Volume 17 , Issue 25

William McKinley & Goldbugs Campaign For President (1896-1900)

Let us look back to 1896 and try to understand the Goldbugs who were backing William McKinley's first presidential campaign. The gold standard was an important issue. Opponent William Jennings Bryan advocated departure from standard, issuing more money, especially coinage in silver. McKinley's stand was to remain with gold standard. The "Gold bug" became a symbol in campaign.

William McKinley's 1896 Campaign Speech



William McKinley (1843-1901), the 25th president of the United States, was born in Niles, Ohio. He enlisted in the army at the outbreak of the Civil War and, after being mustered out, studied law and opened a law office in Canton, Ohio. McKInley served in the US Congress for 14 years, and became president in 1897, largely due to the influence of Marcus Hanna, boss of the Cleveland political machine. McKinley was most noted for his foreign policy and the conduct of the Spanish-American War in 1898. It was during McKinley's administration that the US acquired its first overseas possessions in the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. He was re-elected in 1900, but was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901. His running mate, Theodore Roosevelt, then became president.

We know William McKinley's political support came from the industrial states and the urbanized states the East and North. Democrat William Jennings Bryan's strength came from the non-industrialized South and the Western States, where Populism and opposition to control by eastern bankers and industrialists was strong.

In the elections of 1896 and 1900, Republicans were strong in the North and Northeast, while Democrats were strong in the South and West. The industrialized, urbanized Northeast and Midwest often voted as a block in U.S. elections. The South, mainly the eleven former Confederate States, were rural and agricultural and represented another block. The West, the newest region of the nation, frequently sided with the South.

These patterns were fairly stable throughout much of the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century. Expressions like the "Solid South" emerged to describe the South's loyalty to the Democratic Party. These "traditional" patterns began to break down in the 1960s, as new issues and changing demographics eroded Democratic Party strength in the South and West. Since the 1960s Democratic strength has come from industrialized regions of the North and Midwest that used to be Republican, while Republican strength has come from the South and West, which formerly was the stronghold of Democrats.
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