1896 United States presidential election

The 1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Bryan galvanized support with his Cross of Gold speech, which called for a reform of the monetary system.

About 1896 United States presidential election in brief

Summary 1896 United States presidential electionThe 1896 United States presidential election was the 28th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican candidate, defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. The 1896 campaign took place during an economic depression known as the Panic of 1893. Incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland did not seek election to a second consecutive term, leaving the Democratic nomination open. Bryan 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. 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. Bryan was strongest in the South, rural Midwest, and Rocky Mountain states, while McKinley conducted a ‘front porch’ campaign. Bryan won 46. 7% of the popular vote, while Palmer won just under 1% ofThe 1896 Democratic Party repudiated the Cleveland administration and nominated Bryan on the fifth presidential ballot. The Democratic Party’s repudiation of its Bourbon faction largely gave Bryan and his supporters control of the Democratic Party until the 1920s, and set the stage for Republican domination of the Fourth Party System. At their convention in St. Louis, Missouri, held between June 16 and 18, 1896, the Republicans nominated McKinley for president and New Jersey’s Garret Hobart for vice-president. Both candidates were easily nominated on first ballots.

The Republican campaign manager Mark Hanna pioneered many modern campaign techniques, facilitated by a USD 3. 5 million budget. Bryan’s moralistic rhetoric and crusade for inflation alienated conservatives. Bryan presented his campaign as a crusade of the working man against the rich, who impoverished America by limiting the money supply. 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. The election was a political realignment that ended the old Third Party System and began the fourth party system. The last veteran of the American Civil War to be nominated for president by either major party. Major McKinley was the last veteran. of theAmerican Civil war to be Nominated for President by both major parties. McKinley had just vacated the office of Governor of Ohio. He won a majority of popular and electoral vote. He was elected president by a wide margin on the first ballot of the 1896 Republican National Convention. He then went on to win a second term as President of the United States. He died in office in 1901, and was succeeded by his son McKinley. He is buried in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he had served as Governor from 1875 to 1883. He leaves behind a wife and four children. He also leaves a son, William, a son-in-law, and a grandson, James McKinley Jr.