Video: 'The American Presidential Election of 1896'

(Tuesday, November 3, 1896, during the 1896 presidential campaign) — Republican former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was elected President of the United States today over Democratic former Rep. William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska.

McKinley and his running mate, former state Senator Garret A. Hobart of New Jersey, overwhelmingly defeated Bryan and his Democratic running mate, industrialist Arthur Sewall, 51.03-46.70% in the national popular vote, resulting in a 271-176 victory in the Electoral College (Sewall received 149 electoral votes for VP; 27 electors for Bryan cast their vice-presidential vote for Bryan’s Populist running mate former Georgia Rep. Thomas E. Watson instead of Sewall).

McKinley and Hobart would be sworn in for their first four-year terms on March 4, 1897.