why did william jennings bryan lose the 1896 election

[40] President Cleveland spent the week of the convention fishing, and had no comment about the events there; political scientist Richard Bensel attributes Cleveland's political inaction to the President's loss of influence in his party. The answer was simple, Bryan told Abbothe had prepared a speech that would stampede the convention. 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. A devout Protestant, his populist rhetoric and policies earned him the nickname the Great Commoner. In his later years, Bryan campaigned against the teaching of evolution in public schools, culminating with his leading role in the Scopes Trial. According to Stanley Jones, The period of this tour, in the return from New York to Lincoln, was the high point of the Bryan campaign. On April 22, 1893, the amount of gold in the Treasury dropped below $100million for the first time since 1879, adding to the unease. 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. He was a fine actor, with a justly famous voice, but was not a charlatan. Historian James A. Barnes deemed the DNC's vote immaterial; once the convention met on July 7, it quickly elected a silver man, Virginia Senator John Daniel, as temporary chairman and appointed a committee to review credentials friendly to the silver cause. Sherman's act required the government to pay out gold in exchange for silver and paper currency, and through the early months of 1893 gold flowed out of the Treasury. Though he continued to publicly oppose U.S. involvement in World War I after his resignation, Bryan changed course after the nation entered the conflict in 1917 due to extensive popular support for the war effort. He campaigned relentlessly, traveling around the country and giving hundreds of speeches to millions of people, while his Republican opponent, Ohio Governor William McKinley, stayed home and gave speeches from his porch. Populism and the Election of 1896. Many Cleveland supporters decried Bryan as no true Democrat, but a fanatic and socialist, his nomination procured through demagoguery. Cross of Gold Speech and Election of 1896, Anti-Evolution Crusade, Scopes Trial and Death, Department of State: Office of the Historian. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. 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. [48], As the committees met, the convention proceeded, though in considerable confusion. Their enthusiasm at the unrehearsed rear platform appearances and in the formal speeches was spontaneous and contagious. However, the President ruled this out; his Cabinet members also refused to run. 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. "[52], On the morning of July 9, 1896, thousands of people waited outside the Coliseum, hoping to hear the platform debate. 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. Many Republican leaders had gone on vacation for the summer, believing that the fight, on their terms, would take place in the fall. The New York World reported, "The floor of the convention seemed to heave up. [50], Delegates spent most of the first two days listening to various speeches by silver supporters. He made 27speeches, including seven in Omaha, the last concluding a few minutes before midnight. The campaign, as it proved, was badly organized: This was Jones' first national campaign, and the party structure in many states was either only newly in the control of silver forces, or in gold states wanted no part of the national ticket. "[102], Historian R. Hal Williams, in his book about the 1896 campaign, believes that the Populist nomination did Bryan little good; most Populists would have voted for him anyway and the endorsement allowed his opponents to paint him and his supporters as extremists. 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. His father, Silas, was a dedicated Jacksonian Democrat and a successful lawyer who served in various local elected positions and passed on his politics to his son. Governor Altgeld had held Illinois, which was subject to the "unit rule" whereby the entirety of a state's vote was cast as a majority of that state's delegation directed. Hayes and Harrison both won in the electoral college but lost the popular vote, for example. Gold Democrats had success in the Northeast, and little elsewhere. A free silver policy would inflate the currency, as the silver in a dollar coin was worth just over half the face value. Bryan signed on as chief prosecutor, facing off against the criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow. In anticipation of a presidential campaign, he spent much of 1895 and early 1896 making speeches across the United States; his compelling oratory increased his popularity in his party. After Bryan helped rally support behind Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, Wilson chose the now-elder Democratic statesman as his secretary of state. Rumors that Europeans were about to redeem a large sum for gold caused desperate selling on the stock market, the start of the Panic of 1893. With little money, poor organization, and a hostile press, Bryan was his campaign's most important asset, and he wanted to reach the voters by traveling to them. Attending Illinois College beginning in 1877, Bryan devoted himself to winning the school prize for speaking. When both Hill and Bryan (who was selected as the other pro-silver speaker) objected to such a long closing address, Tillman settled for 50minutes and for opening the debate rather than closing it; Bryan was given 25minutes to close. To that end, it was important that the Populists not nominate a rival silver candidate, and he took pains to cultivate good relations with Populist leaders. In 1896, Bryan captivated the audience at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with a passionate oration urging his countrymen to stand up for the common man against big business interests and support free silver. "[60] From the start, Bryan had his audience: when he finished a sentence, they would rise, shout and cheer, then quiet themselves to ready for the next words; the Nebraskan later described the convention as like a trained choir. "[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. Bryan affirmed that the people could be counted on to prevent the rise of a tyrant, and noted, "What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand, as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of organized wealth. If the USA had been on a bimetallic standard between 1875 and 1890, the economy could have expanded far more than it did, restricted as it was in its monetary straight jacket. "[34] He also attended, as a correspondent for the World-Herald, the Republican convention that month in St. Louis. The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. Jill Lepore. His running mate, Theodore Roosevelt, campaigned across the nation, condemning Bryan as a dangerous threat to America's prosperity and status. [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. [55] The New York Times described the setting: There never was such a propitious moment for such an orator than that which fell to Bryan. Many of the silver men had not attended a national convention before, and were unfamiliar with its procedures. At the outset of the 1890s, with drought destroying the livelihoods of many American farmers, the Peoples Party (also known as the Populist Party) was growing as a force in U.S. politics by appealing to small farmers, shopkeepers and other less wealthy voters. [118] Starved of money, the Democrats had fewer speakers and fewer publications to issue. [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. In June 1896, Bryan's old teacher, former senator Trumbull died; on the day of his funeral, Bryan's mother also died, suddenly in Salem. He was defeated in the general election by the Republican candidate, former Ohio governor William McKinley . [69] In the midst of the crazed crowd, Altgeld, a Bland supporter, commented to his friend, lawyer Clarence Darrow, "That is the greatest speech I ever listened to. The song was "Sift Sand, Sal", the source does not explain the relevance of this to Bryan. He slept much of the evening of election day, to be wakened by his wife with telegrams showing the election was most likely lost. He won the prize in his junior year, and also secured the affection of Mary Baird, a student at a nearby women's academy. [38] Illinois Governor Altgeld, a leader of the silver movement, was ineligible because he was not a natural-born U.S. citizen as required for the presidency in the Constitution. He won election to the House of Representatives in 1890, and was re-elected in 1892, before mounting an unsuccessful US Senate run. "[75] On the first ballot, Bryan had 137 votes, mostly from Nebraska and four southern states, trailing Bland who had 235; Boies was fourth with 67 votes and was never a factor in the balloting. He introduced several proposals for the direct election of senators and to eliminate tariff barriers in industries dominated by monopolies or trusts. The jury predictably found Scopes guilty, but Bryans performance in the trial, and his thrashing in the national press, marked a less than stellar end to his long career as a public figure. [21] By then, he had come to see his nomination for that office as possible, even likely. "[66] In a demonstration of some half an hour, Bryan was carried around the floor, then surrounded with cheering supporters. Lose identity, simplify their cause to one policy (free coinage of silver), sacrifice rest of platform Why did Populists endorse Bryan? The President's uncompromising stand for gold alienated many in his own party (most southern and western Democrats were pro-silver). The proposed platform was pro-silver; Senator Hill had offered an amendment backing the gold standard, which had been defeated by committee vote. The majority felt exposed, crestfallen, and humiliated.[56]. A streak of the moralist preacher raised his political chances among a people attuned to the biblical phrase and Shakespearan [sic] stance. McKinley did well in the border states of Maryland, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Writer Edgar Lee Masters, who witnessed Bryan's speech, remembered, "Suddenly I saw a man spring up from his seat among the delegates and with the agility and swiftness of an eager boxer hurry to the speaker's rostrum. Although not a landslide shift comparable to election swings in the twentieth century, McKinley's victory ended the pattern of close popular margins that had characterized elections since the Civil War. Illinois Senator John M. Palmer was eager to be the presidential candidate, and the convention nominated him with Kentucky's Simon Bolivar Buckner as his running mate. McKinley and Hanna gently mocked Dawes, telling him that Bland would be the nominee. "[72] Bryan had made no arrangements for formal nominating speeches given the short timeframe, and was surprised when word was brought to him at the Clifton House that he had been nominated by Henry Lewis of Georgia: the candidate had expected the Kansas delegation to name him. But McKinleys victory was fueled by a massive influx of campaign cash from Wall Street bankers and other wealthy business interests, all determined to crush Bryans radical brand of populism. 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. 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"). [61] He dismissed arguments that the business men of the East favored the gold standard: We say to you that you have made the definition of a business man too limited in its application. 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 Democratic Party and the nation. Despite his defeat, Bryan's campaign inspired many of his contemporaries. Bryan Club" and "Keep Your Eye on Nebraska. See, Last edited on 24 November 2022, at 01:09, United States presidential nominating convention, William McKinley 1896 presidential campaign, National Archives and Records Administration, Official Proceedings of the 1896 Democratic National Convention, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Jennings_Bryan_1896_presidential_campaign&oldid=1123490165, This page was last edited on 24 November 2022, at 01:09. Party members in many states, including Nebraska, demanded inflation of the currency through issuance of paper or silver currency, allowing easier repayment of debt. William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan, winning 292 electoral votes to Bryan's 155. [62][64] He responded to an argument by Senator Vilas that from silver forces might arise a Robespierre. A friend of mine is a student of American religious history with a particular interest in William Jennings Bryan and the Populists. William jennings Bryan supported the cause of what in the 1896 presidential election? [80] Bryan and Sewall gained their nominations without the ballots of the gold men, most of whom refused to vote. By August, many firms had gone bankrupt, and a special session of Congress convened, called by Cleveland to repeal the silver purchase act. There is no legal or constitutional requirement that the loser of a U.S. presidential election must concede. [125] He occasionally addressed other subjects: in an October speech in Detroit, he spoke out against the Supreme Court's decision ruling the federal income tax unconstitutional. They read Bryan when they couldn't go off to listen to him. Bryan's supporters raised at most $500,000 for the 1896 campaign; McKinley's raised at least $3.5 million. [144] According to Kazin, "what is remarkable is not that Bryan lost but that he came as close as he did to winning. The 1896 presidential race is generally considered a realigning election, when there is a major shift in voting patterns, upsetting the political balance. "[141], On November 5, Bryan sent a telegram of congratulations to McKinley, becoming the first losing presidential candidate to do so, "Senator Jones has just informed me that the returns indicate your election, and I hasten to extend my congratulations. why did william jennings bryan lose the election of 1896? [105], After the Democratic convention, Bryan had returned triumphantly to Lincoln, making speeches along the way. [128] For the most part, Bryan ignored the attacks, and made light of them in his account of the 1896 campaign. As the presidential election year of 1896 began, things were looking rosy for the Republicans. 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. That evening, Bryan dined with his wife and with friends. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! His program of prosperity through free silver struck an emotional chord with the American people in a way that McKinley's protective tariff did not. Many were disappointed; the Democratic candidate read a two-hour speech from a manuscript, wishing to look statesmanlike, and fearing that if he spoke without a script, the press would misrepresent his words. He was young, had a respectable but not burdensome record, came from the West, and understood the arts of conciliation. Why did William Jennings Bryan lose the 1896 election? Wherever his train went people, who had travelled from nearby farms and villages, waved and shouted encouragement. Even in the South, Bryan attracted 59% of the rural vote, but only 44% of the urban vote, taking 57% of the southern vote overall. The Coliseum was located in a "dry" district of Chicago but the hotels were not. The increasing economic struggles of poor farmers during the 1870s and 1880s led to the Populist movement. [87] Large numbers of traditionally Democratic newspapers refused to support Bryan, including the New York World, whose circulation of 800,000 was the nation's largest, and major dailies in cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, and Brooklyn. The smell of victory seemed to hang in the air. However, the business man argument was new, though he had hinted at it in an interview he gave at the Republican convention. "Silver Dick" Bland was seen as the elder statesman of the silver movement; he had originated the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, while Boies' victories for governor in a normally Republican state made him attractive as a candidate who might compete with McKinley in the crucial Midwest. [85][86] Some of the Democratic political machines, such as New York's Tammany Hall, decided to ignore the national ticket and concentrate on electing local and congressional candidates. [129] Republican newspapers and spokesmen claimed that Bryan's campaign was expensively financed by the silver interests. [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. In the book, Bryan made it clear that the first battle would not be the last, "If we are right, we shall yet triumph. Throughout the nation, voters were intensely interested in the campaign, studying the flood of pamphlets. Bryan remained at his hotel, sending word to his fellow Nebraskans, "There must be no pledging, no promising, on any subject with anybody. Mary Bryan had joined her husband in late September; on The Idler, the Bryans were able to eat and sleep in relative comfort. After invading "the enemy's country",[d] he was returning to his own territory. He was slim, tall, pale, raven-haired, beaked of nose. Morgan noted, "full organization, [Republican] party harmony, a campaign of education with the printed and spoken word would more than counteract" Bryan's speechmaking. The Democrats did gain some financing from the mine owners, although it is uncertain how much. Each made their cases for gold, and likely changed few votes. Nevertheless, Gold Democrats began plans to hold their own convention, which took place in September. Active in Democratic Party politics, Sewall was one of the few eastern party leaders to support silver, was wealthy and could help finance the campaign; he also balanced the ticket geographically. Ultimately, the incumbent U.S. President William McKinley ended up defeating the anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan and thus won a second four-year . [94], Despite the confidence of the Republicans, the nomination of Bryan sparked great excitement through the nation. His enemies regarded him as an ambitious demagogue, but his supporters viewed him as a champion of liberal causes. In 1896, William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. At a speech in Chicago on Labor Day, Bryan varied from the silver issue to urge regulation of corporations. He maintained contact with silver partisans in other parties, hopeful of gathering them in after a nomination. Bryan did not; Senator Jones (as the new Democratic National Committee chairman, in charge of the campaign) stated, "Mr. Sewall, will, of course, remain on the ticket, and Mr. Watson can do what he likes. This would restore a practice abolished in 1873. [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. "[66], As he spoke his final sentence, he brought his hands to his head, fingers extended in imitation of thorns; amid dead silence in the Coliseum, he extended his arms, recalling with words and posture the Crucifixion of Jesus, and held that position for several seconds. By the 1930s, he had built the nations largest media empire, including more than two dozen newspapers in major cities nationwide, read more, Populism is a style of politics used to mobilize mass movements against ruling powers. [b] That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. [103] Populist leader Henry Demarest Lloyd described silver as the "cow-bird" of the Populist Party, which had pushed aside all other issues. It was badly received even by silver delegates, who wished to think of silver as a patriotic, national issue. [5], Bryan quickly became prominent in Lincoln as a lawyer and a public speaker, becoming known as the "Boy Orator of the Platte". When he spoke of himself as the nominee, some reacted as [journalist] Willis J. Abbot did and doubted his mental capacity. He was utterly confident that he would succeed, believing "the logic of the situation," as he later put it, dictated his selection. His speech, set as the only one besides Bryan's in favor of silver, portrayed silver as a sectional issue pitting the poorer folk of the South and West against gold-supporting New York and the rest of the Northeast. "1896 Presidential Election Results". Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. This was a matter of intense interest for the silver delegates: Bryan had written to large numbers of delegates urging them to support his men over their gold rivals; once in Chicago, he and his fellow Nebraskans had spoken with many others about the dispute. The 1896 Democratic National Convention repudiated the Cleveland administration and nominated Bryan on the fifth presidential ballot. "[144] Williams believes that Bryan did better than any other Democrat would have, and comments, "The nominee of a divided and discredited party, he had come remarkably close to winning. He knew that hard work could turn the discontent of the people into a revolt against the gold wing of the party, and no group of individuals ever labored more diligently to gain their political ends than did the silver men in the [Democratic Party] between 1893 and 1896. On September 27, The New York Times published a letter by an "eminent alienist" who, based on an analysis of the candidate's speeches, concluded that Bryan was mad. [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. At home, he took a short rest, and was visited by Senator Jones to discuss plans for the campaign. I will add for the encouragement of those who still believe that money is not necessary to secure a Presidential nomination that my entire expenses while in attendance upon the convention were less than $100. [104] The National Silver Party, mostly former Republicans, met at the same time as the Populists; both conventions were in St. Louis. 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.. Not even supporters thought the Gold Democrats would win; the purpose was to have a candidate who would speak for the gold element in the party, and who would divide the vote and defeat Bryan. But the emergence of a brash, young politician, William Jennings Bryan, soon turned the. [4] Looking for a growing city in which his practice could thrive, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1887. 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. "[131], The South and most of the West were deemed certain to vote for Bryan. Decide to endorse William Jennings Bryan (Democratic candidate). overcoming discrimination to become a self made millionaire why is madame CJ walker remembered? The 1896 race is generally seen as a realigning election. Many seats were vacant before he concluded.[113][114]. [136] His train reached Lincoln after the polls opened; he journeyed from train station to polling place to his house escorted by a mounted troop of supporters. Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 17891996". "[145], The consequences of defeat, however, were severe for the Democratic Party. The convention, by voice vote, seated the silver Nebraskans, who arrived in the convention hall a few minutes later, accompanied by a band. According to his biographer Michael Kazin, "Bryan felt he was serving his part in a grander conflict that began with Christ and showed no sign of approaching its end. Bryan, who was still in Congress, spoke eloquently against the repeal, but Cleveland forced it through. 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). Argument was New, though in considerable confusion McKinley did well in the formal was... Convention seemed to heave up the cause of what in the border States of Maryland, West Virginia and... Burdensome record, came from the silver men had not attended a national repudiated... ( most southern and western Democrats were pro-silver ) ( electoral vote:... An interview he gave at the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan ran unsuccessfully for President the!, telling him that Bland would be the nominee for a growing city in his! No true Democrat, but his supporters viewed him as an ambitious demagogue, but was not a charlatan forced... Nominated Bryan on the fifth presidential ballot, came from the silver issue to urge of. 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Not burdensome record, came from the silver in a dollar coin was just... 56 ] Labor Day, Bryan had returned triumphantly to Lincoln, making speeches the.

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