User:Wehwalt/1896 election
Political and economic background
In 1896, the United States was effectively on the
President Grover Cleveland had been elected in 1892 to a second non-consecutive term as president following a first term in 1885–1889. Almost as soon as he resumed office in March 1893, the economy crashed in the Panic of 1893, one of the most severe recessions in the nation's history. Cleveland's major response to the economic downturn was to call a special session of Congress to repeal Sherman's act. Cleveland believed the inflation caused by the greatly increased silver purchases had caused the recession.[2] The repeal proved bitterly divisive, and was opposed by many from the South and West in both major parties. Among those who spoke against the repeal in Congress was Nebraska Congressman William Jennings Bryan. Aged 33 in 1893, Bryan was already acquiring a reputation as a compelling orator. Some in Cleveland's Democratic Party proposed compromises, such as continuing to purchase silver for a year, but the President refused to consider them. Cleveland was successful, and signed the repeal bill on November 1, 1893. Despite the repeal, the economy continued to perform poorly, and there was widespread unemployment.[3]
Cleveland refused all proposals for any reinstatement of silver purchases, leading to considerable discontent in his own party, which was bitterly divided over the issue.
Runup to the conventions
Republican
Advent of McKinley
As the year 1896 began, a number of candidates for the Republican nomination for president were spoken of. "Silver Republicans", mostly from the West and a minority in their party, favored one of the few easterners in their ranks,
Another contender was Ohio Governor William McKinley. As early as 1888, McKinley (then a congressman) had received votes for the presidential nomination at that year's Republican convention;[8] in 1892, although not a declared candidate, he had finished third in delegate votes.[9] The leading contenders as of the start of 1896 were McKinley, Reed, and Allison, with Harrison also a frontrunner if he joined the race.[7]
McKinley, with his close ally and supporter, industrialist and future senator Mark Hanna, began planning his run as early as 1892.[10] In 1893, Governor McKinley suffered a severe setback, as he was called upon to pay some $118,000 in notes he had guaranteed for a friend of his youth, Robert Walker. McKinley stated that he would resign and earn the money as a lawyer; he was talked out of this by wealthy friends, such as Hanna and Chicago publisher H. H. Kohlsaat, who instead raised money for McKinley, who was reluctant to accept it, but eventually did.[11] With the personal crisis disposed of, McKinley was elected to a second two-year term as governor late in 1893, and remained in office until his term expired in January 1896.
In 1895, Hanna went east to meet with Republican bosses such as Quay and New York Senator
Only in the retrospect of McKinley's victory was is it seen that [Allison campaign manager James S.] Clarkson and [Reed campaign manager Joseph P.] Manley were ill fitted to run a campaign in competition with Hanna. They were established political leaders who knew the right bosses, the right business men, and all the tricks of their craft. They conferred with the powerful bosses, the influential business men and set up the traditional campaign machinery only to discover that in the year 1896, none of the traditional tactics worked.[14]
Beginning in early 1895, McKinley and Hanna began to lay the groundwork for the governor's nomination. Hanna engaged a house in southern Georgia; McKinley visited there in both 1895 and 1896. Though these visits were ostensibly nonpolitical, McKinley met with many southern politicians, both whites and blacks.