In the meantime, the Republicans chose an Ohioan, William McKinley, as their candidate. His beliefs were extremely different from Bryan's. For one, he supported the gold standard. And he supported high tariffs, which are taxes on goods imported from other places. Those taxes mostly helped eastern manufacturers. McKinley believed the future lay with the new business interests. If business prospered, he thought it would also benefit the poor and the farmers. There were important issues here. The election of 1896 was one of the most important in our country's history.

What a campaign it was. Bryan had little money, but he had his remarkable energy and that mellifluous voice. He crossed the nation by train and in a few months gave more than 600 speeches. Sometimes he spoke thirty times a day. But leading Republicans—like the lawyer Elihu Root—thought Bryan was telling farmers only what they wanted to hear . "What a disgusting, dishonest fakir Bryan is!" Root wrote. "When I see so many Americans running after him, I feel very much as I do when a really lovely woman falls in love with a cad."

More than 120 million Republican pamphlets were distributed that year. They made Bryan sound like a dangerous quack. McKinley articles were sent free to newspapers. McKinley buttons, banners, and posters turned up everywhere. The Republicans spent a total of $4 million; the Democrats spent $300,000. Today we are used to big, costly presidential campaigns. That was new in 1896. Maybe it was the money that made the difference. Maybe not. Railroad executive William McAdoo had this to say: "It has become the custom nowadays, among supercilious people, to depict Bryan as a clown or a fool. He was nothing of the kind. In many respects, he was one of the shrewdest people I have ever known."

The American people had some tough issues to decide. Many wanted the reforms that people like Bryan and the Populists called for. They wanted laws to improve working conditions. They wanted shorter working hours; they wanted laws to prevent employers from hiring children for adult jobs. Many believed the railroads and the big utilities should be owned by the government and run for all people. Most wanted to see farmers helped. But there were some things that were worrisome about Bryan. He was dividing the country into warring groups. He was picking a fight with the money interests. And he was supported by some hate groups. He lost the election. It was the corporation that would dominate the twentieth century. Some say that the American people made that choice in 1896.