Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1900. Incumbent Republican President William McKinley defeated his Democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan in a rematch of the 1896 United States presidential election.
McKinley and Bryan each faced little opposition within their own parties. Although some Gold Democrats explored the possibility of a campaign by Admiral George Dewey, Bryan was easily re-nominated at the 1900 Democratic National Convention after Dewey withdrew from the race. McKinley was unanimously re-nominated at the 1900 Republican National Convention. As Vice President Garret Hobart had died in 1899, the Republican convention chose New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt as McKinley's running mate.
The return of economic prosperity and recent victory in the Spanish–American War helped McKinley score a decisive victory, while Bryan's anti-imperialist stance and continued support for bimetallism attracted only limited support. McKinley carried most states outside of the Solid South and won 51.6% of the popular vote. The election results were similar to those of 1896, though McKinley picked up several Western states and Bryan picked up Kentucky.
McKinley's victory made him the first president since Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 to win re-election to a consecutive second term. Six months into his second term, McKinley was assassinated, and his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt, succeeded him.
Nominations
Republican Party nomination
The 926 delegates to the Republican convention, which met in Philadelphia on June 19–21, re-nominated President William McKinley by acclamation. Thomas C. Platt, the "boss" of the New York State Republican Party, did not like Theodore Roosevelt, New York's popular governor, even though he was a fellow Republican. Roosevelt's efforts to reform New York politics – including Republican politics – led Platt and other state Republican leaders to pressure President McKinley to accept Roosevelt as his new vice presidential candidate, thus filling the spot left open when Vice President Garret Hobart died in 1899. By electing Roosevelt vice president, Platt would remove Roosevelt from New York state politics. Although Roosevelt was reluctant to accept the nomination for vice president, which he regarded as a relatively trivial and powerless office, his great popularity among most Republican delegates led McKinley to pick him as his new running mate. Quite unexpectedly, Roosevelt would be elevated to the presidency in September 1901, when McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New York.
Democratic Party nomination
Other candidates
After Admiral George Dewey's return from the Spanish–American War, many suggested that he run for president on the Democratic ticket. Dewey, however, had already angered some Protestants by marrying the Catholic Mildred McLean Hazen (the widow of General William Babcock Hazen and daughter of Washington McLean, owner of The Washington Post) in November 1899 and giving her the house that the nation had given him following the war. His candidacy was also almost immediately plagued by a number of public relations gaffes. Newspapers started attacking him as naïve after he was quoted as saying the job of president would be easy, since the chief executive was merely following orders in executing the laws enacted by Congress, and that he would "execute the laws of Congress as faithfully as I have always executed the orders of my superiors." Shortly thereafter, he admitted never having voted in a presidential election before, mentioning that the only man he ever would have voted for, had he voted, would have been Grover Cleveland. He drew even more criticism when he offhandedly (and prophetically) told a newspaper reporter that, "Our next war will be with Germany."
Dewey's campaign was met with pessimism by Gold Democrats on whose support his campaign depended. Some even threw their support to Bryan, believing him to be the stronger candidate. As early as three days into his candidacy, his campaign having been damaged by the aforementioned missteps, rumors abounded regarding Dewey's impending withdrawal which proved false. Further injuries were made, however, when it became clear that the Democratic Party leaders of Vermont, Dewey's home state, were hostile to him and wholly committed to Bryan. Ohio similarly went for Bryan, though with the caveat that some leaders there suggested dropping all mention of silver from the party platform. By May 5, John Roll McLean — Dewey's brother-in-law and de facto campaign manager — defected from the campaign and was widely considered to be silently supporting Bryan. Dewey recognized soon afterward that he had very little chance of gathering enough delegates from Western and Southern states to keep Bryan from attaining a two-thirds majority at the convention, publicly commenting on May 17 that he no longer knew why he had even run for president at all. He effectively withdrew at about this time. There was some support in June for his nomination as vice president on the ticket alongside Bryan; however, Dewey resolutely refused to be considered.
Once Dewey withdrew, William Jennings Bryan faced little opposition for the nomination. He won it at the 1900 Democratic National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri on July 4–6, garnering 936 delegate votes.
Official or speculated candidates for the vice-presidential nomination:
People's Party nomination
As the nation's third-largest party, the Populists had made an organizational decision in 1896 to "fuse" with the Democratic Party on the national level, their identity kept separate by the nomination of two different candidates for vice president. At the state level, local Populist parties were left at liberty to proceed as they saw fit. In the Plains states, the Populists fused with the Democrats and, in some states, replaced them entirely. In the South, the Populists fused with the Republican Party. The result, though Bryan was defeated, was that the Populists greatly enlarged their representation in Congress from 10 to 26. In several southern states, however, the legislatures were still controlled by the Democrats, and they began passing a series of laws to eliminate the franchise for black voters with the intention of undermining a significant bloc of Populist support. The move had its intended consequences; in the 1898 mid-term election, Populist representation in the House of Representatives fell to 9, its lowest level since the party was founded.
The treatment of Populists by Democrats led to a division within the party. On May 17, 1899, Populist leaders met in St. Louis and issued an address calling for a "Middle of the Road" policy in which the party would decline future fusion efforts. The statement was primarily aimed at the party's national chairman, U.S. Senator Marion Butler of North Carolina, who had been elected to the Senate through fusion with North Carolina Republicans and was already working for the renomination of William Jennings Bryan on the 1900 Populist ticket. The pro-fusion leaders of the Populists fought back in early 1900. The first state party known to have split was the Nebraska party, which divided during its state convention on March 19. Both factions appointed delegates to the national convention, scheduled for Cincinnati. Ultimately, the Fusion Populists decided to hold a separate national convention when it became apparent that the Ohio Populists did not favor fusion and were working to organize a convention which would not nominate Bryan.
"Fusion" Populist nomination
The "Fusion" Populist National Convention assembled in a large tent just west of Sioux Falls, South Dakota on May 9 and unanimously nominated Bryan for the presidency. Charles Towne, the leader of the Silver Republican Party, was almost unanimously nominated as his running mate, facing only weak opposition from Representative John Lentz from Ohio. When Adlai Stevenson won the Democratic vice-presidential nomination over Towne, Towne withdrew from the race and the Fusion Populists endorsed Stevenson.
"Middle of the Road" Populist nomination
Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, the "Middle of the Road" faction adopted a platform that called for the creation of fiat money, government ownership of key industries and the opening of conservation lands for economic development. Businessman Wharton Barker was nominated for the presidency, while Representative Ignatius Donnelly was chosen as his running mate.
Minor party nominations
Social Democracy of America was founded by in June 1897, and was later reformed as the Social Democratic Party of America in 1898 while the Socialist Labor Party of America was having internal struggles. James F. Carey, who had been elected to the city council in Haverhill, Massachusetts, was expelled from the Socialist Labor Party. Eugene V. Debs, Carey, and Sylvester Keliher founded the Social Democratic Party. Carey and Louis M. Scates were elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives while John C. Chase was elected as mayor of Haverhill. Victor L. Berger led the party in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a slate of candidates received almost six percent of the vote in the 1898 election. Twenty members had been elected to office by 1900.
Morris Hillquit and members of his faction, the Kangaroos, in the Socialist Labor Party attempted to oust Daniel De Leon from the party's leadership at the 1899 convention. The Kangaroo faction was removed from the party and formed their own Socialist Labor Party. The Kangaroo faction lost a court case against De Leon for control of the party. They nominated Job Harriman for president and Max S. Hayes for vice president although they were not meant to run in the 1900 election and were instead used for a compromise with the Social Democratic Party of America.
The Social Democrats had been invited to the Kangaroos' convention, but declined although the Social Democrats supported unity between the parties. The Social Democratic National Executive Board allowed for the Kangaroo faction to send delegates to its national convention. The Kangaroos passed a resolution supporting unity and created a unity committee. Sixty-seven delegates from thirty-two states attuned the 1900 convention and voted by acclamation to give their presidential nomination to Debs. Hayes and Harriman were both nominated for the vice-presidential nomination and Harriman won it.
The executive board announced on May 12, 1900, that they would not support unity with the Kangaroos after accusing them of being too dogmatic and impeding a unity referendum. The Kangaroo unity committee sent out sent out ballots to members of both groups and both voted in favor of unity. The Kangaroos nominated Debs and Harriman as their presidential ticket which Debs accepted on July 31. Debs and George D. Herron started the party's campaign on September 29, at Chicago's Music Hall. Debs received 87,945 votes with his largest amount of support coming from New York and Illinois. Debs received over ten times the number of votes in Chicago that the Socialist Labor Party had in the 1896 election. Debs received more votes than any presidential ticket from the Socialist Labor Party. The Kangaroo faction and the Social Democrats later merged into the Socialist Party of America in 1901.
Prohibition Party nomination
The Prohibition Party met in Chicago, Illinois on June 28 to nominate their presidential ticket. Hale Johnson, who had been their vice-presidential nominee in 1896, withdrew his name immediately before the balloting was to begin. John G. Woolley was nominated on the first ballot, with Henry B. Metcalf of Rhode Island nominated to be his running mate in short order.
Lincoln Republican nomination
The Lincoln Republican Party, formerly the Silver Republican Party, had by 1900 come to recognize that the issue of bimetallism had been superseded by that of imperialism, and it was hoped that a broader platform in line with the perceived values of Abraham Lincoln would allow the Party to evolve beyond its singular issue of free silver.
The Lincoln Republicans assembled in Kansas City, Missouri, at the same time as the Democratic National Convention held in the same city. Committed to endorsing William Jennings Bryan for the presidency, the primary aim of many of those attending was to promote the nomination of national chairman Charles Towne for the vice presidency by the Democratic Party, an effort endorsed by Fusionist Populists who had nominated Towne to the same position two months earlier. Unfortunately for those who boomed Towne these efforts may have backfired, pushing away Democratic delegates who might have otherwise been favorable to Towne by presenting the ticket of Bryan and Towne as a fait accompli, with Southern Democratic delegates themselves preferring a vice-presidential nominee who'd appeal to voters the Democratic Party lost in the Northeast and Midwest four years prior. Hopes for a personal endorsement of Towne by Bryan were also dashed when Bryan, who personally preferred Towne of those candidates in running and was expected to make mention of this in an acceptance, decided against going to the convention or involving himself in the vice-presidential contest. Ultimately, Towne was a distant third, with Adlai Stevenson winning the nod.