Historians frequently point to 1896 as being the first “modern” election.
Setting the Stage
By 1896, the country was poised for a new century. Huge changes had occurred since the Civil War some 35 years earlier. Railroads crossed the entire country in days, not weeks. Most people lived less than 100 miles from a station. Electric light was now two decades old, and entire cities had been electrified, paving the way not only for light, but for the power to run all sorts of electric-based appliances – from industrial machinery to waffle irons.
The telegraph, was practically “old technology.” From communicating from town to town, it now connected the USA to Europe and beyond. In minutes. The telephone, first introduced at the country’s Philadelphia Centennial in 1876, was now commonplace in every village. The phonograph brought culture into living rooms. The approaching horseless carriages and even flying machines were no longer wild dreams of science fiction.
One of the lesser known, but hugely important advances of that post-Civil War era, were printing processes. Color printing and lithography. Photographic reproduction. Electric presses that could print thousands of newspaper pages in an hour.
Between transportation and communication advances, the average citizen could be kept in the loop very quickly – and inexpensively.
The Candidates for 1896
William Mckinley (1843-1901) was an Ohioan, a Civil War veteran, attorney, Republican congressman, Governor of Ohio, and all-around nice guy. Just about everyone had a good word for him. Despite all of the above, other than people from Ohio and/or officialdom in Washington, he was generally unknown. Nevertheless, he was short-listed for the Republican presidential nomination in 1896, particularly since former POTUS Benjamin Harrison declined any interest, and perennial hopeful John Sherman (also Republican from Ohio) was long in the tooth with declining health.
McKinley would have little opposition at the 1896 convention.
What was a complete surprise however, was the Democratic candidate. Youthful (35), good looking and devout, William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) of Nebraska was completely unknown. A middling attorney by discipline, he served two unremarkable terms in Congress before being defeated. He relinquished law in favor of journalism, again unremarkable. But his one true love was politics, and his passion was oratory.
Almost as an afterthought, Bryan was asked to make a short speech at the 1896 Democratic convention in favor of bi-metalism, i.e. adding silver coinage to the gold standard to help alleviate the economic problems, mostly of the midwestern farmers. It was a touchy subject, since the financial/industrial communities feared chaos and inflation, and even a good many Democrats had serious doubts. Bryan’s speech made history. He electrified the convention with his soon-to-be-famous Cross of Gold speech.
This in turn, propelled him right into the candidacy.
The “Modern” Campaign
Young Bryan, the youngest Presidential candidate (ever), had all the energy and appetite of youth. Breaking all traditions regarding candidates demurring about their worthiness, and permitting their supporters to Campaign on their behalf, Bryan jumped in with both feet, zig-zagged the country, making speech after speech, shaking thousands of hands every day, and whipped his followers into a frenzy of silver coinage support.
Mature McKinley, nearly 20 years Bryan’s senior, opted for the traditional. He stayed home in Ohio, and let his supporters come to him, which they did. In droves. He made well prepared mini-speeches in response to their issues and questions sent in advance. And with his frail wife sitting beside him on their porch, crochet bag nearby, McKinley was the picture of best-America itself. Kind. Good. Confident.
In the “old” days, presidential supporters bought rounds of drinks and cigars for potential supporters. They wrote letters to the newspapers. They held torchlight parades – mostly for effect. They gave away ribbons or cards with their candidate’s name as souvenirs.
But the “modern” contribution to the campaign in 1896 was the influx, influence and importance of money. Lots of money. And the options of where to spend that money.
Marcus Alonzo Hanna
Mark Hanna (1837-1904) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a middle class grocer. Possessed of a near genius in administration/management, by 25 he was running his father’s much improved business. He married the daughter of a wealthy coal magnate, and began running that business as well. By the time he was 40, Mark Hanna ran several companies, including a daily newspaper, the Cleveland Opera House and its streetcar company. He gravitated to politics about the same time as Lincoln’s election, and was active in behind-the-scenes Republican interests. That included generous campaign contributions.
When he met William McKinley, six years his junior, the association grew from civic and political interests to a deep and abiding personal friendship. Hanna was known to love McKinley “like a brother.”
When he became campaign manager for McKinley’s presidential bid in 1896, he introduced several new innovations, large sums of money being the most important. Hanna raised about $4 million (in 1896 money!), against perhaps $500,000 for Bryan!
Spreading the Word
With the fattest wallet up to that time, Hanna recruited some 4,000 speakers to campaign across the country in behalf of WMcK. That included their expenses of train travel, hotels, meals and sundries.
He flooded the country with millions of brochures and campaign literature, on nearly every subject of interest.
He papered the country with campaign broadsides and posters – in color! Volunteers plastered these broadsides on the outside of barns in remote areas for maximum impact.
He took advantage of the new craze for campaign buttons. Some were made of celluloid, featuring photographic reproductions of the candidate. Some were in color!
His campaign slogan of “A Full Dinner Pail” (used for the first time) resonated with the working man, underscoring McKinley’s promise for “prosperity for all.”
He made assiduous use of McKinley’s front-porch image as a kind and devoted husband to an ailing wife. Kind and devoted counts!
Bryan never had a chance.
Sources:
Leech, Margaret, In the Days of McKinley – Harper & Brothers, 1959
Morgan, H. Wayne – McKinley and His America – Syracuse University Press, 1964
Philips, Kevin – William McKinley – Times Books, 2003
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/william-mckinley/
https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/william-jennings-bryan
https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Marcus_A._Hanna
