United States presidential election, 1892

United States presidential election, 1892

1888 ←  → 1896
November 8, 1892
Nominee		Grover Cleveland	Benjamin Harrison	James Weaver
Party		Democratic	Republican	Populist
Home state		New York	Indiana	Iowa
Running mate		Adlai E. Stevenson I	Whitelaw Reid	James Gaven Field
Electoral vote		277	145	22
States carried		23	16	4
Popular vote		5,556,918	5,176,108	1,041,028
Percentage		46.0%	43.0%	8.5%
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Harrison/Reid, Blue denotes those won by Cleveland/Stevenson Light green denotes those won by Weaver/Field. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
Previous President Benjamin Harrison Republican President-elect Grover Cleveland Democratic

The United States presidential election of 1892 was held on November 8, 1892. Former President Grover Cleveland ran for re-election against the incumbent President Benjamin Harrison also running for re-election. Cleveland defeated Harrison, thus becoming the only person in US history to be elected to a second, non-consecutive presidential term. Cleveland, who had won the popular vote against Harrison in 1888, lost the electoral vote which cost him re-election. He won both the popular and electoral vote in the rematch election.

The campaign centered mainly on the issue of a sound currency. The new Populist Party, formed by groups from the Grange, the Farmers' Alliances, and the Knights of Labor, polled more than a million votes. But Cleveland won easily.

Cleveland also became the first Democrat to be nominated by his party three consecutive times, a distinction that would be equaled only by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and then exceeded by him in 1944. Although William Jennings Bryan was nominated for a third time in 1908 it was not consecutive with his two other nominations in 1896 and 1900.

Contents 1 Nominations 1.1 Republican Party nomination 1.1.1 Candidates gallery 1.2 Democratic Party nomination 1.2.1 Candidates gallery 1.3 Populist Party nomination 1.3.1 Candidates gallery 1.4 Prohibition Party nomination 1.4.1 Candidates gallery 1.5 Other nominations 2 General election 2.1 Campaign 2.2 Results 3 Media 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Republican Party nomination

Republican candidates:

• Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States from Indiana
• James G. Blaine, former U.S. Secretary of State Maine
• William McKinley, governor of Ohio

[edit] Candidates gallery

President Benjamin Harrison of Indiana

Former Secretary of State James G. Blaine of Maine

Governor William McKinley of Ohio

Although Thomas C. Platt and other disaffected party leaders mounted a dump-Harrison movement coalescing around veteran candidate James G. Blaine of Maine, the president's forces had the nomination locked up by the time delegates assembled in Minneapolis in June 1892. Richard Thomas of Indiana delivered Harrison's nominating speech. Harrison was nominated on the first ballot with 535.17 votes to 182.83 for Blaine, 182 for William McKinley of Ohio; the rest scattered. The strength of McKinley, nominally a favorite-son candidate, surprised many observers. Whitelaw Reid of New York, editor of the New York Tribune and recent U.S. minister to France, was nominated for vice president.

The Republican platform supported the high tariff, bimetallism, stiffer immigration laws, free rural mail delivery, and a canal across Central America; and expressed sympathy for Ireland's struggle for home rule and the plight of Jews under persecution in czarist Russia.

Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
Benjamin Harrison	535.17
James G. Blaine	182.83
William McKinley	182
Thomas B. Reed	4
Robert Todd Lincoln	1

Source: US President - R Convention. Our Campaigns. (January 08, 2010).

Vice Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
Whitelaw Reid	906

Source: US Vice President - R Convention. Our Campaigns. (September 7, 2009).

[edit] Democratic Party nomination

Democratic candidates:

• Grover Cleveland, Former President of the United States from New York
• David B. Hill, U.S. senator from New York
• Horace Boies, governor of Iowa
• Arthur P. Gorman, U.S. senator from Maryland
• John M. Palmer, U.S. senator from Illinois

[edit] Candidates gallery

Former President Grover Cleveland of New York

Senator David B. Hill of New York

Governor Horace Boies of Iowa

Senator Arthur P. Gorman of Maryland

Senator John M. Palmer of Illinois

By the end of Harrison's term, many Americans were ready to return to Cleveland's harder policies. As Democrats convened in Chicago in June 1892, Cleveland was the front-runner for the nomination but faced formidable opposition. He had come out against the free coinage of silver, thereby earning the enmity of western and southern Democrats. Most damaging of all was the opposition of his home state; the New York delegation, packed with Tammany men, frequently demonstrated their hostility to Cleveland's candidacy on the convention floor.

In a narrow first-ballot victory, Cleveland received 617.33 votes, barely 10 more than needed, to 114 for Governor David B. Hill of New York, the candidate of Tammany Hall, 103 for Governor Horace Boies of Iowa, a populist and former Republican; the rest scattered. Although the Cleveland forces preferred Isaac P. Gray of Indiana for vice president, they accepted the convention favorite, Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois.^[1] As a supporter of using greenbacks and free silver to inflate the currency and alleviate economic distress in the rural districts, Stevenson balanced the ticket headed by Cleveland, the hard-money, gold-standard supporter.^[2]

Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
Grover Cleveland	617.33
David B. Hill	114
Horace Boies	103
Arthur P. Gorman	36.5
Adlai E. Stevenson	16.67
John G. Carlisle	14
William R. Morrison	3
James E. Campbell	2
Robert E. Pattison	1
William E. Russell	1
William C. Whitney	1
Abstaining	0.5

Source: US President - D Convention. Our Campaigns. (September 7, 2009).

Vice Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st Before Shifts	1st After Shifts
Adlai E. Stevenson	402	652
Isaac P. Gray	343	185
Allen B. Morse	86	62
John L. Mitchell	45	10
Henry Watterson	26	0
William B. Cockran	5	0
Horace Boies	1	0
Lambert Tree	1	0
Abstaining	1	1

Source: US Vice President - D Convention. Our Campaigns. (September 7, 2009).

[edit] Populist Party nomination

Populist candidates:

• James B. Weaver, former U.S. representative from Iowa
• James H. Kyle, U.S. senator from South Dakota

[edit] Candidates gallery

Former Representative James B. Weaver of Iowa

Senator James H. Kyle of South Dakota

In 1891, the farmers' alliances met with delegates from labor and reform groups in Cincinnati, and discussed forming a new political party. They formed the People's Party, usually called the Populist Party, a year later in St. Louis.

At the first Populist national convention in Omaha in July 1892, James B. Weaver of Iowa was nominated for president on the first ballot. James G. Field of Virginia was nominated for vice president. The Populist platform called for nationalization of the telegraph, telephone, and railroads, free coinage of silver, a graduated income tax, and creation of postal savings banks.

Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
James B. Weaver	995
James H. Kyle	265
Others	3

Source: US President - P Convention. Our Campaigns. (September 7, 2009).

Vice Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
James G. Field	733
Ben Stockton Terrell	554

Source: US Vice President - P Convention. Our Campaigns. (September 7, 2009).

[edit] Prohibition Party nomination

Prohibition candidates:

• John Bidwell, former U.S. representative from California
• Gideon T. Stewart, Prohibition Party Chairman from Ohio
• William Jennings Demorest, magazine publisher from New York

[edit] Candidates gallery

Former Representative John Bidwell of California

Prohibition Party Chairman Gideon T. Stewart of Ohio

Magazine publisher William Jennings Demorest of New York

The 6th Prohibition Party National Convention assembled in Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. There were 972 delegates present from all states except Louisiana and South Carolina.

Two major stories about the convention loomed before it assembled. First, some of the national committee sought to merge the Prohibition and Populist Parties. While there appeared a likelihood that the merger would materialize, by convention time it was clear that it was not going to happen. Second, the southern states sent a number of black delegates. Cincinnati hotels refused to serve meals to blacks and whites at the same time, and several hotels refused all service to the black delegates.

The convention nominated John Bidwell of California for President on the first ballot. Prior to the convention, the race was thought to be close between Bidwell and Demorest, but the New York delegation became irritated with William Jennings Demorest and voted for Bidwell 73-7. James B. Cranfill of Texas was nominated for Vice President on the first ballot with 417 votes to 351 for Joshua Levering of Maryland and 45 for others.^[3]

Presidential Ballot
Ballot	1st
John Bidwell	590
Gideon T. Stewart	179
William Jennings Demorest	139
H. Clay Bascom	3

Source: US President - P Convention. Our Campaigns. (May 09, 2010).

[edit] Other nominations

The Socialist Labor Party made their first attempt at the White House and chose Simon Wing and Charles Matchett as their standard bearers.

[edit] General election

[edit] Campaign

The tariff issue dominated this rather lackluster campaign. Harrison defended the protectionist McKinley Tariff passed during his term: Cleveland, assuring voters that he opposed absolute free trade, continued his campaign for a reduction in the tariff. William McKinley campaigned extensively for Harrison, setting the stage for his own run four years later.

The campaign took a somber turn when, in October, First Lady Caroline Harrison died. Despite the ill health that had plagued Mrs. Harrison since her youth and which had worsened in the last decade, she often accompanied Mr. Harrison on official travels. On one such trip, to California in the spring of 1891, she caught a cold. It quickly deepened into her chest, and she was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis. A summer in the Adirondack Mountains failed to restore her to health. An invalid the last six months of her life, she died in the White House on October 25, 1892, just two weeks before the national election. As a result, all of the candidates ceased campaigning.

[edit] Results

A. Weaver received 22 electoral votes.

Populist James B. Weaver, calling for free coinage of silver and an inflationary monetary policy, won surprisingly strong support in the West to become the only third-party nominee between 1860 and 1912 to carry a single state.

The Prohibition ticket received 270,879, or 2.2% nationwide. It was the largest total vote and highest percentage of the vote received by any Prohibition Party national ticket.

It was also the first election in which an incumbent president was defeated for a second time in a row. This wouldn't happen again until 1980.

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate	Running mate's home state	Running mate's electoral vote
			Count	Pct
Stephen Grover Cleveland	Democratic	New York	5,553,898	46.0%	277	Adlai Ewing Stevenson	Illinois	277
Benjamin Harrison	Republican	Indiana	5,190,819	43.0%	145	Whitelaw Reid	New York	145
James Baird Weaver	Populist	Iowa	1,026,595	8.5%	22	James Gaven Field	Virginia	22
John Bidwell	Prohibition	California	270,879	2.2%	0	James Britton Cranfill	Texas	0
Simon Wing	Socialist Labor	Massachusetts	21,173	0.2%	0	Charles Horatio Matchett	New York	0
Other			4,673	0.0%	—	Other		—
Total			12,068,037	100%	444			444
Needed to win					223			223

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. 1892 Presidential Election Results. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (July 27, 2005).

Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 31, 2005).

[edit] Media

	Grover Cleveland 1892 campaign speech Audio clip of the first minute of Cleveland's 1892 campaign speech.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

[edit] See also

• American election campaigns in the 19th century
• History of the United States (1865-1918)
• History of the United States Democratic Party
• History of the United States Republican Party

[edit] References

• Faulkner, Harold U. (1959). Politics, Reform and Expansion, 1890–1900. New York: Harper. 
• Jensen, Richard (1971). The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict, 1888–1896. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226398250. 
• Josephson, Matthew (1938). The Politicos: 1865–1896. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.. 
• Keller, Morton (1977). Affairs of State: Public Life in Late Nineteenth Century America. Cambridge: Belknap Press. ISBN 0674007212. 
• Kleppner, Paul (1979). The Third Electoral System 1853–1892: Parties, Voters, and Political Cultures. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807813281. 
• Knoles, George H. (1942). The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1892. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 
• Loewen, James (1995). Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. New York: New Press. p. 158. ISBN 156584100X. 
• Morgan, H. Wayne (1969). From Hayes to McKinley: National Party Politics, 1877–1896. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. 
• Oberholtzer, Ellis P. (1917–37). A History of the United States since the Civil War. 5. New York: Macmillan. 
• Rhodes, James Ford (1920). History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Mckinley-Bryan Campaign of 1896. 8. New York: Macmillan. 

[edit] External links

• 1892 popular vote by counties
• 1892 State-by-state Popular vote
• Overview of 1892 Democratic National Convention
• How close was the 1892 election? — Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

v • d • e United States presidential elections 1789 · 1792 · 1796 · 1800 · 1804 · 1808 · 1812 · 1816 · 1820 · 1824 · 1828 · 1832 · 1836 · 1840 · 1844 · 1848 · 1852 · 1856 · 1860 · 1864 · 1868 · 1872 · 1876 · 1880 · 1884 · 1888 · 1892 · 1896 · 1900 · 1904 · 1908 · 1912 · 1916 · 1920 · 1924 · 1928 · 1932 · 1936 · 1940 · 1944 · 1948 · 1952 · 1956 · 1960 · 1964 · 1968 · 1972 · 1976 · 1980 · 1984 · 1988 · 1992 · 1996 · 2000 · 2004 · 2008 · 2012 Electoral College · Electoral vote changes · Electoral votes by state · Results by Electoral College margin · Results by popular vote margin · Results by state · Voter turnout · Presidential primaries · Presidential nominating conventions See also: House elections · Senate elections · Gubernatorial elections

v • d • e Notable third party performances in United States elections (At least 5% of the vote) Presidential (Since 1856) 1856 · 1860 · 1892 · 1896 · 1912 · 1924 · 1948 · 1968 · 1980 · 1992 · 1996 Senatorial (Since 1990) Virginia 1990 · Alaska 1992 · Arizona 1992 · Hawaii 1992 · Ohio 1992 · Arizona 1994 · Minnesota 1994 · Ohio 1994 · Vermont 1994 · Virginia 1994 · Alaska 1996 · Minnesota 1996 · Arizona 2000 · Massachusetts 2000 · Minnesota 2000 · Alaska 2002 · Kansas 2002 · Massachusetts 2002 · Mississippi 2002 · Oklahoma 2002 · Oklahoma 2004 · Connecticut 2006 · Indiana 2006 · Maine 2006 · Vermont 2006 · Arkansas 2008 · Minnesota 2008 · Oregon 2008 Gubernatorial (Since 1990) Alaska 1990 · Connecticut 1990 · Kansas 1990 · Maine 1990 · New York 1990 · Oklahoma 1990 · Oregon 1990 · Utah 1992 · West Virginia 1992 · Alaska 1994 · Connecticut 1994 · Hawaii 1994 · Maine 1994 · New Mexico 1994 · Oklahoma 1994 · Pennsylvania 1994 · Rhode Island 1994 · Vermont 1994 · Alaska 1998 · Maine 1998 · Minnesota 1998 · New York 1998 · Pennsylvania 1998 · Rhode Island 1998 · Kentucky 1999 · New Hampshire 2000 · Vermont 2000 · Arizona 2002 · California 2002 · Maine 2002 · Minnesota 2002 · New Mexico 2002 · Oklahoma 2002 · Wisconsin 2002 · Alaska 2006 · Illinois 2006 · Maine 2006 · Massachusetts 2006 · Minnesota 2006 · Texas 2006 · Louisiana 2007 · Vermont 2008 · New Jersey 2009 Portal:Politics - Third party (United States) - Third party officeholders in the United States - Third party United States House of Representatives