1900 United States presidential election

1900 United States presidential election

The 1900 United States presidential election was the 29th quadrennial presidential election. Republican President William McKinley defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan. McKinley’s victory made him the first president to win consecutive re-election since Ulysses S. Grant had accomplished the same feat in 1872. The last election was held on November 20, 1904, when President Theodore Roosevelt was elected to a second four-year term.

About 1900 United States presidential election in brief

Summary 1900 United States presidential electionThe 1900 United States presidential election was the 29th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1900. Republican President William McKinley defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan. McKinley’s victory made him the first president to win consecutive re-election since Ulysses S. Grant had accomplished the same feat in 1872. The election results were similar to those of 1896, though McKinley picked up several Western states and Bryan picked up Kentucky. The return of economic prosperity and recent victory in the Spanish–American War helped McKinley to score a decisive victory, while Bryan’s anti-imperialist stance and continued support for bimetallism attracted only limited support. The 926 delegates to the Republican convention, which met in Philadelphia on June 19–21, re-nominated McKinley by acclamation. As Vice President Garret Hobart had died in 1899, the Republican Convention chose New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt as McKinley’s running mate. Quite unexpectedly, Roosevelt would be elevated to the presidency in September 1901, when McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New York. Admiral George Dewey’s campaign was met with a level of pessimism by Gold Democrats on whose support his campaign depended. Some even threw their support to Bryan, since they believed him to be the stronger candidate. The Democratic Party leaders of Vermont were hostile to Dewey and wholly committed to Bryan. Dewey resolutely refused to be considered for the presidency alongside Bryan; he effectively withdrew from the race at the Democratic National Convention held at Kansas City in 1900.

After there was a major boom for silver around this time, there was no real opposition to Bryan at the 1900 Democratic Convention in Kansas City. The Republican convention chose Roosevelt as his new vice- presidential candidate, thus filling the spot left open when Vice President Garfield Hobart death in 1899. The vote for the vice president was held in New York City on November 8, 1900, and the winner was announced on November 9, 1900 in Washington, D.C. The winner was chosen by a landslide, with McKinley taking 51.6% of the popular vote and Bryan winning 51.3%. The election was a rematch of the 1896 race, which McKinley won with 51.4% of popular vote. The race was a re-match of 1896 and the result was the same as the 1896 election, except that this time McKinley carried most states outside of the Solid South and Bryan won Kentucky and Ohio. The president was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt, who would go on to become the United States’ first African-American president and the first Asian-American to hold the presidency. The U.S. president was inaugurated on January 20, 1901, and served until March 20, 1903. The last election was held on November 20, 1904, when President Theodore Roosevelt was elected to a second four-year term. The presidency was the first to be held by a Democrat and the second to be elected by a Republican.