Initially, AdmiralGeorge Dewey was the front-runner for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination after his 1898 victory at the Battle of Manila Bay. However, the fact that he married a Catholic widow as well his lack of knowledge about the role and power of the U.S. Presidency caused support for Dewey's candidacy to crumble. With the implosion of Dewey's candidacy, 1896 Democratic presidential nominee and former CongressmanWilliam Jennings Bryan became the front-runner for the 1900 Democratic presidential nomination. Even though various prominent Democrats tried to convince Bryan to drop his support of free silver, Bryan refused and threatened to run as an independent if the Democrats didn't adopt a pro-free silver plank. Ultimately, Bryan won out and free silver was put into the 1900 Democratic platform by a one-vote margin--with Bryan becoming the 1900 Democratic presidential nominee. In addition, the Democrats criticized the Republicans for their imperialism, for the Philippine–American War, and for the proliferation of trusts. Meanwhile, the Republicans re-nominated incumbent U.S. President William McKinley and chose New York GovernorTheodore Roosevelt as McKinley's running mate.
Campaign
During the campaign, McKinley and the Republicans criticized Bryan's adherence support of free silver, claimed credit for the nation's economic recovery from Panic of 1893, called for lower taxes, a larger merchant marine, and an interoceanic canal in Central America. In addition, McKinley argued that trusts were "dangerous conspiracies against the public good and should be made the subject of prohibitory or penal legislation." Also, McKinley and the Republicans rejected both immediate independence for the Philippines and Bryan's idea of a protectorate for them, claiming that a Philippine protectorate would leave the U.S. responsible for the Philippines without the authority to meet its obligations. Meanwhile, McKinley's campaign manager and OhioSenatorMark Hanna raised $2.5 million, a million less than in 1896, but five times more than Democrats raised in 1900. In addition, the Hanna-led Republican National Committee distributed 125 million pieces of campaign literature, including McKinley's letter of acceptance translated into German, Polish, and other languages. During the campaign, McKinley's running mate Theodore Roosevelt vehemently criticized the Democrats and their platform. Meanwhile, Bryan ran against the imperialism of McKinley and the Republicans and argued that imperialism is directly opposed to basic American values. In addition, Bryan campaigned in favor of campaign finance reform and associated Republicans with big business and trusts following a gaffe by Hanna. While Bryan made a whopping 546 speeches to an audience of two-and-a-half million people during the 1900 campaign, Theodore Roosevelt's speeches during this campaign ended up reaching more people. In addition, Bryan was hurt by the inadequate financing and organization of the Democratic Party in 1900.
Results
Ultimately, McKinley won the popular vote by a 52% to 46% margin and won the electoral vote by a 292 to 155 margin. Indeed, McKinley's victory margin was greater than it had been in 1896, and might have been even larger had it not been for the intimidation of Black voters in the Southern United States. In addition, Republicans picked up two seats in the U.S. Senate and 11 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1900, raising their totals to 57 seats in the Senate and 198 seats in the House. Overall, the 1900 election continued the political realignment which was begun by the 1896 election, having established the Republicans as the dominant political party in the U.S. until the 1920s.
