186 a short history of the united states
for a gold standard “by saying to them: You shall not press upon the
brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon
a cross of gold.” And that speech won him the nomination for Presi-
dent. Arthur Sewall of Maine was nominated for Vice President. The
platform also condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling against the in-
come tax.
The campaign was a “Battle of Standards,” that is, the gold versus
the silver standard. The Populist Party endorsed Bryan but nominated
the fiery Thomas E. Watson of Georgia for Vice President. Its failure
to put forward its own candidate for President demoralized the mem-
bers, and it ceased to function thereafter as a viable party.
Although Bryan traveled around the country giving mesmerizing
speeches to enthusiastic crowds in twenty-nine states, he lost the elec-
tion to the superbly managed and well-financed Republican organiza-
tion run by Marcus Hanna. McKinley conducted his campaign from
the front porch of his home in Canton, Ohio. At Hanna’s call, indus-
trialists contributed around $ 16 million to the campaign, which was
used to portray Bryan as a radical who would destroy the government’s
fundamental institutions. McKinley captured 271 electoral votes to
Bryan’s 176. In the pop ular vote McKinley won over 7 million to Bry-
an’s 6. 5 million.
Both houses of Congress remained in Republican hands. A new era
was about to begin and would reshape the course of American politics.