Bryan and McKinley Campaign, Essay Example

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan was nominated for president by the Democratic Party. His main supporters were a group subgroup of Democrats who considered themselves Silver Democrats due to their opinions against President Cleveland and his policies and “endorsing free silver, the income tax, and tighter regulation of trusts and railroads” (Goldfield et al., 2001). Bryan entered the race primarily due to his support of this platform. This worked to his advantage because aside from attracting a majority of Democrats during his campaign, he stood to attract reformers from other parties. Furthermore, he had worked closely with the Populists, which was believed to create a party split. On the other hand, William McKinley was well known for the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 and was widely supported by the Republicans. Their main platform called for high tariffs and endorsed the gold standard. This was slightly problematic because many “Silver Republicans” withdrew their support as a consequence.

Bryan lost this election primarily because his campaign focused too much on silver compared to aspects of the campaign, such as attracting urban voters. One of the major differences between McKinley and Bryan’s campaigns that made McKinley more successful relates directly to campaign finances. Because McKinley attracted businessman as voters due to his campaign message, he received vast amount of money from companies such as Standard Oil. McKinley’s campaign used this money wisely, in a manner that would revolutionize how campaigns were conducted. Rather than throw a parade for his supporters, which was a common convention at the time, he issued millions of documents to voters in many languages informing them of the economic downfall that the country would face if they were to vote Bryan into office. This scare tactic was effective, and enabled McKinley to win the election.

References

Goldfield et al. (2001). The Brief American Journey. Prentice Hall.