Bryan was nominated a second time by the Democratic Party to oppose McKinley, and again lost. Campaigning again on Free Silver and launching an assault on the McKinley administration's imperialist policies, he polled 1% fewer popular votes than in 1896 but his defeat in the electoral college was decisive. With the election of 1900, Free Silver was dead. Bryan, however, would be resurrected for one more attempt at the Presidency eight years later, and would remain a potent force in national politics for the next 25 years.
We offer this original button from the 1900 campaign picturing Bryan.
