The Unpopular Populist
Crucified on a Cross of Votes
~~~~~
The
1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial
presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Congressman
William Jennings Bryan, the
Democratic candidate, defeated
Republican William McKinley. The 1896 campaign, which took place during an economic depression known as the
Panic of 1893, was a
political realignment that ended the old
Third Party System and began the
Fourth Party System.
Incumbent Democratic President
Grover Cleveland did not seek election to a second consecutive term, leaving the Democratic nomination open. Bryan, an attorney and former Congressman, galvanized support with his
Cross of Gold speech, which called for a reform of the monetary system and attacked business leaders as the cause of ongoing economic depression. The
1896 Democratic National Convention repudiated the Cleveland administration and nominated Bryan on the fifth presidential ballot. Bryan then won the nomination of the
Populist Party, which had won several states in
1892 and shared many of Bryan's policies. In opposition to Bryan, some conservative
Bourbon Democrats formed the
National Democratic Party and nominated Senator
John M. Palmer. McKinley prevailed by a wide margin on the first ballot of the
1896 Republican National Convention.
Since the onset of the Panic of 1893, the nation had been mired in a deep economic depression, marked by low prices, low profits, high unemployment, and violent strikes. Economic issues, especially
tariff policy and the question of whether the
gold standard should be preserved for the
money supply, were central issues. McKinley forged a conservative coalition in which businessmen, professionals, and prosperous farmers, and skilled factory workers turned off by Bryan's
agrarian policies were heavily represented. McKinley was strongest in cities and in the
Northeast,
Upper Midwest, and
Pacific Coast. Republican campaign manager
Mark Hanna pioneered many modern campaign techniques, facilitated by a $3.5 million budget. Bryan presented his campaign as a crusade of the working man against the rich, who impoverished America by limiting the money supply. Silver, he said, was in ample supply and if coined into money would restore prosperity while undermining the illicit power of the money trust. Bryan was strongest in the
South, rural
Midwest, and
Rocky Mountain states. Bryan's moralistic rhetoric and crusade for inflation (to be generated by the institution of
bimetallism) alienated conservatives.
Bryan campaigned vigorously throughout the
swing states of the Midwest, while McKinley conducted a "front porch" campaign. At the end of an intensely heated contest, one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history occurred. While McKinley received over half a million more votes than Bryan did, Bryan received the majority in the
Electoral College and won upset victories by extremely slim margins in pivotal regions on the Pacific Coast and eastern Midwest. Turnout was very high, in many locations passing 90% of the eligible voters in many places. With the Democratic Party's later schism and the divorcing of populists from the party in 1898, Bryan would become the first president to come from the
Populist Party and the only president to switch party alignment while still in office. Bryan would also be the final Democratic president, as the party fell into disrepair during the 1900s and 1910s. This shift set the stage for the Fourth Party System.
~~~~~
This was inspired by the recent series by
@Osk. I also yoinked most of the paragraphs here straight from the Wikipedia page for the 1896 election, since basically everything that happened OTL happened ITTL, it's just that WJB made a few all-important but slim headways in key states to just about clench the win.