Realigning America

R. Hal Williams is professor of history at Southern Methodist University and author or coauthor of four books, including Years of Decision: American Politics in the 1890s and America: Past and Present, now entering its eighth edition.

Editors' Foreword Author's Preface 1. 1896: The Party Background 2. The Democrats in Power, 1893-1896 3. "The People against the Bosses": The Republican Nomination of William McKinley 4. Democrats Divided: The Democratic Convention at Chicago 5. Bryan Takes the Stump 6. The Also-Rans: The People's Party and the Gold Democrats in the Campaign of 1896 7. The Front Porch Campaign: McKinley and the Republicans in the 1896 Election 8. "An Excitement That Was Almost Too Intense for Life": Election Day, 1896 9. McKinley's America: The Election's Aftermath Appendix A: Ballot Totals, Republican National Convention, June 18, 1896 Appendix B: Ballot Totals, Democratic National Convention, July 10, 1896 Appendix C: General Election Voting Totals, November 3, 1896 Appendix D: William McKinley's First Inaugural Address, May 4, 1897 Notes Bibliographic Essay Index

"A compelling account . . . . Exhaustively researched and written with a storyteller's knack for moving the narrative forward and unearthing personal and colorful testimonies that buttress the history of the campaign."--Great Plains Quarterly "A fresh retelling of the campaign, serving as both a portrait of the nation's changing political landscape and an accessible primer on the era's economics. . . . A useful introduction to turn-of-the-twentieth-century political history and a compelling reexamination of the McKinley-Bryan contest. Moreover, it is a surprisingly good read, filled with humanizing anecdotes and novelistic descriptions."--Journal of Southern History "The 1896 election needs a historian to get the answers right and allow the most casual reader to enjoy learning them. Realigning America carries conviction--and by a landslide."--Journal of American History "Williams includes facts as well as behind-the-scenes anecdotes and correspondence to create a story that is enlightening for serious students of history and engaging for history buffs and general readers with an interest in the subject. Highly recommended."- Choice "As historiographically sophisticated as it is riveting to read. . . . This is history in living color, with its vivid descriptions of scenes on American streets and on the floors of political conventions. Indeed, this book may point the way for the future of political history because it brings so much social and cultural history to bear in the service of telling the story of a presidential election."--Kansas History "Williams has written a concise and highly readable account of the 1896 election, which pitted Republican William McKinley against Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Although this well-researched book is geared to academic readers, presidential history buffs in general are sure to enjoy it."--Library Journal "Vintage Williams-- an epic story meticulously researched, insightfully argued, and vividly told. This fresh, authoritative account changes our understanding of one of the most momentous elections in the nation's history."--Michael McGerr, author of The Decline of Popular Politics: The American North, 1865-1928 "Superb, written with his customary grace and skill, well informed about the issues, and balanced in its point of view. It should replace all previous treatments of the election and find a ready market in courses on presidential elections, the Gilded Age, and American politics in general. In short, a winner."--Lewis L. Gould, author of The Presidency of William McKinley