United States presidential election, 1896

The presidential election in the United States on November 3, 1896, won by Republican William McKinley and his running mate as a candidate for the vice-presidency Garret Hobart. Their rivals were the Democrat William Jennings Bryan and the nominee as vice president Arthur Sewall. Bryan owed ​​his nomination an enthusiastic reception party conference speech in which he warned against forcing the working population under a " cross of gold ".

This election dispute is regarded by historians as one of the most dramatic in American history. McKinley formed a coalition in which businessmen, professionals, skilled factory workers and prosperous farmers were heavily represented; so he received many votes in the industrially shaped Northeast and Midwest. Bryan, the youngest only 36 years with candidates for the presidency in history, was the candidate of the Democrats, the Populist Party and the "Silver Republicans ". He advocated abandoning the gold standard and received the most votes in the South, in rural Midwest and the Rocky Mountain States. Ultimately, McKinley won 23 states for himself, Bryan 22 The difference of votes in the Electoral College coincided with 271:176 but clearly in favor of the Republican.