Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 1896. Former Governor William McKinley, the Republican nominee, defeated former Representative William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee. 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.Williams (2010)
Incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland did not seek election to a second consecutive term (which would have been his third overall), leaving the Democratic nomination open. An attorney and former congressman, Bryan galvanized support with his Cross of Gold speech, which called for 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 at 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, prosperous farmers, and skilled factory workers turned off by Bryan's agrarian policies were heavily represented. He 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. He said that silver 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. His 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, McKinley won a majority of the popular and electoral vote. Bryan won 46.7% of the popular vote and Palmer just under 1%. Turnout was very high, passing 90% of the eligible voters in many places. McKinley became the first Republican to ever carry Kentucky in a presidential election, thereby breaking into the Solid South; while Bryan became the first Democrat to ever carry Nebraska and Kansas, as well as several other Western states that had only recently been admitted to the Union, in a presidential election. The Democratic Party's repudiation of its Bourbon faction largely gave Bryan and his supporters control of the party until the 1920s and set the stage for Republican domination of the Fourth Party System. The four elections from 1884 to 1896 saw the incumbent party defeated each time; the only other such streak was from 1840 to 1852.
Nominations Republican Party nomination
1896 Republican Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 39thGovernor of Ohio(1892–1896) 24th President of theNew Jersey Senate(1881–1882)Campaign
Other candidates
Thomas B. ReedMatthew S. QuayLevi P. MortonWilliam B. AllisonCharles F. MandersonShelby M. Cullom38thSpeaker of the Housefrom Maine(1895–1899)U.S. Senatorfrom Pennsylvania(1887–1899)22ndVice President of the United States(1889–1893)U.S. Senatorfrom Iowa(1873–1908)U.S. Senatorfrom Nebraska(1883–1895)U.S. Senatorfrom Illinois(1883–1913)
Following the defeat of former President Benjamin Harrison at the 1892 election, Ohio governor William McKinley rapidly became the overwhelming favorite to be the party's nominee in 1896, having finished a strong third behind Harrison and veteran candidate James G. Blaine (who had passed away not long after the election) at the party's 1892 convention. The only likely impediment to McKinley's candidacy was seen to be a possible comeback attempt by Harrison, but Harrison made it clear in early 1896 that he had no intention of making a third presidential run, and endorsed McKinley. 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. McKinley had just vacated the office of governor of Ohio. Both candidates were easily nominated on first ballots.
McKinley's campaign manager, the wealthy and talented Ohio businessman Mark Hanna, visited the leaders of large corporations and major, influential banks after the Republican Convention to raise funds for the campaign. With many businessmen and bankers terrified of Bryan's populist rhetoric and demand for the end of the gold standard, Hanna had little difficulty raising record amounts of money. He raised $3.5 million for the campaign and outspent the Democrats by an estimated 5-to-1 margin. McKinley was the last veteran of the American Civil War to be nominated for president by either major party, and indeed the last Civil War veteran to be on a major party's presidential ticket in any capacity (Henry G. Davis, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 1904, took part in the Union war effort, but in a non-combat role).
Presidential Nominating BallotVice-Presidential Nominating Ballot1st Unanimous 1st UnanimousWilliam McKinley 661.5 924 Garret A. Hobart 535.5 924Thomas Brackett Reed 84.5 H. Clay Evans 277.5 Matthew S. Quay 61.5 Morgan Bulkeley 39 Levi P. Morton 58 James A. Walker 24 William B. Allison 35.5 Charles W. Lippitt 8 James D. Cameron 1 Thomas Brackett Reed 3 Not Voting 20 Chauncey Depew 3 Do nothing 661.5 John Mellen Thurston 2 Frederick Dent Grant 2 Levi P. Morton 1 Not Voting 29
Democratic Party nomination
1896 Democratic Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President U.S. Representativefor Nebraska's 1st(1891–1895) President of theMaine Central Railroad(1884–1893)Campaign
Other candidates
Candidates in this section are sorted by their highest vote count on the nominating ballots, then by reverse date of withdrawalRichard P. BlandRobert E. PattisonJoseph BlackburnHorace BoiesJohn R. McLeanU.S. Representativefrom Missouri(1873–1895)19thGovernor of Pennsylvania(1891–1895)United States Senatorfrom Kentucky(1885–1897)14thGovernor of Iowa(1890–1894)Publisher of The Cincinnati Enquirerfrom Ohio(1881–1916)291 votes100 votes82 votes67 votes54 votesClaude MatthewsBenjamin TillmanSylvester PennoyerHenry M. TellerWilliam Russell23rdGovernor of Indiana(1893–1897)United States Senatorfrom South Carolina(1895–1918)8thGovernor of Oregon(1887–1895)United States Senatorfrom Colorado(1885–1909)37thGovernor of Massachusetts(1891–1894)37 votes17 votes8 votes8 votes: June 202 votesWilliam R. MorrisonJohn W. DanielStephen M. WhiteGrover ClevelandU.S. Representativefrom Illinois(1873–1887)United States Senatorfrom Virginia(1887–1910)United States Senatorfrom California(1893–1899)22nd and 24th President of the United Statesfrom New York(1885–1889; 1893–1897): June 19
One month after McKinley's nomination, supporters of silver-backed currency took control of the Democratic convention, held in Chicago on July 7–11. Most of the Southern and Western delegates were committed to implementing the Populist Party's "free silver" ideas. The convention repudiated Cleveland's gold standard policies and Cleveland himself. This left the convention wide open: there was no obvious successor to Cleveland. A two-thirds vote was required for the nomination and the silverites had it in spite of the extreme regional polarization of the delegates. In a test vote on an anti-silver measure, the Eastern states (from Maryland to Maine), with 28% of the delegates, voted 96% in favor. The other delegates voted 91% against, so the silverites could count on a majority of 67% of the delegates.Walter Dean Burnham, "The System of 1896: An Analysis," in Paul Kleppner et al., The Evolution of American Electoral Systems (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1981), 147—202 at pp. 158–60
The attorney, former congressman, and unsuccessful Senate candidate William Jennings Bryan filled the void. A superb orator, Bryan hailed from Nebraska and spoke for farmers suffering from the economic depression following the Panic of 1893. At the convention, he gave what has been considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history, the "Cross of Gold" Speech. Bryan presented a passionate defense of farmers and factory workers struggling to survive the economic depression, and attacked big-city business owners and leaders as the cause of much of their suffering. He called for reform of the monetary system, an end to the gold standard, and government relief efforts for farmers and others hurt by the depression. Bryan's speech was so dramatic that many delegates carried him on their shoulders around the convention hall afterward.
The next day, eight names were placed in nomination: Richard Bland, William J. Bryan, Claude Matthews, Horace Boies, Joseph Blackburn, John R. McLean, Robert E. Pattison, and Sylvester Pennoyer. Despite a strong initial showing by Bland, who led on the first three ballots, Bryan's speech helped him gain the momentum required to win the nomination, which he did on the fifth ballot, after most of the other candidates withdrew in his favor.
After Bland's defeat, his supporters attempted to nominate him as Bryan's running mate, but Bland was more interested in winning back his former seat in the House of Representatives, and so withdrew his name from consideration despite leading the early rounds of voting. Arthur Sewall, a wealthy shipbuilder from Maine, was eventually chosen as the vice-presidential nominee. It was felt that Sewall's wealth might encourage him to help pay some campaign expenses. At just 36, Bryan was only a year older than required by the Constitution to be president. He remains the youngest person ever nominated for president by a major party.
Presidential Nominating Ballots (1 Thru 5)Vice-Presidential Nominating Ballots (1 Thru 5)1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Unanimous 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th UnanimousWilliam J. Bryan 137 197 219 280 652 930 Arthur Sewall 100 37 97 261 568 930Richard P. Bland 235 281 291 241 11 John R. McLean 111 158 210 298 32Robert E. Pattison 97 100 97 97 95 Richard P. Bland 62 294 255 0 0Joseph Blackburn 82 41 27 27 0 Joseph C. Sibley 163 113 50 0 0Horace Boies 67 37 36 33 0 George F. Williams 76 16 15 9 9John R. McLean 54 53 54 46 0 John W. Daniel 11 0 6 54 36Claude Matthews 37 34 34 36 0 Walter Clark 50 22 22 46 22Benjamin Tillman 17 0 0 0 0 James R. Williams 22 13 0 0 0Adlai E. Stevenson 6 10 9 8 8 William F. Harrity 19 21 19 11 11Sylvester Pennoyer 8 8 0 0 0 Joseph Blackburn 20 0 0 0 0Henry M. Teller 8 8 0 0 0 Horace Boies 20 0 0 0 0William E. Russell 2 0 0 0 0 J. Hamilton Lewis 11 0 0 0 0David B. Hill 1 1 1 1 1 Robert E. Pattison 2 1 1 1 1James E. Campbell 1 0 0 0 0 George W. Fithian 1 0 0 0 0David Turpie 0 0 0 0 1 Henry M. Teller 1 0 0 0 0Not Voting 178 160 162 161 162 Stephen M. White 1 0 0 0 0 Not Voting 260 255 255 250 251 Presidential Nominating Ballots In DetailVice-Presidential Nominating Ballots In Detail1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 4th 5th
Third parties and independents People's Party nomination 1896 People's Party ticket for Presidentfor Vice President U.S. Representativefor Nebraska's 1st(1891–1895)U.S. Representativefor Georgia's 10th(1891–1893)