1896 Republican National Convention

1896 Republican National Convention
1896 presidential election;
	Nominees; McKinley and Hobart
Convention
Date(s)	June 16–18, 1896
City	St. Louis, Missouri
Chair	John M. Thurston
Candidates
Presidential nominee	William McKinley of Ohio
Vice-presidential nominee	Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey
Voting
Total delegates	924
Votes needed for nomination	463
Results (president)	McKinley (OH): 661.5 (71.59%); Reed (ME): 84.5 (9.15%); Quay (PA): 61.5 (6.66%); Morton (NY): 58 (6.28%); Allison (IA): 35.5 (3.84%); Not Voting: 22 (2.38%); Cameron (PA): 1 (0.11%)
Ballots	1
	‹ 1892 · 1900 ›

The 1896 Republican National Convention was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in Saint Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896.

Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for president on the first ballot with 661½ votes to 84½ for House Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, 61½ votes for Senator Matthew S. Quay of Pennsylvania, 58 votes for Governor Levi P. Morton of New York who was vice president (1889–1893) under President Benjamin Harrison. New Jersey banker Garret A. Hobart was nominated for vice president over Henry Clay Evans of Tennessee. Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio placed McKinley's name in nomination.

The convention was originally slated for the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall. However it was determined that repairs and upgrading the Hall could not be done in time and so a temporary wood convention hall was built in 60 days at a cost of $60,000 on the lawn south of City Hall which was under construction.^[1] At the conclusion of the convention, both the temporary building as well as the original Exposition Hall were torn down and a new Coliseum was built.

The 1896 Convention was held in St. Louis less than a month after the infamous 1896 tornado that devastated a large swath of the city and killed at least 255 people. There was speculation that it might be unfeasible to hold the convention in the city, but, after a concerted cleanup effort was undertaken, the convention went ahead as planned.

Platform

The Republican platform of 1896 favored the gold standard but left the door open to free coinage of silver, it also supported acquisition of Hawaii and parts of the Danish West Indies, favored a canal across Central America, naval expansion, sympathized with revolutionaries in Cuba and Armenia, wanted exclusion of all illiterate immigrants, applauded gains in women's rights and pledged "equal pay for equal work". It also supported creation of a "National Board of Arbitration".

Presidential nomination

Presidential candidates

Former Governor
William McKinley
of Ohio
Speaker
Thomas B. Reed
of Maine
Senator
Matthew S. Quay
of Pennsylvania
Governor and former Vice-President
Levi P. Morton
of New York
Senator
William B. Allison
of Iowa

Presidential Ballot
Candidate	1st
McKinley	661.5
Reed	84.5
Quay	61.5
Morton	58
Allison	35.5
Cameron	1
Not Represented	14
Not Voting	8

Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 18, 1896)

1st Presidential Ballot

Vice Presidential nomination

Vice Presidential candidates

Former State Senator
Garret A. Hobart
of New Jersey
Former Representative
Henry Clay Evans
of Tennessee
Former Governor
Morgan G. Bulkeley
of Connecticut
Representative
James A. Walker
of Virginia
Governor
Charles W. Lippitt
of Rhode Island
Speaker
Thomas B. Reed
of Maine
(Declined Consideration)

For a running mate, McKinley had preferred Speaker Thomas B. Reed, with whom he had worked for many years in the House, but Reed would accept only the top spot on the ticket.

Coming into the convention, former Vice President Levi P. Morton had strong support to re-take his former office from delegates who favored the gold standard. However, McKinley's manager, Mark Hanna opposed Morton's addition to the ticket, instead favoring Garret A. Hobart or Minnesota Senator Cushman Kellogg Davis.^[2] Though McKinley's camp did not strongly oppose the party's gold standard platform, Hanna feared that the nomination of Morton would cause silver Republicans such as Colorado Senator Henry M. Teller to bolt the party.^[3] Hanna was ultimately successful at keeping Morton off the ticket, but many silver Republicans nonetheless supported the Democratic ticket of William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewall.

Vice Presidential Ballot
Candidate	1st
Hobart	533.5
Evans	277.5
Bulkeley	39
Walker	24
Lippitt	8
Depew	3
Reed	3
Brown	2
Grant	2
Thurston	2
Morton	1
Not Voting	15
Not Represented	14

Vice Presidential Balloting / 3rd Day of Convention (June 18, 1896)

1st
Vice Presidential Ballot

References

^ Official Proceedings of the Eleventh Republican National Convention – 1896
^ "Hanna Fighting Hard Against Morton". New York Times. 17 June 1896. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
^ "McKinley to be Nominated Today". New York Times. 18 June 1896. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

Bibliography

Official Proceedings of the Eleventh Republican National Convention; Held in the City of St. Louis, Mo., June 16, 17, and 18, 1896

External links

Republican Party platform of 1896 at The American Presidency Project

Preceded by 1892 Minneapolis, Minnesota	Republican National Conventions	Succeeded by 1900 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[1] Official Proceedings of the Eleventh Republican National Convention – 1896

[nyt1-2] "Hanna Fighting Hard Against Morton". New York Times. 17 June 1896. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

[nyt2-3] "McKinley to be Nominated Today". New York Times. 18 June 1896. Retrieved 8 October 2015.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e William McKinley
25th President of the United States (1897–1901) 39th Governor of Ohio (1892–1896)
Life	23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment Battle of South Mountain Coal miners' strike of 1873 1888 Republican National Convention McKinley Tariff 1896 United States presidential election William McKinley 1896 presidential campaign 1896 Republican National Convention Front porch campaign
Presidency (timeline)	First inauguration of William McKinley Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Treaty of Paris (1898) Newlands Resolution Open Door Policy China Relief Expedition Hay–Pauncefote Treaty Dingley Act Erdman Act Forest Service Organic Administration Act of 1897 Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 Refuse Act Lacey Act of 1900 Gold Standard Act 1900 United States presidential election 1900 Republican National Convention Second inauguration of William McKinley Pan-American Exposition Assassination of William McKinley
Public image	McKinley at Home, Canton, Ohio McKinley National Memorial William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum National McKinley Birthplace Memorial McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center William McKinley Memorial McKinley Birthplace Memorial gold dollar William McKinley Monument Statues Canton, Ohio Chicago
Family	Ida Saxton McKinley (wife) William McKinley Sr. (father)
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