1900 United States presidential election

The 1900 United States presidential election was the 29th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 1900. Admiral George Dewey of the Federal Republican Party defeated both Farmer-Labor candidate William Jennings Bryan, and President Aaron Burr Houston for the Presidency.

Bryan faced little opposition when attempting to receive the Farmer-Labor nomination, while Houston had a much tougher time. The controversial President, Houston faced much opposition from within his own party. Many opposed his Imperialistic foreign policy, but also his policy of High Tariffs and High Spending on Infrastructure. Because of this, when he tried to run for a third term, he was opposed by many candidates which included: Thomas Brackett Reed, William McKinley, Josiah T. Walls, but importantly, George Dewey. Dewey won the nomination, but faced opposition from Progressives and President Houston himself. Houston and the progressives bolted from the Federal Republican Party and nominated Houston with his former rival, Mary Elizabeth Lease, for the Presidency.

Dewey won in a landslide, easily defeating both Bryan and Houston. Dewey won 46% of the Popular vote, compared to Bryans 28% and Houston's 24%. Houston preformed surprisingly well, and won four states: California, Nevada, Colorado, and Shoshone.

Federal Republican Party nomination
Also see: 1900 Federal Republican National Convention

The Primaries
In the aftermath of the largest conflict in American history since the Civil War, a wave of progressive legislation, the first federal civil rights legislation in a generation, and the highest tariffs in American history, incumbent President Aaron Burr Houston threw his hat into the ring for a third term. Despite being the President, Houston faced significant challenge from within the Party, as most conservatives ditched him for other more conservative candidates. During the primaries, Dewey was far ahead of Houston, and as the 1896 race had demonstrated, the bosses were prepared to betray the President on the turn of a dime. With Dewey far ahead and bosses scrambling to either win the vaguely political Admiral's favor or put forth favorite sons, the Houston White House announced that they would not contest the nomination at the convention, ending all practical chance of the Houston's re-nomination.

The Convention
Three candidates came to dominate the divided opposition to Admiral Dewey in the aftermath of President Houston's departure from the campaign: Henry Cabot Lodge; Josiah T. Walls; and William McKinley. Lodge's role as leader of the Senate's expansionists during the battle over the Treaty of Hong Kong propelled him to the fore, while, Walls, the only Federal Republican and only black Governor of Florida demonstrated surprising strength in the South. Yet, both Walls and Lodge suffered from the same setback: neither truly desired the presidency, both having only reluctantly acceded to the wishes of a draft movement. This left Senator McKinley of Ohio, with his once ignored campaign gaining steam under the direction of industrialist Mark Hanna. Yet, the weeks allotted to Lodge, Walls, and McKinley were far from enough to organize enough to stop Dewey and the Admiral's supporters were able to win the support of Thomas Brackett Reed, putting him over the top and making George Dewey officially the 1900 Federal Republican nominee for the presidency despite a strong showing from McKinley. The high point of the convention, and to many the moment that sealed Dewey's nomination, was the speech of William Freeman Vilas of Wisconsin, the state's former Governor and the 1884 running mate of James G. Blaine, nominating Dewey in which Vilas would declare: “And when asked what State he hails from, Our sole reply shall be, He hails from Manila Bay, he hails from Hawaii; and their famous seas of liberty.”, before calling Dewey "“never defeated—in peace or in war—his name is the most illustrious borne by living man.”

Following a brief series of telegrams between Dewey and his campaign managers, it was settled that the Vice Presidency would be a concession to President Houston, whose supporters were already discussing a bolt. A prominent supporter of the bolt effort, war hero Theodore Roosevelt, was first approached. Roosevelt, already reluctant to support the ticket, declined in favor of seeking the party’s nomination for Governor of New York with the backing of Seth Low. Incumbent William M.O. Dawson, Speaker of the House John C. Houk, and Postmaster General Charles J. Bonaparte were all considered and responded favorably. However, as the day following Dewey’s nomination droned on with speech after speech extolling the Admiral, all three telegraphed with declinations. George L. Wellington and Robert La Follette seemed to many the next natural choice to placate progressives, yet selecting either would irreversibly alienate expansionists and Houston loyalists, leading to consideration of former Attorney General Louis Brandeis and Henry S. Boutell, both with Houstonian connotations yet unwilling to bolt.

Progressive bolt
In the midst of a speech by Knute Nelson attempting to implore progressives and expansionists to back Dewey out of party loyalty, he was interrupted by a surprising chorus of jeers, gaveled down by Convention Chairman Ashbel P. Fitch. On the floor, delegates began to leave, as Theodore Roosevelt’s voice could barely be heard above the din shouting the announcement that President Houston was calling for his supporters to walk out, with the Rough Rider enthusiastically calling for party expansionists and progressives to “battle for the Lord!”

Of the 462 delegates to the convention, 117 would walk out with Roosevelt, including Speaker Houk and Senator Lodge, as Houston was booed by many the remaining delegates. Dewey’s managers would conclude that with Houston’s supporters already bolting, nominating an opponent of the President would place them in a strong position to negotiate the Houstonians back into the party in return for the Vice Presidency. Thus, a name was entered, the name of a man whose progressivism would balance the implied conservatism of Dewey, and the the name of a man with whom Aaron Burr Houston could never reconcile.

Robert La Follette had seen his rising star shot down in flames since his vote against the Treaty of Hong Kong. His allies within the state party had been sacked, those who dared to remain loyal to him against President Houston excluded from patronage and denounced at the Wisconsin Federal Republican Convention by way of a resolution. In his own eyes and those of his allies, “Fighting Bob” had signed his political death warrant. Thus, La Follette was as shocked as anyone else on the floor when “Mr. Conservative”, Maine Senator Eugene Hale, rose to nominate him for the Vice Presidency. Yet, Dewey’s managers threw themselves behind the Midwesterner and his nomination was carried by acclamation.

Liberal Anti-Prohibition nomination
Tyre York, John Nance Garner, and Horace Boies had come to represent something of a Trinity for the Liberal Anti-Prohibition Party. With York forming the party and preventing it from collapsing during its darkest days, Boies bringing the party to life, and Garner giving it its first taste of national political power with his unexpected and shocking election as Speaker of the House. Yet, Garner was too young to be eligible, Boies was too old to desire the office, and York retired, leaving the party listless and leaderless as the election of 1900 approached. Two candidates officially put their names forward to be candidates, though one writer who would go by the name as Mark Twain would win the nomination in a landslide.

The rising star of Underwood found himself outdone, as John Nance Garner worked behind the scenes to guarantee the nomination of Twain. With a major backer playing both sides of the contest, Twain won resoundingly, yet Underwood was selected for the Vice Presidential slot despite a challenge from Twain loyalist George F. Peabody. Yet, the question of whether Twain would accept the nomination remained, as a telegraph from the writer was transmitted to Convention Chairman Tyre York. Writing disparagingly of the political system, Twain began with:

“In religion and politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing.” Continuing his depredations upon the current state of affairs, he proceeded with ”It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” On imperialism, he continued: "It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make the Pacific’s people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.” Twain then proceeded to foreign affairs, stating opposition to imperialism by any nation and praising President George’s course against the British Empire. He then stated support for Admiral Dewey’s attempts to guarantee rights to Chinese immigrants, writing high praise for the Admiral, followed by ”I have seen Chinamen abused and maltreated in all the mean, cowardly ways possible to the invention of a degraded nature ... but I never saw a Chinaman righted in a court of justice for wrongs thus done to him".

Twain then shifted to economic matters, asking: ''”Who are the oppressors? The few: the King, the capitalist, and a handful of other overseers and superintendents. Who are the oppressed? The many: the nations of the earth; the valuable personages; the workers; they that make the bread that the soft-handed and idle eat.” Nonetheless, Twain would carry on in his next paragraph to criticize government’s power, writing: ”The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble … and there is great danger that our people will lose that independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked … and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise.”''

Twain concluded with a repetition of his attacks on prohibition before agreeing to accept the nomination, “for the time being”, and requesting a meeting with senior LAP leaders. With Twain the party’s official nominee Tyre York, John Nance Garner, and Horace Boies ventured to meet with the author in St. Louis, as the convention remained convened, with LAP speakers heralding an end to prohibition.

The Negotiations
The Liberal delegation implored Twain to accept, noting the landslide by which he had won and arguing that he presented the best chance for the end of prohibition. Yet, Twain had and maintains no desire for the Presidency, and made clear that would impede his chances of victory. Responding to the argument that only he could lead the LAP to victory, he presented a differing proposal. Later that day, Admiral Dewey set out for St. Louis, to be joined by Robert La Follette, Federal Republican National Committee Chairman William F. Vilas, Ohio Senator William McKinley, and a handful of other leading Federal Republicans. The Liberals’ convention was telegraphed and told to remain in session.

La Follette was a well known “wet” or opponent of prohibition, and Dewey’s own views on the subject were unknown. And as the leaders of the Federal Republican and Liberal Anti-Prohibition parties converged upon St. Louis, the media quickly began guessing what Twain proposed, which became clear on the third day, soon after Dewey’s arrival. If the Federal Republican campaign would agree to endorse an end to prohibition, the LAP would fall in line behind Dewey, granting him crucial support to overtake Houston’s splitters. Nonetheless, the negotiations were quickly found to mean more.

Pro-Houston Progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt remained the official Federal Republican nominees for many offices, and the parties had not split as a whole down ballot. The LAP proposed to Federal Republican leaders that out-and-out Liberals, replace bolters down ballot. In New York, for instance, Liberal Grover Cleveland was proposed to replace Roosevelt as the party’s nominee for Governor. Prohibitionist Federal Republicans such as McKinley refused to abide to this, despite the support of Dewey for it, yet a more moderate proposal wherein incumbent Liberals would not be challenged by the Federal Republican Party and those nominated against bolting Progressives would be guaranteed to be anti-prohibition Federal Republicans in most cases and Liberals in only a few others, was proposed by Vilas to win over McKinley, while Dewey agreed to appoint Liberals to his cabinet if elected. Twain himself argued for the proposal, despite having taken a day away to contemplate following a letter from a child stating that it was his grandmother’s dying wish to make Twain President.

The Ohio Senator maintained his opposition, yet mellowed it somewhat, stating simply that he could accept the proposal and would not desert Dewey. Thus, on the eighth day of the negotiations, August 14th of 1900, Twain personally telegraphed the Liberal convention calling on them to second the nomination of Dewey and La Follette for a united anti-prohibition front, which was done resoundingly. Down ballot, Theodore Roosevelt and John Houk were the first progressives ousted from their Federal Republican nominations to be replaced by wet Dewey supporters. Dewey, Twain, Garner, York, and La Follette would mark the occasion with a toast of rum in a famous photograph carried in many a newspaper’s front page.

Farmer-Labor Party nomination
Following their narrow loss in 1896, and their devastating loss in 1898, the Farmer-Labor Party was back to try to reclaim victory, after being out of the White House for eight years. Many candidates were present at the convention, like Richard F. Pettigrew, Hazen S. Pingree, Jacob S. Coxey, Arthur F. Devereux, and even President Aaron Burr Houston, who was not a Famer-Laborite himself. Still, no one could defeat William Jennings Bryan, the man who almost won the Presidential Election of 1896 and who only lost the popular vote by a little more than 1,000 votes. Bryan swiftly and quickly won the nomination in a landslide.

The keynote speaker of the convention, held at Boston in an odd turn of events, was to be Samuel M. Jones, the former independent Governor of Ohio known for basing his politics upon the “Golden Rule.” A former Federal Republican now considering himself to be a Christian socialist, while also supporting a land value tax, Jones would be introduced as something more than keynote speaker as he entered the stage, with Convention Chairman Benjamin F. Shively announcing him as Bryan’s choice for the Vice Presidency, which the delegates would approve. Jones’ speech began as it ended, declaring “do unto others as if you were the others.”

Following the formal nomination of Bryan, the boy orator returned to the stage. His speech would focus almost entirely upon imperialism, while best remembered for its final lines:

''”I can conceive of a national destiny surpassing the glories of the present and the past — a destiny which meets the responsibilities of today and measures up to the possibilities of the future. Behold a republic, resting securely upon the foundation stones quarried by revolutionary patriots from the mountain of eternal truth — a republic applying in practice and proclaiming to the world the self-evident propositions that all men are created equal; that they are endowed with inalienable rights; that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Behold a republic in which civil and religious liberty stimulates to earnest endeavor and in which the law restrains every hand uplifted for a neighbor’s injury — a republic in which every citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one cares to wear a crown. Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments — a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared. Behold a republic increasing in population, in wealth, in strength and in influence, solving the problems of civilization and hastening the coming of an universal brotherhood — a republic which shakes thrones and dissolves aristocracies by its silent example and gives light and inspiration to those who sit in darkness. Behold a republic gradually but surely becoming the supreme moral factor in the world’s progress and the accepted arbiter of the world’s disputes — a republic whose history, like the path of the just, is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”''

Progressive Party nomination
Ostensibly for the cause of progressivism, President Aaron Burr Houston and an amalgam of expansionists, prohibitionists, and progressive Federal Republicans in support of him convened in Indianapolis under the Chairmanship of Theodore Roosevelt, rejecting the Federal Republican Party's embrace of conservative, anti-protectionist, anti-prohibition, and anti-imperialist ideology in the nomination of Admiral George Dewey. With Houston nominated with all but 2 delegate votes, those going to Louis Brandeis in an attempt to unite the campaigns around the New York lawyer, the only true contest was that of the Vice Presidential nomination.

To the shock of all, Dawson came in second on the first ballot to Henry Cabot Lodge, with Lodge’s friendship with Theodore Roosevelt aiding him in winning over key progressives. From this, the Dawson effort imploded, losing its crucial incumbency advantage. The next ballot saw Lodge’s lead expand, yet Mary E. Lease and her supporters surprised the convention with a strong showing, leading Powderly to drop out and support for on the third ballot. By the fourth, Lease’s momentum outpaced Lodge’s and she was nominated for the Vice Presidency. Lease placed her expansionist tendencies on full view when accepting the nomination, calling for a:

”Federation of the Americas, with Aaron Burr Houston as leader” and restating her support for ”tropical colonization in Latin America, with Caucasian planters and Oriental, Negro, and Indian tenantry.” Lease clarified her tariff views by stating support for ”free trade in federated America with tariff on alien products.” Proceeding with a call for Farmer-Laborites of all stripes to join Houston’s campaign, Lease concluded with ''”The recent land slides, political tide waves, and avalanches of the past few years indicate that the great mass of our voting population are independent in their party affiliations. They are ripe for the union of reform forces, ripe for a political movement, that while conservative in spirit will redress the wrongs in our system and arrest the evils of increasing poverty and excessive wealth. Then let all who love mankind more than millionaires unite for the common welfare.”''

General Election
The economy was booming in 1900, so the re-nomination of President Houston was expected, which brought a shock to all when he lost the nomination. George Dewey, the Federal Republican nominee, was able to ride upon his vast personal popularity when campaigning. Dewey led the American Pacific Fleet to a resounding victory at the Battle of Manila Bay, turning the tide of the war after the Japanese victory at the First Battle of Hawaii, and famously cried "damn the torpedoes! full speed ahead!" amidst the Second Battle of Hawaii, where he led the American fleet to the decisive victory that ended the Pacific War. Labelled the "most popular man in America," his likeness adorning countless posters, plates, cups, and calendars. Dewey campaigned primarily through interviews and letters, while La Follette toured the nation in a speaking tour. The joint Federal Republican-Liberal campaign argued for referendums in the Philippines on annexation, arguing that the islands' peoples are worthy of self-government, while focusing secondly upon opposition to prohibition following the coalition with the Liberals. Dewey was assumed to an economic conservative while La Follette was a noted progressive, leading the ticket to campaign upon national unity, while bucking Federal Republican orthodoxy by calling for a decrease in tariffs and the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, with Dewey arguing that the future of American foreign policy in Asia rested upon good relations with China. Arguing that the exigencies presented by the aftermath of the Pacific War justify breaching the two-term precedent, Houston was the only candidate to endorse expansionism and campaigned upon it first and foremost, combining the mainstream call of expansion into the Pacific with Lease's call for the United States annexation of Latin America, pointing to the recent proclamation of a Third Mexican Empire as evidence of the need for democratic intervention. Houston and Lease argued that progressives of all parties must unite under the Progressive Party's banner, while calling for the maintenance of prohibition and the current tariff rates, averaging at 52%. Houston had neither endorsed nor denounced his running mate's call for the exportation of millions of white people to Africa, Asia, and South America to own small farms worked by "inferior races," but made attempts to win over black voters. Lease, considered the greatest orator in the country by some, had undertaken a speaking tour in agricultural areas, focusing upon winning the farmers who carried her to prominence within the Farmer-Labor Party to the side of Houston, while Houston supporters Theodore Roosevelt, Hiram Johnson, John C. Houk. and Albert J. Beveridge led speaking tours in the Northeast, West, South, and Midwest respectively.

Weakened by a string of landslide losses, the Farmer-Labor Party turned once more to the only man to have led the party to a near victory since 1888, re-nominating 40 year old Nebraska Senator William Jennings Bryan for the presidency with 54 year old former Federal Republican Governor Samuel M. Jones of Ohio nominated for the Vice Presidency. Bryan campaigned first and foremost as the only true progressive in the race, echoing the calls of his Christian Socialist running mate for the governing principle of the nation being the "golden rule:" phrased in Matthew 7:12 as "do to others what you want them to do to you." Bryan was the most consistently anti-imperialist of the candidates and, while leading the pro-war faction of Farmer-Labor, opposed any attempts at expansion, while concurring with President Houston in support of prohibition. On economic issues, Bryan and Jones endorsed the lowering of tariffs and the land value tax yet called for the maintenance of the income tax and taxation on business. Bryan argued that Houston was a false progressive and pointed to Houston's support from several investors and opposition to the nationalization of railroads, with Bryan echoing the timeless Laborite call for railroad nationalization.

Results

Despite the Federal Republican split, Dewey won in a landslide, easily defeating both Bryan and Houston. Dewey won 46% of the Popular vote, compared to Bryans 28% and Houston's 24%. Houston preformed surprisingly well, and won four states: California, Nevada, Colorado, and Shoshone. The Liberal Anti-Prohibition Party made relatively large gains in both houses of congress, as the Federal Republican Party lost seats.

Unlike the Progressive Party before it, the Progressive Party was able to survive past this election, going on to run a candidate in the 1904 Presidential Election, coming in third once again.