William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1900

William Jennings Bryan for President
William Jennings Bryan for President
Campaign	U.S. presidential election, 1900
Candidate	William Jennings Bryan ; Adlai Stevenson I ;
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Status	Lost general election

Last updated May 05, 2019

1896 and 1900 Democratic presidential nominee William J. Bryan WilliamJBryan1902.png — 1896 and 1900 Democratic presidential nominee William J. Bryan

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.^[1] Ultimately, the incumbent U.S. President William McKinley ended up defeating the anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan and thus won a second four-year term in office.

The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the realigning election of 1896 and the presidency of William McKinley.

The Spanish–American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States in 1898. Hostilities began in the aftermath of the internal explosion of USS Maine in Havana harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War of Independence. The war led to emergence of U.S. predominance in the Caribbean region, and resulted in U.S. acquisition of Spain's Pacific possessions. That led to U.S. involvement in the Philippine Revolution and ultimately in the Philippine–American War.

William McKinley 25th president of the United States

William McKinley Jr. was the 25th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination six months into his second term. During his presidency, McKinley led the nation to victory in the Spanish–American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry and kept the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of free silver.

The nomination fight

Initially, Admiral George Dewey was the front-runner for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination after his 1898 victory at the Battle of Manila Bay (during the Spanish–American War).^[2] However, the fact that he married a Catholic widow (and gave her a house that grateful citizens had donated to him) as well his lack of knowledge about the role and power of the U.S. Presidency (Dewey said that the U.S. President merely executed the laws that the U.S. Congress passed) caused support for Dewey's candidacy to crumble.^[2]

Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies, and in many navies is the highest rank. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM". The rank is generally thought to have originated in Sicily from a conflation of Arabic: أمير البحر‎, amīr al-baḥr, "commander of the sea", with Latin admirabilis ("admirable") or admiratus ("admired"), although alternative etymologies derive the word directly from Latin, or from the Turkish military and naval rank miralay. The French version – amiral without the additional d – tends to add evidence for the Arab origin.

George Dewey was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained the rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.

The Battle of Manila Bay, also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Contraalmirante Patricio Montojo. The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War. The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history.

With the implosion of Dewey's candidacy, 1896 Democratic presidential nominee and former Congressman William Jennings Bryan became the front-runner for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination.^[2] Even though various prominent Democrats tried to convince Bryan to drop his support of free silver (due to the fact that, unlike in the 1896 election, the economy was recovering and in good shape at this point in time), Bryan refused and threatened to run as an independent if the Democrats didn't adopt a pro-free silver plank.^[2]^[3] Ultimately, Bryan won out and free silver was put into the 1900 Democratic platform by a one-vote margin--with Bryan becoming the 1900 Democratic presidential nominee.^[2] In addition, the Democrats criticized the Republicans for their imperialism, for the Philippine–American War, and for the proliferation of trusts.^[2]^[3]

Free silver was a major economic policy issue in late-19th-century America. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on demand, as opposed to strict adherence to the more carefully fixed money supply implicit in the gold standard. Supporters of an important place for silver in a bimetallic money system making use of both silver and gold, called "Silverites", sought coinage of silver dollars at a fixed weight ratio of 16-to-1 against dollar coins made of gold. Because the actual price ratio of the two metals was substantially higher in favor of gold at the time, most economists warned that the less valuable silver coinage would drive the more valuable gold out of circulation.

The Philippine–American War, also referred to as the Filipino–American War, the Philippine War, the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency, was an armed conflict between the First Philippine Republic and the United States that lasted from February 4, 1899, to July 2, 1902. While Filipino nationalists viewed the conflict as a continuation of the struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution, the U.S. government regarded it as an insurrection. The conflict arose when the First Philippine Republic objected to the terms of the Treaty of Paris under which the United States took possession of the Philippines from Spain, ending the short Spanish–American War.

Meanwhile, the Republicans re-nominated incumbent U.S. President William McKinley and chose New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt as McKinley's running mate (McKinley's first Vice President, Garret Hobart, had died in 1899).^[2]

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was an American statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president of the United States from March to September 1901 and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. His face is depicted on Mount Rushmore, alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. In polls of historians and political scientists, Roosevelt is generally ranked as one of the five best presidents.

Garret Augustus Hobart was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. He was the sixth American vice president to die in office.

Campaign

During the campaign, McKinley and the Republicans criticized Bryan's adherence support of free silver, claimed credit for the nation's economic recovery from Panic of 1893, called for lower taxes, a larger merchant marine, and an interoceanic canal in Central America.^[2] In addition, McKinley argued that trusts were "dangerous conspiracies against the public good and should be made the subject of prohibitory or penal legislation."^[2] Also, McKinley and the Republicans rejected both immediate independence for the Philippines and Bryan's idea of a protectorate for them, claiming that a Philippine protectorate would leave the U.S. responsible for the Philippines without the authority to meet its obligations.^[2]

Meanwhile, McKinley's campaign manager and Ohio Senator Mark Hanna raised $2.5 million ($53.2 million in 2002 dollars), a million less than in 1896, but five times more than Democrats raised in 1900.^[2] In addition, the Hanna-led Republican National Committee distributed 125 million pieces of campaign literature, including McKinley's letter of acceptance translated into German, Polish, and other languages.^[2] During the campaign, McKinley's running mate Theodore Roosevelt vehemently criticized the Democrats and their platform (while also defending the gold standard).^[2] Meanwhile, Bryan ran against the imperialism of McKinley and the Republicans and argued that imperialism is directly opposed to basic American values.^[4] In addition, Bryan campaigned in favor of campaign finance reform and associated Republicans with big business and trusts (and their abuses) following a gaffe by Hanna (where he said that trusts no longer exist because they were outlawed).^[2]^[5] While Bryan made a whopping 546 speeches to an audience of two-and-a-half million people during the 1900 campaign, Theodore Roosevelt's speeches during this campaign ended up reaching more people (with Roosevelt giving 673 speeches to an audience of three million people).^[2]^[6] In addition, Bryan was hurt by the inadequate financing and organization of the Democratic Party in 1900.^[2]^[6]

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Of the fifty states, it is the 34th largest by area, the seventh most populous, and the tenth most densely populated. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

Marcus Alonzo Hanna was an American businessman and Republican politician, who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and political ally of President William McKinley, Hanna used his wealth and business skills to successfully manage McKinley's presidential campaigns in 1896 and 1900.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. Similar committees exist in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties, although in some states party organization is structured by congressional district, allied campaign organizations being governed by a national committee. Ronna Romney McDaniel is the current committee chairwoman.

Results

Ultimately, McKinley won the popular vote by a 52% to 46% margin and won the electoral vote by a 292 to 155 margin.^[6]^[3] Indeed, McKinley's victory margin was greater than it had been in 1896, and might have been even larger had it not been for the intimidation of Black voters in the Southern United States (in the South, only 40% of all eligible voters actually voted in 1900).^[6] In addition, Republicans picked up two seats in the U.S. Senate and 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1900, raising their totals to 57 seats in the Senate and 198 seats in the House.^[6]

Overall, the 1900 election continued the political realignment which was begun by the 1896 election, having established the Republicans as the dominant political party in the U.S. until the 1920s.^[6]

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References

↑ "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
1 2 3 Gould, Lewis L. "William McKinley: Campaigns and Elections". Miller Center. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
↑ Michael E. Eidenmuller. "William Jennings Bryan - "Against Imperialism"". American Rhetoric. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
↑ "William Jennings Bryan Recognition Project". Agribusinesscouncil.org. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

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[1] "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

[harpweek1900-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

[millercenter1-3] 1 2 3 Gould, Lewis L. "William McKinley: Campaigns and Elections". Miller Center. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

[4] Michael E. Eidenmuller. "William Jennings Bryan - "Against Imperialism"". American Rhetoric. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

[5] "William Jennings Bryan Recognition Project". Agribusinesscouncil.org. Retrieved 2017-09-20.

[harpweek2-6] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "HarpWeek | Elections | 1900 Overview". Elections.harpweek.com. Retrieved 2017-09-20.