He was slim, tall, pale, raven-haired, beaked of nose. "Silver Dick" Bland was seen as the elder statesman of the silver movement; he had originated the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, while Boies' victories for governor in a normally Republican state made him attractive as a candidate who might compete with McKinley in the crucial Midwest. Nevertheless, Gold Democrats began plans to hold their own convention, which took place in September. He then lowered his arms, and began the journey back to his seat in the silence. On the fifth ballot, other states joined the Bryan bandwagon, making him the Democratic candidate for president.[76][77]. I will add for the encouragement of those who still believe that money is not necessary to secure a Presidential nomination that my entire expenses while in attendance upon the convention were less than $100. Historian H. Wayne Morgan described Bryan: Robert La Follette remembered Bryan as "a tall, slender, handsome fellow who looked like a young divine". William Jennings Bryan on the Stand Calling Bryan to the stand was a shock for the court. [62][64] He responded to an argument by Senator Vilas that from silver forces might arise a Robespierre. He supported many Populist policies. Of course I support him. His campaign focused on silver, an issue that failed to appeal to the urban voter, and he was defeated in what is generally seen as a realigning election. The coalition of wealthy, middle-class and urban voters that defeated Bryan kept the Republicans in power for most of the time until 1932. "[83][84], Bryan's nomination was denounced by many establishment Democrats. After Bryan helped rally support behind Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, Wilson chose the now-elder Democratic statesman as his secretary of state. "[52], On the morning of July 9, 1896, thousands of people waited outside the Coliseum, hoping to hear the platform debate. overcoming discrimination to become a self made millionaire why is madame CJ walker remembered? On September 27, The New York Times published a letter by an "eminent alienist" who, based on an analysis of the candidate's speeches, concluded that Bryan was mad. The billionaire businessman ran as a Republican and scored an upset victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 read more, John McCain first entered the public spotlight as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. In March 1898, two years into William McKinley's first term as president, he gave Spainwhich was in the midst of a brutal campaign of repression in . The increasing economic struggles of poor farmers during the 1870s and 1880s led to the Populist movement. Retrieved May 19, 2012. [24][25] Several times, in his addresses, Bryan repeated variations on lines he had spoken in Congress in December 1894, decrying the gold standard, "I will not help to crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. Eugene V. Debs Why did most southern states pass laws to disenfranchise black voters in the 1890s To eliminate the possibility of future political alliances between poor whites and blacks Which reform did the Populists call for on their party platform of 1892 Public ownership of railroads and telegraphs Bimtallism. This advocacy brought him contributions from silver mine owners in his successful re-election bid in 1892. [133][134] Beginning in September, the Republicans concentrated on the tariff question, and as Election Day, November 3, approached, they were confident of victory. He set his sights on higher office, believing he could be elected president in 1896 even though he remained a relatively minor figure in the Democratic Party. Bryan sensed the possibility of becoming the nominee long before 1896; his ambition was fully matured several months prior to the convention, and there is evidence that his hopes were becoming tinged with certainty before he left for Chicago. As an evangelical Christian and a believer in the literal interpretation of the Bible, Bryan also saw a grave threat in the application of Charles Darwins theory to human society. [147] This was evidenced in the tariff question: Bryan spent little time addressing it, stating that it was subsumed in the financial issue; Republican arguments that the protective tariff would benefit manufacturers appealed to urban workers and went unrebutted by the Democrats. [4] Looking for a growing city in which his practice could thrive, he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1887. Everybody seemed to go mad at once. Populists claim to speak for ordinary people, taking an "us versus them" stance. This was a matter of intense interest for the silver delegates: Bryan had written to large numbers of delegates urging them to support his men over their gold rivals; once in Chicago, he and his fellow Nebraskans had spoken with many others about the dispute. "[109], Bryan set the formal acceptance of his nomination for August 12 at New York's Madison Square Garden; he left Lincoln five days earlier by rail, and spoke 38times along the way, sometimes from the trackside in his nightgown. "[34] He also attended, as a correspondent for the World-Herald, the Republican convention that month in St. Louis. [50], Delegates spent most of the first two days listening to various speeches by silver supporters. [118] Starved of money, the Democrats had fewer speakers and fewer publications to issue. At home, he took a short rest, and was visited by Senator Jones to discuss plans for the campaign. "[42] Bryan's strategy was simple: maintain a low profile as a candidate until the last possible moment, then give a speech that rallied the silver forces behind him and bring about his nomination. (W.W. Norton & Company, 2018), William Jennings Bryan, the Great Commoner. Constitutional Rights Foundation, Spring 2010 (Volume 25, No. Bryan was born on March 19, 1860 in the small town of Salem, Illinois. Why did the populist party support william jennings Bryan for president in the presidential election of 1896? The presidential election in 1896, a contest between the Republican candidate, William McKinley (1843-1901), and the Democrat candidate, William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), was contested over McKinley's pledge to maintain the gold standard for the nation's currency, in contrast to Bryan's promise to increase the supply of money by expanding the . "[63] He continued: Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of "the idle holders of idle capital" or upon the side of "the struggling masses"? [14] After his election to Congress, Bryan studied the currency question carefully, and came to believe in free silver; he also saw its political potential. Bryans inability to differentiate between social Darwinism and the scientific theory of evolution galvanized his more fundamentalist, religious supporters but earned him the disdain of many others who shared his progressive politics. Bryan was strongly affected by the emerging Social Gospel movement that called on Protestant activists to seek to cure social problems such as poverty. An ardent read more, A native of Tennessee, Al Gore served as vice president of the United States under President Bill Clinton from 1992 to 2000, after a long tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Their enthusiasm at the unrehearsed rear platform appearances and in the formal speeches was spontaneous and contagious. The nominations The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most exciting in American history. "[101] Many Populists saw the election of Bryan, whose positions on many issues were not far from theirs, as the quickest path to the reforms they sought; a majority of delegates to the convention in St. Louis favored him. He was a fine actor, with a justly famous voice, but was not a charlatan. Attending Illinois College beginning in 1877, Bryan devoted himself to winning the school prize for speaking. Why was the 1896 election devastating for Populist movement? McKinley and Hanna gently mocked Dawes, telling him that Bland would be the nominee. [49] Bryan had been widely supported as a candidate for permanent chairman by the silver men, but some western delegates on the Committee on Permanent Organization objected, stating that they wanted the chance to support Bryan for the nomination (the permanent chairman was customarily ruled out as a candidate). William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), the U.S. congressman from Nebraska, three-time presidential nominee and secretary of state, emerged near the end of the 19th century as a leading voice in the. At first, he rode in public cars, and made his own travel arrangements, looking up train schedules and even carrying his own bags from train station to hotel. However, the President ruled this out; his Cabinet members also refused to run. Instead, he sought the Senate seat that the Nebraska legislature would fill in January 1895. Despite his electoral losses, Bryan continued to exert considerable influence through his fervently religious speeches as well as a weekly magazine, the Commoner. Decide to endorse William Jennings Bryan (Democratic candidate). How could a boy in appearance, one not yet admitted to the convention, without a single state behind him, dare claim the nomination? [36] Historian James Barnes wrote of Bryan's preparations: The Nebraskan merely understood the political situation better than most of those who might have been his rivals, and he took advantage in a legitimate and thoroughly honorable manner of the existing conditions. In June 1896, Bryan's old teacher, former senator Trumbull died; on the day of his funeral, Bryan's mother also died, suddenly in Salem. Retrieved May 19, 2012. [30] As state conventions met to nominate delegates to the July national convention, for the most part, they supported silver, and sent silver men to Chicago. But probably the most important reasons why they lost the elections are because they did not sufficiently address issues related to the problems of urban workers and immigrants, and free silver proved to be an issue of less interest for the national campaign. He knew personally more delegates than did any other candidate and he was on the ground to supervise his strategy. It was badly received even by silver delegates, who wished to think of silver as a patriotic, national issue. The minority had indicated its position. No delegation must be permitted to violate instructions given by a state convention. His father, Silas, was a dedicated Jacksonian Democrat and a successful lawyer who served in various local elected positions and passed on his politics to his son. [b] That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. "[16], Even as Cleveland took office as president in March 1893, there were signs of an economic decline. [103] Populist leader Henry Demarest Lloyd described silver as the "cow-bird" of the Populist Party, which had pushed aside all other issues. After graduating from Illinois College, Bryan earned a law degree from the Union College of Law in Chicago in 1883. However, the business man argument was new, though he had hinted at it in an interview he gave at the Republican convention. "[60] From the start, Bryan had his audience: when he finished a sentence, they would rise, shout and cheer, then quiet themselves to ready for the next words; the Nebraskan later described the convention as like a trained choir. He lost a presidential bid to George W. Bush in 2000. [126] In what Williams describes as "a political campaign that became an American legend",[106] Bryan traveled to 27 of the 45 states, logging 18,000 miles (29,000km), and in his estimated 600 speeches reached some 5,000,000 listeners. Bryan arrived during the delay; he was greeted with a musical tribute from one of the convention bands,[a] which then returned to playing a medley of Irish melodies. The Democrats lost control of both houses of Congress in the 1894 midterm elections, with a number of southern states, usually solid for the Democrats, electing Republican or Populist congressmen. After running unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1894, Bryan returned to Nebraska and became editor of the Omaha World-Herald. Party members in many states, including Nebraska, demanded inflation of the currency through issuance of paper or silver currency, allowing easier repayment of debt. In late 1894, pro-silver Democrats began to organize in the hope of taking control of the party from Cleveland and other Gold Democrats and nominating a silver candidate in 1896. A large banner outside the Clifton House proclaimed the presence of Nebraska's delegation headquarters, but did not mention Bryan's campaign, which was run from Nebraska's rooms. Bryans pacifist stance put him increasingly at odds with the president, however, and he resigned in 1915 in protest after Wilson sent a second note to Germany demanding an end to submarine warfare after the sinking of the Lusitania, an action Bryan felt went too far toward violating American neutrality. "[100] Populist Kansas Congressman Jerry Simpson wrote, "I care not for party names. [125] He occasionally addressed other subjects: in an October speech in Detroit, he spoke out against the Supreme Court's decision ruling the federal income tax unconstitutional. "[75] On the first ballot, Bryan had 137 votes, mostly from Nebraska and four southern states, trailing Bland who had 235; Boies was fourth with 67 votes and was never a factor in the balloting. Bryan was quoting from an 1878 speech by Cleveland's Treasury Secretary, Hill remained neutral in the campaign, despite urgings to go over to the Gold Democrats, seeking to preserve his control of the state Democratic party, and also hoping (in vain) to secure his own re-election by the legislature. Through 1895 and early 1896, Bryan sought to make himself as widely known as an advocate for silver as possible. The paper editorialized on the same page that even if the Democratic candidate was not insane, he was at least "of unsound mind". The DNC seated a rival, pro-gold Nebraska delegation, and recommended New York Senator David B. Hill as the convention's temporary chairman, each by a vote of 2723. He was followed by Senator William Vilas of Wisconsin and former Massachusetts Governor William D. Russell. She became his wife, and was his principal assistant throughout his career. [90], Following his nomination in June, McKinley's team had believed that the election would be fought on the issue of the protective tariff. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1896, 1900, and the 1908 elections. Department of State: Office of the Historian. Confusion over ballots in Minnesota resulted in 15,000voided votes and may have thrown that state to the Republicans. The New York World reported, "The floor of the convention seemed to heave up. The proposed platform was pro-silver; Senator Hill had offered an amendment backing the gold standard, which had been defeated by committee vote. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. The song was "Sift Sand, Sal", the source does not explain the relevance of this to Bryan. They hoped the Democrats either would not endorse silver in their platform or if they did, that the Democratic candidate would be someone who could be painted as weak on silver. Palmer proved an able campaigner who visited most major cities in the East, and in the final week of his campaign, told listeners, "I will not count it any great fault if next Tuesday you decide to cast your ballots for William McKinley. [128] For the most part, Bryan ignored the attacks, and made light of them in his account of the 1896 campaign. Thanks in advance if you have any recommendations! The economic Panic of 1893 had left the nation in a deep recession, which still persisted in early 1896. [120], On September 11, 1896, Bryan departed on a train trip that continued until November 1, two days before the election. The only areas of the nation where Bryan took a greater percentage of the urban than the rural vote were New England and the Rocky Mountain states; in neither case did this affect the outcome, as Bryan took only 27% of New England's vote overall, while taking 88% of the Rocky Mountain city vote to 81% of the vote there outside the cities. [87] Large numbers of traditionally Democratic newspapers refused to support Bryan, including the New York World, whose circulation of 800,000 was the nation's largest, and major dailies in cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit, and Brooklyn. He was utterly confident that he would succeed, believing "the logic of the situation," as he later put it, dictated his selection. Speakers for both parties found eager audiences. Any possible candidacy depended on silver supporters being successful in electing the bulk of convention delegates; accordingly Bryan backed such efforts. Bryan was present when it was announced that his delegation would not be initially seated; reports state he acted "somewhat surprised" at the outcome. Despite his defeat, Bryan's campaign inspired many of his contemporaries. [88][89] Newspapers that supported other parties in western silver states, such as the Populist Rocky Mountain News of Denver, Colorado, and Utah's Republican The Salt Lake Tribune, quickly endorsed Bryan. Bryan, a former Democratic congressman from Nebraska, gained his party's presidential nomination in July of that year after electrifying the Democratic National Convention with his Cross of Gold speech. In 1904, Taft took on the role of secretary of war in the administration read more, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) launched his career by taking charge of his fathers struggling newspaper the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. Throughout the nation, voters were intensely interested in the campaign, studying the flood of pamphlets. Now among the most famous politicians in the country, Bryan would run twice more for president, losing again to McKinley in 1900 and to William Howard Taft in 1908. For a more detailed treatment of the background to the currency question, see, For further information on the procedures of American political conventions, see, William Jennings Bryan 1896 presidential campaign, Attacks and Gold Democrats; the final days. His enemies regarded him as an ambitious demagogue, but his supporters viewed him as a champion of liberal causes. The main candidates headquartered at the Palmer House, their rooms often crowded as they served free alcoholic drinks. The Democrats nominated Arthur Sewall, a wealthy Maine banker and shipbuilder, for vice president. [12] Advocates believed these proposals would lead to prosperity, while opponents warned that varying from the gold standard (which the United States had, effectively, used since 1873) would cause problems in international trade. 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