10 Elections That Changed America
Sure, the outcome is remarkable. But how will the '08 campaign hold up to history? Can any President shape a country like Lincoln? Save the U.S. like F.D.R.? From Washington to (surprise?) McKinley to Bush 43, these winners left an indelible legacy.
— By Jackson Dykman and Sean Gregory
Stark differences in economic philosophy defined the 1896 campaign. Ohio governor McKinley built a coalition of Eastern business patrons to push hard for the gold standard. Bryan, a fiery populist, sought looser money, which would have inflated prices for farmers struggling in a depressed economy. "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold," Bryan famously declared. Bryan hit the rails to press his case cross-country; McKinley drew pilgrimages to Ohio. Presidential historian Richard Norton Smith says McKinley's win "confirmed the conservative nature of the American republic."
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