Election+Of+1900

Election of 1900​ The Republican nomination went to McKinley for the second time in a row with his vice president being Theodore Roosevelt. The Democratic nomination went to William Jennings Bryan as it had in the Election of 1896. William Jennings Bryan fought for free silver, and attacked the growth of American imperialism. The gold standard issue was pretty much exhausted by 1900, and imperialism was an issue of high questioning, but the acquisition of new territory was seen as an accomplishment. The real deciding issue was the growth of economic prosperity which gave McKinley the majority vote. McKinley received 292 electoral votes and 7,203,923 popular votes, whereas Bryan received 155 electoral votes and 6,358,138 popular votes. About 350,000 of the popular vote went to members of other parties such as the Prohibition , Social Democratic, and Populist parties whose nominees were John G. Wooley,  Eugene V. Debs  , and Wharton barker respectively. ​

William Jennings Bryan​ Bryan was a 2-time Democratic nominee chosen by pro-"free silver" forces. He is most recognized by his "cross of gold" speech where he won the nomination for president overnight. His platform favored the unlimited coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 ounces of silver to one ounce of gold, and this took over the Populist platform which forced the Populists to also nominate Bryan as a "fused campaign."



William McKinley McKinley won the Election of 1896 over Bryan decisively, and won the majority vote in the Election of 1900. In 1901, McKinley was shot and killed by an anarchist and his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, succeeded him. Without the Republican win in the Election of 1900, Theodore Roosevelt would not have become president, and much of the Progressive reforms that took place after the election may not have happened. The gold standard that was in place would have been replaced with a free-silver policy which would have led to extreme inflation and a decline in the economic prosperity that was occuring at the time.

Sources AMSCO-Chapter 19-20 [] Images from Google