Historically in the United States it was not traditional for presidential nominees to frequently campaign. It was considered undignified to constantly run a campaign for themselves. In 1896 this tradition changed. Supporters started camping outside of the nominee’s house, eager to see their candidate. William Jennings Bryan spent large amounts of time on his campaign. Unlike William Jennings Bryan, William McKinley welcomes visitors into his home. In contrast the Republican campaign had over 3.5 million dollars donated. In November, Republican McKinley won the election. I believe the traditional ”front porch campaign” propaganda led to his success. McKinley 's focus on businesses and unmortgaged farmers caught more of the attention. The lack
Even though Darrow could not successfully defend Debs, even in defeat Darrow became the romantic hero of the labor movement. But that stirred up a desire to be a politician. With a broad political base, Darrow ran for a seat on the House of Representatives in 1896. However, with William Jennings Bryan running on the Democratic ticket for president against Republican William McKinley, McKinley soundly trounced Bryan and other Democrats, like Clarence Darrow, were also defeated by Republicans. That, though, ended Darrow’s political career.
(a) One factor that determined the outcome of the 1896 election was the fact Cleveland industrialist named Marcus Alonzo Hanna was determined to see McKinley, Republican Candidate, elected; “I love McKinley,” He once said. The Republican platform cleverly straddled the money question but leaned toward hard-money policies. He believed that the free coinage of silver would bring financial ruin to America, in which William J. Bryan’s, Democratic Candidate, “Cross of Gold” speech demanded inflation through the unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 of gold, through the market ratio was about 32 to 1. Free silver became almost as much a religious as a financial issue. Using his vast wealth and power, Hanna directed
Farmers of the late 19th century faced several struggles as they attempted to feed themselves and a growing nation. Though they were undeniably crucial to the country, the country often abandoned them to fend against their problems themselves. These desertments lead to the creation of several movements, such as The Grange, and of political parties such as the Populists. The challenges of American farmers were often intertwined and difficult to get to one cause of the problem. Increasing railroad use and inflated prices hurt the farmers tremendously, which then lead to widespread debt and the cry for silver to be used in the money standard, which then resulted in overproduction of goods to try to overcompensate for the burgeoning debt, but only made it worse.
The presidential election of 1844 was one of the most malicious campaigns in the history of the United States. The campaigns of both candidates, Republican Governor James Blaine (Maine) and Democrat Senator Grover Cleveland (New York), hurled personal attacks against each other. In addition, the campaigns focused on the opposition’s scandals. Cleveland defeated Blaine by only slightly over 1,000 votes in one of the closest presidential elections in the history of the United States. Cleveland’s victory marked the first Democrat President in nearly thirty
William Jennings Bryan was a prominent American politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who made a significant impact on the Democratic Party. He was a tireless campaigner and ran for the presidency three times, gaining a reputation as "The Great Commoner" due to his unwavering support for popular democracy. He was an opponent of the gold standard, banks, and railroads, and a strong advocate for silver currency, peace, prohibition, and Christian values. Bryan's oratory skills and charismatic personality made him one of the best-known speakers of the era, and his intense campaigning helped shape modern political practices, including the national stumping tour.
A drought devastated the Midwest’s crops and without these crops they did not have the ability to pay debts accrued. The Southern farmers were also dealing with issues during this time from being crushed with the falling price of cotton who were also unable to pay their debts. With these occurring at the same time along with some technical advances this led these farmers to come together and organize their efforts in order to interject much needed change within the financial institutions. As a result of their combined efforts two organizations were formed; The Farmers Alliance and the Colored Farmers Alliance were
The election of 1800, being the first election where both parties ran candidates and actually campaigned, featured Thomas Jefferson, the Republican, against John Adams, the Federalist. With Jefferson coming out victorious, his election into presidency showed that Americans wanted more democratic politics where common people were free to express their opinion. However, Jefferson’s campaign of liberty was a bit questionable because of its limitations. While Jefferson campaigned for liberty, only a fraction of the men were able to vote and absolutely no liberty was offered to the slaves. Though he wanted to foster freedom, Jefferson owned slaves of his own and took land from the Indians.
William Jennings Bryan was a man that strongly believed in his faith and made sure to use it throughout his life and legacy. “Only Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson had a greater impact on politics and political culture during the era of reform that began in the mid-1890s and lasted until the early 1920s”. This thesis begins the book and begins William Jennings Bryan’s legacy in the United States. Even though he ran for presidency three times he still gained popularity among the country. He was famous for his radical ideas and his eloquent speeches.
While the great depression and the Dust Bowl contributes to the downfall of the “Okies” the problems for the farmers started many years before that. During World War I food supplies were in demand due to the closed European markets, farmers were compelled to invest heavily to invest in land and machinery to meet the demand of the market. Once the war was done the prices of their crops dropped significantly which left the farmers unable to repay the hefty loans they took out from the banks. Therefore while the economy was booming before the great depression at the end of the 1920’s, farmers were experiencing very harsh times and had their assets and land seized by banks and private sectors. Like the Joads, they were evicted from their land and
American voters became more influential in presidential elections because of the events that took place during the Jacksonian and Progressive Eras. In the Jacksonian Era, some voting restrictions were removed, voting became more private, the public was more informed about politics, and voters were taken into greater consideration by presidential candidates. In the Progressive Era, better living conditions, the fight against corruption, and other political reforms made it easier for the working class to vote for candidates that they favored. These events gave voters a greater influence in politics and made elections more fair. During the Jacksonian Era, states began to give citizens a larger influence over presidential elections.
The Populist Party found a presidential candidate to carry out the Populist views. William Jennings Bryan was the presidential candidate for both the Populist and the Democratic Party. Bryan and A major party and a minor party to receive votes from. Sadly big business, as well as the industrialist, were against Bryan and he lost. Even though Bryan lost the presidential election, he stated that farmers are important and if prices get any higher the rest of the world is going to starve.
Since focusing on politics would of torn the Whig party apart they instead focused on personal characteristics. In eighteen forty Henry Harrison lead the Whig party to their first presidential victory in a campaign which focused more on his heroic military experience then the issues. During the late eighteen forties and early eighteen fifties slavery had become the major political issue. The disagreements and unwillingness to compromise among the Whig party lead to groups down fall.
This event would cause a direct impact on public opinion due to the contradictory views presented. President Johnson was aware of this rising support for the antiwar movement and in an attempt to prevent his supporters from joining the bandwagon, he launched this campaign which assured that U.S. victory was in arm’s reach. Johnson’s desperate attempts to keep supporters on the bandwagon prove that he knew that support for the war was coming close to an end. The campaign did, however, successfully increase the morale of American people, consequently causing increased support for the
McKinley was mainly followed by businessmen, professionals, and skilled workers. Bryan, who became famous after his ‘Cross of Gold’ speech at the Democratic Convention, was representing the Democrats, and also the Populist voters. He believed in silver coinage, and believed that the common working man was limited by rich men. Bryan campaigned in a way that was never seen before as he traveled thousands of miles and delivered hundreds of speeches. McKinley was famous for his speeches on his front porch.
Historian R. Hal Williams argues this by mentioning that the prospect of Bryan becoming president scared Wall Street, and Hanna played on this fear by travelling “between Chicago and New York, warning financiers, bankers, manufacturers […] of the dangers of a Bryan victory” . Many prominent bankers and manufacturers, ranging from J.P. Morgan to John D. Rockefeller, supported McKinley and by the end of the election the McKinley campaign’s expenditures totaled to over $3.5 million, substantially less than Bryan’s $300,000 . The significant money advantage McKinley’s campaign had allowed them to effectively canvass, and Bryan’s campaign was completely unable to keep up with McKinley’s campaign, which was extremely effective at mobilizing traditional Republican voters and attracting new voters to the party. Hanna was undeniably important to the McKinley campaign, but the traditional view does not note that his success was only possible because of Wall Street’s strong disapproval of Bryan and the policies he would enact if elected. One revisionist viewpoint that diminishes Hanna’s role points out that some of the people who donated to McKinley’s campaign were not traditional Republican donors and only donated to stop the Free Silver movement.