121], During this tour, Bryan spoke almost exclusively on the silver question, and attempted to mold the speeches to reflect local issues and interests. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated in what is generally seen as a realigning election. [10], In May 1894, Bryan announced he would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives, feeling the incessant need to raise money to campaign in a marginal district was inhibiting his political career. In 1986, he began his long tenure as the U.S. read more, William Seward (1801-1872) was a politician who served as governor of New York, as a U.S. senator and as secretary of state during the Civil War (1861-65). Didn't want to split pro-silver vote Populists 1892 Bryan served as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915, resigning as Wilson moved the nation closer to intervention in World War I. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated. This popular treatment of the currency issue was highly influential. In 1925, high school biology teacher John Scopes went on trial in Tennessee as a test of the first state law banning the teaching of evolution. They had been passed as compromises between free silver and the gold standard. Bryan left the convention, returning to his hotel to await the outcome. Poor Grover Cleveland a hard-money, laissez-faire Democrat was blamed for the panic of 1893, and many leading Cleveland Democrats lost their gubernatorial and senatorial posts in the 1894 elections. [135], William and Mary Bryan returned to Lincoln on November 1, two days before the election. In 1896 it was kept as a forum, and by day and night men and womenmet there to talk about the Crime of '73, the fallacies of the gold standard, bimetallism and international consent, the evils of the tariff, the moneybags of Mark Hanna, the front porch campaign of McKinley. Ultimately, the incumbent U.S. President William McKinley ended up defeating the anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan and thus won a second four-year . [50], Delegates spent most of the first two days listening to various speeches by silver supporters. [33] Bryan spoke at her funeral, quoting lines from Second Timothy: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Bryan was present when it was announced that his delegation would not be initially seated; reports state he acted "somewhat surprised" at the outcome. A bowery had been built for the Fourth of July picnic and dance. Most cities that were financial or manufacturing centers voted for McKinley. These results made the Midwest the crucial battlefield that would decide the presidency. overcoming discrimination to become a self made millionaire why is madame CJ walker remembered? [124], Bryan rarely emphasized other issues than silver; leader of a disparate coalition linked by the silver question, he feared alienating some of his supporters. [24][25] Several times, in his addresses, Bryan repeated variations on lines he had spoken in Congress in December 1894, decrying the gold standard, "I will not help to crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. [36] Historian James Barnes wrote of Bryan's preparations: The Nebraskan merely understood the political situation better than most of those who might have been his rivals, and he took advantage in a legitimate and thoroughly honorable manner of the existing conditions. The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. The Populists proposed both greater government control over the economy (with some calling for government ownership of railroads) and giving the people power over government through the secret ballot, direct election of United States Senators (who were, until 1913, elected by state legislatures), and replacement of the Electoral College with direct election of the president and vice president by popular vote. "[143], Michael Kazin, Bryan's biographer, notes the many handicaps he faced in his 1896 campaign: "A severe economic downturn that occurred with Democrats in power, a party deserted by its men of wealth and national prominence, the vehement opposition of most prominent publishers and academics and ministers, and hostility from the nation's largest employers". [30] As state conventions met to nominate delegates to the July national convention, for the most part, they supported silver, and sent silver men to Chicago. [2][3], While attending law school from 1881 to 1883, Bryan was a clerk to former Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull, who influenced him in a dislike for wealth and business monopolies. To those who cling to the gold standard, he declared in closing: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.. The dark horse is in his stall, feasting on the oats of hope and political straws. [73] As Missouri Senator George Vest nominated Bland, his oratory was drowned out by the gallery, "Bryan, Bryan, W.J. This would restore a practice abolished in 1873. Why did William Jennings Bryan lose? [148], One legacy of the campaign was the career of William Jennings Bryan. They quickly endorsed Bryan and Sewall, urging all silver forces to unite behind that ticket. [32] Once delegates were selected, Bryan wrote to party officials and obtained a list; he sent copies of his speeches, clippings from the World-Herald, and his photograph to each delegate.[28]. [104] The National Silver Party, mostly former Republicans, met at the same time as the Populists; both conventions were in St. Louis. Chicago banker Charles G. Dawes, a McKinley advisor who had known Bryan when both lived in Lincoln, had predicted to McKinley and his friend and campaign manager, Mark Hanna, that if Bryan had the chance to speak to the convention, he would be its choice. [127], Republican newspapers painted Bryan as a tool of Governor Altgeld, who was controversial for having pardoned the surviving men convicted of involvement in the Haymarket bombing. [81][82] Amid talk that the Gold Democrats would form their own party, Senator Hill was asked if he remained a Democrat. Seward spent his early career as a lawyer before winning a seat in the New York State Senate in 1830. Bryan Club" and "Keep Your Eye on Nebraska. They also lost the next 2 elections, in spite of their strong backing in the popular classes. Bryan remained at his hotel, sending word to his fellow Nebraskans, "There must be no pledging, no promising, on any subject with anybody. He had accepted the nominal editorship of the Omaha World-Herald in August 1894. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. She became his wife, and was his principal assistant throughout his career. Bryan had rightly pointed that the defect of the Gold Standard when it was first implemented was that there was not enough gold in comparison to the rising needs of the growing American economy. The minority report attracted the opposite reaction.[54]. Retrieved May 19, 2012. William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), the U.S. congressman from Nebraska, three-time presidential nominee and secretary of state, emerged near the end of the 19th century as a leading voice in the. On the fifth ballot, other states joined the Bryan bandwagon, making him the Democratic candidate for president.[76][77]. This advocacy brought him contributions from silver mine owners in his successful re-election bid in 1892. Bryan was strongly affected by the emerging Social Gospel movement that called on Protestant activists to seek to cure social problems such as poverty. Any possible candidacy depended on silver supporters being successful in electing the bulk of convention delegates; accordingly Bryan backed such efforts. [106][107] Bryan was not interested in campaign organization; what he wanted from the DNC was enough money to conduct a national tour by train. No delegation must be permitted to violate instructions given by a state convention. The Republican William Howard Taft worked as a judge in Ohio Superior Court and in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals before accepting a post as the first civilian governor of the Philippines in 1900. The election of 1896 is seen as the beginning of a new era in American politics, or a "realignment" election. [43] He explained to Champ Clark, the future Speaker of the House, that Bland and others from southern states would fall because of prejudice towards the old Confederacy, that Boies could not be nominated because he was too little-known, and all others would fail due to lack of supportleaving only himself.[44]. The paper editorialized on the same page that even if the Democratic candidate was not insane, he was at least "of unsound mind". [46], Just before the convention, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) made initial determinations of which delegations were to be seatedonce convened, delegates would make the final determination after the convention's Credentials Committee reported. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. [67], Bryan described the stillness as "really painful"; his anxieties that he might have failed were soon broken by pandemonium. The 1900 United States presidential election took place after an economic recovery from the Panic of 1893 as well as after the Spanish-American War, with the economy, foreign policy, and imperialism being the main issues of the campaign. When early-voting Maine and Vermont went strongly Republican in September, this meant that McKinley would most likely win the Northeast. [20], In March 1895, the same month he left Congress, Bryan passed his 35thbirthday, making him constitutionally eligible for the presidency. Bryan sensed the possibility of becoming the nominee long before 1896; his ambition was fully matured several months prior to the convention, and there is evidence that his hopes were becoming tinged with certainty before he left for Chicago. The minority had indicated its position. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party. Writers such as Edgar Lee Masters, Hamlin Garland and his fellow Nebraskan, Willa Cather, like Bryan came from the prairies; they wrote of their admiration for him and his first battle. "[63] He continued: Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? New York State Senate in 1830 why did william jennings bryan lose the 1896 election in the air Bryan backed such efforts silver.! Most cities that were financial or manufacturing centers voted for McKinley to the urban voter, was. That failed to appeal to the present senator Tillman, a fiery speaker wore. American lawyer, orator and politician unrehearsed rear platform appearances and in popular! Next 2 elections, in spite of their strong backing in the air self. 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