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US President National Vote

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> United States > U.S. Executive > Popular Vote

Office

President

Type

General Election

Filing Deadline

June 01, 1900 - 12:00pm

Polls Open

November 06, 1900 - 06:00am

Polls Close

November 06, 1900 - 11:55pm

Term Start

March 04, 1901 - 12:00pm

Term End

March 04, 1905 - 12:00pm

Contributor

Thomas Walker

Last Modified

BigBlake August 22, 2020 01:07pm

Data Sources

Congressional Quarterly Guide to U S Elections, third edition

Description

Most presidents dream of serving four years which were as positive as William McKinley’s first term. New discoveries of gold in Alaska, Australia, and South Africa helped to bolster the supply of gold in the federal treasury; new mining techniques assisted in the process which doubled the world’s supply of gold. The Treasury was able to issue more notes, and the silver issue subsided. An important side effect was the increase in food prices; this development along with the good harvests of the late 1890s helped dissipate the farmer’s revolt.

The most visible event of McKinley’s first term was the Spanish-American War. Americans had supported the Cubans’ cause for independence from Spain for some time. When the armored cruiser Maine was sabotaged in Havana harbor, the newspapers called for war against Spain. President McKinley had worked for an agreement between the Cubans and Spain for several weeks before the Maine incident, and he continued to work for a peaceful settlement in spite of public opinion. Finally, Congress passed a joint resolution for war, which McKinley signed on 4/20/1898. Within a half year, the American forces had humiliated Spain, one of the great world powers, leaving the USA in control of Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. Cuba was granted its independence.

While winning the war so quickly was astonishing, another struggle awaited McKinley. The Democrats in the Senate opposed the annexation of the Philippines and Puerto Rico. McKinley needed some of their votes in order to garner the two-thirds needed for the ratification of the peace treaty. At the last minute several of the Democratic Senators switched their votes, apparently in order to create an issue for William J. Bryan who wanted to run against McKinley in 1900.

The Republican Party held its 1900 convention in Philadelphia just as summer dawned. There was no opposition to McKinley, although Admiral George Dewey considered running. The convention named Senator Edward Wolcott of Colorado as the chairman of the convention as an olive branch after the last convention, in which the Colorado delegation walked out after the vote on the gold standard.

The Democratic convention met the next month with little hope of success in the election. With most of the eastern element of the party fairly satisfied with McKinley, no one cared to challenge Bryan for the Democratic nomination. There were no issues of the magnitude of the 1896 silver campaign for the Democrats to use against a popular administration. The greatest issue of any immediate importance was the opposition to American imperialism in the Philippines and Puerto Rico, although the Democratic platform called for the coinage of silver at 16 to 1 and action against trusts.

The major third party of the time, the Populist Party, split in 1900. The two factions held separate conventions at the same time but in different cities. The Fusionists met in Sioux Falls SD and nominated William J. Bryan once again. The Anti-Fusionists met in Cincinnati and endorsed Wharton Barker of PA.

One of the minor parties contesting the 1900 election deserves some notice. The Social Democratic Party was formed from dissatisfied elements of the Socialist Labor Party. They passed a platform which called for federal ownership of all businesses and utilities. This party fared well in the election under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs.

As in 1896, some of the national nominees canvassed the nation. Bryan took the lead, hoping that his work would help to save many of the Democratic office holders from defeat. He traveled to 24 of the 45 states. TR took to the road for the Republican ticket. He defended McKinley against Bryan’s complaints about American imperialism.

Perhaps the more important speaker for the Republicans was Mark Hanna. He accepted the challenge of visiting the western states and attacking Bryan in his home territory. The Democrats in those states ridiculed Hanna as one of the big Republican bosses who was running the nation. However, Hanna was able to reach the voters in many states; his efforts helped McKinley to win Bryan’s home state of Nebraska.