John M. Pafford - William McKinley versus William Jennings Bryan: The Great Political Rivalry of the Turn of the 20th Century

The 1890s were one of the most dramatic decades in American history, one which marked the rapid rise of the United States onto the world stage as a country with powerful armed forces and a significant empire beyond our borders primarily as a result of our victory over Spain in 1898. The American economy, already impressive, continued to grow. Although there were abuses which needed correction, the freedom in the economy produced more and more wealth improving the lives of most of our people and attracting immigrants in large numbers.

The 1896 and 1900 clashes between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan rank among the most exciting and definitive in the history of American presidential campaigns. The differences between the conservative McKinley, nominee of the Republican Party, and the liberal Bryan, who burst suddenly on the national stage as the Democratic Party choice, were sharp, more pronounced than in preceding postCivil War elections when neither major party candidate was a big government, high tax, high spending liberal. Both men were devout Christians but drew substantially different conclusions concerning the domestic and foreign policy beliefs they based on that faith. Their personalities also were distinctly different; Bryan one of the most charismatic candidates in our political history, McKinley experienced and solid, but not exciting.

By the mid1890s, each man was the major figure in his party. McKinley was governor of Ohio after serving seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During the Civil War, he had demonstrated initiative, courage, and leadership, rising to the rank of major by the age of 22. He was committed to the gold standard, believed in limited government and led more from behind the scenes than did the flamboyant Bryan who surged to control of the Democratic Party in 1896, both leading and riding the wave of discontent which swept aside the Cleveland conservatives who had led it until then. Under Grover Cleveland, the Democratic Party had been somewhat more conservative than the Republicans. The major depression of 1893 shook the confidence of many Democrats. When that was combined with Clevelands being a lame duck as his second presidential term neared its end and Bryans charisma, the way was opened for the party to shift course radically.

A former two-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a defeated candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1894, the 36-year-old Bryan was hardly a household name, but he was driven by a sense of destiny and by personal ambition. He came to the 1896 Democratic Party convention convinced that he would be their presidential nominee. His dramatic Cross of Gold speech galvanized the delegates, culminating with his soaring conclusion: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. From relative obscurity, he shot to prominence, winning the nomination on the fifth ballot. Any possibility for a reasoned defense of the gold standard at the convention was swept away by the flood of enthusiasm for Bryan.