WI: William Jennings Bryan ran as a Populist in 1912?

My goal is to have Roosevelt win as a Progressive in 1912, so that his new party can become a fixture as a viable third party up until the present. For him to win, I'm thinking the Democrats would not only have to nominate someone to turn off Progressives, but someone who could alienate Bryan and his supporters causing them to leave and run as Populists. So maybe with just enough votes, Champ Clark gets the nomination over Wilson when Tammany Hall throws their support behind him, and Bryan protests against Clark as an agent of Wall Street and vows to run against him in the general election.

So would the nomination of Champ Clark be a good enough reason for Bryan to leave the party and run as a Populist, and would that cause the Democratic vote to fracture enough for Roosevelt to win?
 
I don't think he had any objection to Champ Clark per se. He was hoping to produce a deadlocked convention which would eventually turn to him. The plan misfired because Clark's supporters were so outraged at his behaviour that they preferred switching to Wilson rather than letting Bryan profit by his "treachery".

Bryan was a thoroughly partisan Democrat and would never have considered bolting. He even supported Parker in 1904, though Parker was far more objectionable to him than Clark, and campaigned vigorously for Wilson in 1916, despite their deep disagreement over the Lusitania notes.
 
Makes me think: as a loyal but devious Democrat, suppose the convention had indeed deadlocked with both Wilson and Clark stalling short of the votes required for nomination? Would the Dems have been desperate enough in the heat of Baltimore's Fifth Regiment Armory in the summer of 1912 to turn to an already-three-time loser in Bryan?

If they had, I suspect the result (say, a Bryan/Marshall ticket) would have been even worse for the Dems than 1908. I could see Dems outside the old South getting sufficiently disgusted that they'd probably just stay home and not vote. Could well be that TR becomes a third party president-although were that to happen, one has to wonder how he'd get any of his agenda through Congress having to rely on cooperation of the two major parties.
 

mowque

Banned
Bryan was a thoroughly partisan Democrat and would never have considered bolting. He even supported Parker in 1904, though Parker was far more objectionable to him than Clark, and campaigned vigorously for Wilson in 1916, despite their deep disagreement over the Lusitania notes.

Yeah, for such a self-serving guy, he was very dedicated to the party.
 
Makes me think: as a loyal but devious Democrat, suppose the convention had indeed deadlocked with both Wilson and Clark stalling short of the votes required for nomination? Would the Dems have been desperate enough in the heat of Baltimore's Fifth Regiment Armory in the summer of 1912 to turn to an already-three-time loser in Bryan?

It's possible, but Bryan has to be daring. He must keep a very low profile and trust to luck that the deadlock will happen of its own accord. If he is seen as having caused the deadlock for his own advantage, that will scupper him as it did OTL. Even if for some reason the Clark people aren't prepared to vote for Wilson, they will switch to Marshall or some other dark horse rather than let Bryan get away with it.


If they had, I suspect the result (say, a Bryan/Marshall ticket) would have been even worse for the Dems than 1908. I could see Dems outside the old South getting sufficiently disgusted that they'd probably just stay home and not vote. Could well be that TR becomes a third party president-although were that to happen, one has to wonder how he'd get any of his agenda through Congress having to rely on cooperation of the two major parties.

He wouldn't. A third party presidency would be a total fiasco.

In any case I can't see it happening. If the party has turned to Bryan of its own accord, without any evidence of chicanery on his part, there is no reason for its core voters to be particularly disgusted. And after all, even OTL the party did do worse than 1908 - 41.8% for Wilson vis a vis 43.1% for Bryan on his last and poorest performance. But even the lower figure was enough to give Wilson a landslide in the Electoral College, and even Alton Parker's 37.6% would have done so. In 1912, the President was effectively going to be picked at the Democratic Convention, as in 1920 he would be chosen at the Republican one. In neither case did it greatly matter whom they nominated. He would have won virtually whoever he was.

Final point. Given Bryan's reputation (whether still deserved or not) as a dangerous radical, any defections from him will be largely conservative Democrats, who will mostly switch to Taft rather than TR. Even those (probably very modest) losses may well be offset by gains at the expense of Eugene Debs.
 
Last edited:
Top