1896: Front Porch Campaigning
Active campaigning by the candidates did not become accepted practice until the early 1900s. The late nineteenth-century's "front porch" campaigns saw the candidates remaining at home to receive visiting delegations of supporters. One of William McKinley's (R) delegations was composed of the Adelbert College chapter of the McKinley First Voter's Club, joined by a group from Case.
The October 1896 issue of the College's newspaper, The Adelbert (left), carried the modest report (right).
Equally restrained was the announcement (right) in the November 1896 Case School of Applied Science student publication, The Integral (left).
| Ohio Popular Vote | National Popular Vote | Electoral Vote |
| William McKinley (R) 525,991 (51.9%) William J. Bryan (D, People’s, National Silver) 477,497 (47.1%) Joshua Levering (Prohibition) 5,068 (0.5%) Charles Eugene Bentley (National) 2,716 (0.3%) John M. Palmer (National Democratic) 1,858 (0.2%) Charles Horatio Matchett (Socialist Labor) 1,165 (0.1%) | William McKinley (R) 7,108,480 (51.01%) William J. Bryan (D, People’s, National Silver) 6,511,495 (46.73%) John M. Palmer (National Democrat) 133,435 (0.96%) Joshua Levering (Prohibition) 125,072 (0.9%) Charles Horatio Matchett (Socialist Labor) 36,356 (0.26%) Charles Eugene Bentley (National) 19,363 (0.14%) | William McKinley (R) 271 William J. Bryan (D, People’s, National Silver) 176 |
Information was compiled by staff of the Case Western Reserve University Archives, September 2004.
