the populists nominated james b. weaver as their presidential candidate in 1892.
the populists nominated james b. weaver as their presidential candidate in 1892.
who did the populists nominate as their presidential candidate in 1892?
james b. weaver
of the several third parties active in 1896, by far the most prominent was the people's party. formed in 1892, the populists represented the philosophy of agrarianism (derived from jeffersonian democracy), which held that farming was a superior way of life that was being exploited by bankers and middlemen. the populists attracted cotton farmers in the south and wheat farmers in the west, but very few farmers in the northeast, south, west, and rural midwest. in the presidential election of 1892, populist candidate james b. weaver carried four states, and in 1894, the populists scored victories in congressional and state legislature races in a number of southern and western states. in the southern states, including alabama, north carolina, tennessee, and texas, the wins were obtained by electoral fusion with the republicans against the dominant bourbon democrats, whereas in the rest of the country, fusion, if practiced, was typically undertaken with the democrats, as in the state of washington. by 1896, some populists believed that they could replace the democrats as the main opposition party to the republicans. however, the democrats' nomination of bryan, who supported many populist goals and ideas, placed the party in a dilemma. torn between choosing their own presidential candidate or supporting bryan, the party leadership decided that nominating their own candidate would simply divide the forces of reform and hand the election to the more conservative republicans. at their national convention in 1896, the populists chose bryan as their presidential nominee. however, to demonstrate that they were still independent from the democrats, the populists also chose former georgia representative thomas e. watson as their vice-presidential candidate instead of arthur sewall. bryan eagerly accepted the populist nomination, but was vague as to whether, if elected, he would choose watson as his vice-president instead of sewall. with this election, the populists began to be absorbed into the democratic party; within a few elections the party would disappear completely. the 1896 election was particularly detrimental to the populist party in the south; the party divided itself between members who favored cooperation with the democrats to achieve reform at the national level and members who favored cooperation with the republicans to achieve reform at a state level.
1896 united states presidential election
the 1896 republican national convention nominated william mckinley, who defended the gold standard. meeting later in the year, the democrats nominated william jennings bryan for president after bryan's cross of gold speech galvanized the party behind free silver. for vice president, the party nominated conservative shipping magnate arthur sewall. when the populist convention met, fusionists proposed that the populists nominate the democratic ticket, while mid-roaders organized to defeat fusionist efforts. as sewall was objectionable to many within the party, the mid-roaders successfully moved a motion to nominate the vice president first. despite a telegram from bryan indicating that he would not accept the populist nomination if the party did not also nominate sewall, the convention chose tom watson as the party's vice presidential nominee. the convention also reaffirmed the major planks of the 1892 platform and added support for initiatives and referendums.
people's party (united states)