Presidential Transitions: 1896
n 1896 the Republican Party candidate was Ohio Governor William McKinley began the campaign with a considerable advantage. His campaign had amassed an unprecedented war chest that enabled the party to outspend its opponents. Finding himself at this disadvantage, Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryant tried to win the election by embarking on a vigorous national speaking tour by train. Bryan was a very gifted orator and his fiery rhetoric attracted both huge audiences and plenty of newspaper coverage. Bryan focused his efforts on the Midwest, which all saw as the battleground in the election. In just 100 days, Bryan gave over 500 speeches to several million people. His record was 36 speeches in one day in St. Louis. He traveled 18,000 miles by rail to address five million people.
In dramatic contrast to Bryan, McKinley conducted a "front porch" campaign from his home in Canton, Ohio. Instead of having McKinley travel to see the voters, his campaign manager, Mark Hanna, brought 500,000 voters by train to McKinley's home. Once there, McKinley would greet them from his porch and deliver prepared remarks tailored for his audience. His remarks were issued to newsmen and telegraphed nationwide to appear in the next day's papers. Bryan gave much the same talk over and over again, making for less to report on.
As the depression that followed the Panic of 1893 came to an end, support for McKinley's more conservative economic policies increased, while Bryan's policies were seen as more radical and more risky. He began to lose support among Midwestern farmers and factory workers.
McKinley secured a solid victory by carrying the core of the East and Northeast, while Bryan did well among the farmers of the South, West, and rural Midwest. McKinley won 51% of the popular vote to Bryan's 47%. In the electoral college McKinley won in a landslide, receiving 271 electoral votes to Bryan's 176. (224 were needed to win).
President Grover Cleveland was completing his second non-consecutive term. He had lost favor within his party as the "silverite" wing (those favoring silver as the backing for currency) gained control of the Democratic party in 1896. Cleveland was silent during the election, not wishing to support the silver faction, nor wishing to campaign against his own party.
McKinley prepared for his administration and encountered some controversy in the selection of his cabinet. He named Ohio Senator John Sherman as Secretary of State. Though Sherman was in poor health and there were rumors that his mental faculties were declining, by appointing Senator Sherman, this created a senate vacancy in Ohio, which permitted McKinley to reward his friend and campaign manager Mark Hanna. McKinley was able to influence the appointment of Hanna to fill Sherman's vacancy. Sherman had served as Secretary of the Treasury under President Rutherford Hayes, and only the State position, the leading Cabinet post, would entice him from the Senate. McKinley did not believe the rumors that Sherman was losing his marbles He sent his cousin, William McKinley Osborne, to have dinner with the 73-year-old Sherman and Osborne reported back that Sherman seemed to be quite lucid as ever. McKinley later wrote, "the stories regarding Senator Sherman's 'mental decay' are without foundation. When I saw him last I was convinced both of his perfect health, physically and mentally, and that the prospects of life were remarkably good." But once in Cabinet, Sherman's mental incapacity became increasingly apparent, and the next year he was replaced by John Hay, a man who had once been Abraham Lincoln's private secretary.
The first inauguration of William McKinley as the 25th President of the United States took place on March 4, 1897. Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller administered the Oath of office. This was the first inauguration to be recorded on film. McKinley and Cleveland appeared very collegial and Cleveland even held McKinley's hat while the oath of office was administered. In his inaugural address McKinley called for tariff reform, and tariff legislation would be necessary before he could address the issue of whether or not US currency would be backed by gold or by both gold and silver. In what would seem somewhat ironic in light of the war with Spain that would occur during his first term, McKinley also warned against foreign interventions. He told his audience: "We want no wars of conquest. We must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression."
After leaving the White House on March 4, 1897 following McKinley's inauguration, Grover Cleveland retired to his estate, Westland Mansion, in Princeton, New Jersey. For a time he was a trustee of Princeton University, and was one of the majority of trustees who opposed plans for the Graduate School proposed by Woodrow Wilson, who was then president of the university. Cleveland did not provide advice to McKinley, but he was consulted occasionally by McKinley's successor, President Theodore Roosevelt.