Campaign Trail Results: Game #59566

This Game:

  • Year: 1896
  • Player Candidate: William Jennings Bryan
  • Running Mate: Henry Teller
  • Difficulty Level: Easy
  • Winner Take All Mode?: Yes
  • Game Played:
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View overall results, or a specific state:
CandidateElectoral VotesPopular VotesPop. Vote %
---- William Jennings Bryan3077,381,73053.31
---- William McKinley1406,338,22545.77
---- John Palmer0126,7230.92

Answers:

  • Which of the following most closely matches your overall campaign message?
    I am 100% committed to the coinage of silver. It's important however, that we strike a moderate tone on other issues to expand our appeal as widely as we can.
  • What do you have to say about William McKinley's campaign, at a high level?
    McKinley's support of high tariffs is a crime which strangles American commerce. Similar protectionist programs have twice been rejected by American voters in the past ten years alone.
  • The novelty of a personal visit from the "Great Commoner" could probably swing the West Coast states in your direction. However, it will take two weeks to travel and return via train.
    Will you divert your attention from the Midwest long enough to visit California, Oregon, and Washington?

    Let us bring our message to the citizens of the Pacific Coast. Winning these three states could swing the entire election.
  • You have very little chance of winning New York this fall, and nearly all of that city's newspapers are anti-Bryan. That doesn't mean you couldn't draw a frenzied crowd in New York City.
    Perhaps the media attention would be beneficial in building excitement for your campaign on a national scale?

    New York is a traditional Democratic stronghold, and I'm confident that the people of that state will support my message. We will campaign there extensively.
  • You have alluded to the need for less prejudice between the races. Senator "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman, of South Carolina, privately seeks your clarification.
    Can you reassure him that the federal government will respect the rights of the states under your Administration?

    We will respect the rights of the states. I call for greater understanding, but certainly not for an overthrow of the natural order.
  • What do you think of leaving the Midwest for a week and making a circuit of the crucial upper South states? (i.e. Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky)
    It's a shame that we need to even campaign in these beacons of the South. But if we have to, let us do it with effluence.
  • Can you state your definitive position on the American monetary system?
    I support the free, unlimited coinage of silver at the current market price of 30-to-1 against gold. This ratio should be frequently adjusted to match actual prices in order to avoid another run on the Treasury's gold supply.
  • What is your definitive position on the tariff issue?
    Tariffs should be limited to the minimum amount necessary to raise sufficient revenue for the federal government.
  • The United States is in the midst of a financial calamity, with masses of unemployed men on the streets. What will you do to revive business in this country?
    The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. We need to help our farmers and our workers by allowing the coinage of silver.
  • Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Illinois to end the Pullman Strike without the request of Governor Altgeld. Was this an overreach on his part?
    Bargaining for wages is the business of a man and his employer. Collective bargaining has no place in American society, and I commend Grover Cleveland for having the courage to act decisively.
  • What is your opinion on measures that would aim to restrict the sale or production of alcohol?
    Perhaps if our goal is to prevent drinking on Sunday, or public drunkenness, I am all for those measures. But a blanket temperance law is a different story.
  • What do you have to say about the efforts of the "Sugar Trust" to shield itself from the effects of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act?
    My goal as President is to ensure that 100% of sugar consumed in the United States is made in the United States.
  • What is your interpretation of the antitrust statutes? Do large American business profit from monopolistic practices?
    When I am President, you will finally have someone who takes our antitrust legislation seriously. I will break up monopolistic banks and railroads in places where they stifle competition.
  • The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 greatly expended the the pension system for Union Army veterans. What are your thoughts on this act?
    These are men who served honorably in our nation's greatest time of need. I will never allow agitators to attack their honorably granted pensions.
  • Do you believe that workers should have the right to bargain collectively?
    This right should be as fundamental as any other right in a free economy. There will only be justice in this country when there is justice for the working class.
  • Some people have suggested implementing a minimum wage, under which people may not be employed. Do you think this would help increase wages or would it simply put more men out of work?
    There are individuals in this country working for less than a dollar a day. Only through desperation would a man ever consent to such an arrangement.
  • Do you believe that immigrant labor is undermining the American worker? Should there be some restrictions put into place on immigration?
    We live in an open society, but that should never serve as an excuse for business to undermine the American worker by paying pauper wages to new arrivals.
  • Would you support the abolition of tribal governments in Oklahoma, as a precondition for that territory to obtain statehood?
    I support the alternative solution to this issue. There should be two states in the Indian Territory -- one for the whites (Oklahoma) and one for the Indians (Sequoyah), whereby the latter one preserves Indian sovereignty.
  • In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. the Supreme Court ruled that a 2% income tax contained in the Wilson-Gorman Tariff was unconstitutional. Would you support a Constitutional Amendment allowing the federal government to collect an income tax?
    I would like to see an income tax, but since that idea has been ruled unconstitutional, we will have to explore other solutions (besides increased tariffs) for our revenue problem.
  • Do you support federal intervention in the southern sharecropping system to make it more equitable for the tenant farmer?
    This is properly handled at the state level. It is not the business of the federal government to intervene into southern agricultural practice.
  • Are you prepared to reaffirm our commitment to the Monroe Doctrine, should any new territories in Latin America gain independence from Spain?
    We will vigorously enforce the Monroe Doctrine, the same way that we have since 1823. This includes support for the struggles of the people in Cuba, should they gain independence. We also appreciate Grover Cleveland's vigorous action in Venezuela last year.
  • Do you approve of Grover Cleveland's handing of the federal budget over the previous four years?
    Grover Cleveland has vetoed more pieces of legislation than any President in our history, increased our deficit, and still found a way to provide J.P. Morgan with a financial windfall from the public purse.
  • Do you support greater regulation on the sale and labeling of opium, cocaine, and morphine when used in patent medicines?
    I'm scared to take my own medicine sometimes for fear of what might be in there. Medicines should be clearly labeled with their ingredients, so that those who wish to avoid intoxicating substances can do so.
  • Is it generally appropriate for federal courts to issue injunctions against striking unions?
    The use of injunctions is a favored court tactic for union busting and it must stop. I support the right of striking workers to picket their workplace while on strike.
  • There is one week left until election day. Every state is important, but where will you give an extra push with your personal campaigning to swing the final results?
    Let's make one last general tour of the Midwest. Starting in Ohio, we will travel west and end in North Dakota, before moving down to Nebraska on Election Day.