Ch. 13, sec. 3 critical thinking #3

The most significant factors in bringing an end to the populist party were Lack of Money, William Mckinley, and Fear of Inflation.
William Mckinley was the Republican nominee for president. He was in favor of the gold standard and was incredibly wealthy. He was running against Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan.
William Jennings Bryan in contrast had only meager funds. Bryan made up for the Lack of Money by campaigning in 27 states and making 20 speeches a day.(page429) Mckinley campagned on his front porch and had thousands of people giving speeches for him.
Fear of Inflation though was the biggest downfall of the Populist party. The party favored the silver standard which would increase inflation which drove the business owners to Mckinley. While Bryan recieved support from the South and the farm vote of the Mid-west, Mckinley recieved support from many business owners in the North and all of the East. Mckinley gained 7 million votes to win while Bryan only recieved 6.5 million. With this major loss the Populist party collapsed.