The Election of 1900

The election of 1900 was a rematch of the 1896 contest, pitting William McKinley against William Jennings Bryan. When they met in Kansas City for their national convention, the Democrats picked as their vice presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, a silverite who had served as vice president during Cleveland's second term. One of the great questions was who McKinley's running mate would be, since Vice President Garret Hobart had died in 1899. New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt, just 41 years old, was the front-runner. He had enjoyed a successful tenure as governor, and had earned fame during the Spanish-American War by leading his Rough Riders in the Battle of San Juan Hill. The Republican convention, held in Philadelphia, nominated a reluctant Roosevelt, who said he would be a "dignified nonentity for four years." The prospect of Roosevelt being a heartbeat away from the presidency alarmed Marcus Hanna, now a senator from Ohio. Calling Roosevelt a "madman," Hanna implored McKinley, "Your duty to the country is to live for four years from next March." Other Roosevelt detractors, especially New York political bosses who wanted the rambunctious governor out of their state, considered the vice presidency a perfect place for him, for it would keep him out of the limelight and, they hoped, relegate him to political obscurity.