The story
In 1892 Grover Cleveland became the first president to win a second, nonconsecutive term, defeating President Benjamin Harrison by 277 electoral votes to 145, with about 46 percent of the popular vote to Harrison's 43. James B. Weaver of the new People's Party, known as the Populists, won more than a million votes, about 8.5 percent, and 22 electoral votes, carrying Kansas, Colorado, Idaho and Nevada.
Voters punished the Republicans for the McKinley Tariff of 1890, which raised prices, and for the violent Homestead steel strike near Pittsburgh that summer. The Populists grew out of the Farmers' Alliances of the South and West, where falling crop prices, high railroad rates and debt were crushing farmers. Their Omaha Platform demanded free coinage of silver to expand the money supply, a graduated income tax, government ownership of railroads and the direct election of senators. Months after Cleveland took office, the Panic of 1893 began one of the worst depressions in American history, and his firm defense of the gold standard split his own party.
Why it mattered
- Put Cleveland in office just before the Panic of 1893, which wrecked the Democrats' standing.
- Introduced the Populists as a national force, whose silver crusade reshaped the 1896 race.
- Placed the income tax and the direct election of senators on the national agenda.
Sources
- United States presidential election of 1892 Britannica
- James B. Weaver Britannica
- Populist Movement Britannica
- Presidential Election of 1892: A Resource Guide Library of Congress
Drafted by AI (Claude) from the sources above and checked against them by AI; no historian has reviewed this page. Spot a mistake? Suggest a correction. How pages are made
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