McKinley Vote in the 1900 Election
During the hard fought elections of 1900, William Jennings Bryan ran on a populist platform, painting McKinley as an imperialist tool of big business. McKinley had attempted to paint himself as a man of the people, and more specifically of Northern and Southern Whites. His two trips through the Southland, his proposal to protect Confederate cemeteries with federal money, his hiring of Confederate generals during the Spanish-American War and his neglect of Lynching campaigns and mob riots were all designed to win White support for the Republican Party and himself. His efforts failed. South of Tennessee and North Carolina, McKinley received only about 30% of the vote. Only 6.95% of South Carolina's voters cast their ballots for the incumbent president suggesting that he was not well liked in that state.
Click on the State names for detailed information about what percentage of the vote went to McKinley during the 1900 election. An appendix lists the state by state tallies for McKinley.