America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 556: Don't vote in this year's election. If you have to vote, vote for McKinley.

McKinley and Hanna certainly understood what Chen Jianqiu was referring to by the bill.

The bill was initially pushed by the western coastal states represented by California.

As political representatives from the east, the two of them are actually not interested in the Chinese issue.

After all, in their view, even if the number of Chinese in the United States doubled, it would not be able to shake their interests and the ruling foundation of the Republican Party.

However, repealing a bill that has been passed is not a simple matter. It requires sufficient reasons to convince the members of Congress.

These legislators come from all parts of the country and represent many different groups.

They all think about things in very different ways.

It's very, very difficult to get them to agree.

Even if the president and the ruling party want to implement something, they often fail in Congress, let alone the bill that year.

However, the price offered is obviously much more sincere than some guys who want the Minister of Finance.

After careful consideration, McKinley said:
"Mr. Chen, I know what you mean. I promise you that if I become president, I will definitely start promoting this matter, but I really can't give you any guarantee."

Chen Jianqiu smiled and said:
"You don't have to worry about this. I just hope that when my tribe and I choose to stand with you, you won't let down the people who support you."

McKinley solemnly stood up from the futon and extended his hand to Chen Jianqiu.

But Chen Jianqiu, who was opposite him, did not immediately shake his hand. Instead, he turned around and took out a small round pottery bottle and three brown pottery bowls from the many grids behind him.

Chen Jianqiu placed the two bowls on the tea table, and then opened the stopper on the small pottery bottle.

A strong aroma of wine wafted out from the mouth of the bottle.

Chen Jianqiu took the pottery bottle and poured wine into two bowls.

The wine was slightly cloudy and covered the bottom of the bowl.

Chen Jianqiu handed one bowl to McKinley's hand, handed another bowl to Hanna, and raised the last bowl himself:
"Um, is this a ritual from the East?" Old Man Hanna on the side put his nose up and smelled it, "This wine looks good."

The old man actually likes to drink, and this wine is different from anything he has seen before.

"No, strictly speaking, all three of us have to cut our fingers and put some blood in them. What, let's follow that specification?"

Chen Jianqiu glanced at the old man and turned around to get a dagger from the grid.

"No, no, I'll drink." Hanna raised his neck and drank the wine in the bowl.

McKinley didn't hesitate, drank the wine in one gulp, and put the bowl on the table.

Chen Jianqiu's bowl was empty before the two of them finished drinking.

This time, he held McKinley's hand:
"Now, we are on the same front."

After receiving the support of Chen Jianqiu, McKinley and Hanna were full of confidence in their election this time.

They established a second election office on Baker Street in New York, began to further recruit troops, and prepared for the election in full swing.

This office is not far from Chen Jianqiu’s base in New York.

According to the agreement, Chen Jianqiu would not appear here, but Hanna specially pulled a telephone line from the election office to 350 Baker Street.

Election offices began recruiting.

The first is the sponsor’s side.

The day after the election office was established, Mr. Chen, the chairman of Sanjiang Bank and the new favorite of Wall Street, announced in a high profile that he would spend $200,000 to support McKinley.

Plus Morgan’s previous fundraising.

Businessmen began to wonder whether the two masters were making another political investment.

Sometimes, the way smart people make money is simple.

They don't have to know everything, they just need to follow smarter people and do what they have done again.

Hanna traveled back and forth among the leaders of various industries in the business community, explaining to them McKinley's possible future ruling stance, which was to maintain the interests of major businessmen while pursuing the gold standard.

Speaking of which, and with the two big bosses Zhuyu in front, there is nothing to hesitate about.

A group of people began to donate generously to enrich McKinley's election coffers.

Some people simply joined their election team directly.

For example, James A. Gary, a millionaire in the cotton manufacturing industry, was deceived when he was negotiating a loan business with Sanjiang Bank;
Russell A. Alger, a friend Chen Jianqiu met in Colorado and the largest lumber merchant in the West, after chatting with Hanna, also paid $200,000 to join;

The amount of campaign funds Hanna raised soon exceeded his imagination. Even though he was a millionaire himself, he did not expect that the campaign funds at his disposal had reached millions of dollars.

Money can make all the difference, especially in America.

As long as you have enough money, the ghosts here will not only push the wheels for you, but will also be responsible for the one-stop packaging and sales business.

Hanna began to follow the plan he had agreed with Chen Jianqiu on the phone and began waving his checkbook to clean up those who might become McKinley's opponents in the party.

Move with emotion and reason with him. If he is unreasonable, slap him in the face with a check.

No one who can be bribed with a check deserves to be the Republican presidential candidate.

Only those who cannot be bribed are worthy of fighting.

But unfortunately, after Hanna traveled around several states, he found that no one in the Republican Party was worthy of running for office.

Compared with Hanna, the actions of the "Anti-Bone Boy Alliance" formed by Putat and Kui were slightly slower.

They originally planned to encourage people in various states who could not deal with McKinley to come forward and compete with him for the position of party candidate.

But when they began to visit one by one, they found that those people either chose not to vote this time, or simply rebelled and directly told them that they would unswervingly support McKinley.

Because only McKinley could lead the Republican Party out of its predicament and compete for the presidency.

Two leading Republicans in New York and Pennsylvania were extremely depressed.

They really couldn't imagine how many resources Hanna had used to deal with these people.

After dealing with these potential intra-party opponents, McKinley faced the challenge of the "silver dollar faction" in the Republican Party.

In this regard, Chen Jianqiu's policy for them was more straightforward.

Either change your mind or get out.

Accept quitting the party and welcome people who hold the same attitude to quit the party together. Don't be sloppy and nagging.

The so-called "party" is a group of people with common ideas and the same goal gathered together.
If you don’t understand, get out as soon as possible.

This tough attitude made those who clamored to quit the party all day long feel encouraged. In the end, those who actually quit the party became a minority.

McKinley and Hanna's teams were busy working along the established lines.

When the Republican National Convention was held in St. Louis in June 1896, it was already a foregone conclusion that Governor McKinley would be the Republican candidate.

He won a landslide victory in the final party vote.

Compared with the Republicans' unification, their main opponents, the Democratic Party, are facing much more trouble. The current president, Grover Cleveland, did not choose to seek his second consecutive term. Firstly, he was hit by the financial crisis during his tenure and many of his policies were criticized; secondly, he himself was exhausted and planned to retire.

So, this creates an opportunity for other people in the party.

Former Congressman William Jennings Bryan was pushed to the forefront.

He grew up in Illinois and worked as a lawyer. He is very eloquent and his speeches are very inspiring.

This man was a staunch supporter of the bimetallic standard.

He delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech at the Democratic National Convention, denouncing the gold standard as the exploitation of the common people by capitalists and wealthy people, and thus won the Democratic nomination.

He then received the nomination of the Populist Party.

The latter has gained ground in many states in the past few years, including California, where Hawley is governor.

They joined forces with the Democratic Party to fight against the aggressive Republican Party.

Just as the 36-year-old Democratic presidential candidate was confidently preparing to launch an attack on the presidency, a split occurred within the Democratic Party.

A group of conservative Bourbon Democrats who were dissatisfied with the current state of the Democratic Party created the National Democratic Party and nominated Senator John M. Palmer as their candidate.

As the national conventions of both parties come to an end and the dust settles on the final candidates.

The presidential election of 1896 began.

At first, Bryan used his outstanding eloquence to start a speaking tour across the country.

The young candidate traveled through twenty-seven states, covering a total of eighteen thousand miles.

His passionate and enthusiastic speaking style has brought him many followers.

His attacks on the rich and his tariff policies won him the support of many workers and farmers.

Bryan described his election as a crusade by workers against the rich, and he was their spokesperson!
Chen Jianqiu, who was far away in New York, was somewhat disdainful of such an idea.

In his opinion, the former lawyer's understanding of workers and farmers was too superficial.

Any policy that does not discuss class antagonism is a castle in the air and nonsense.

Under the current conditions, only when the economy recovers and brings about an overall improvement in social welfare can the living standards of workers and farmers be substantially improved.

But what does this have to do with Chen Jianqiu?

So he did not make any comments and let Hanna carry out the election activities as planned.

It's different from previous elections.

In the traditional campaign model, states where the outcome is already determined require only a little window-dressing time and money.

But this time, due to the presence of those western states that had just been incorporated into the federation, it was difficult to determine in advance whether they would vote in favor or against.

So, according to Chen Jianqiu's meaning.

Every state must be fought for.

First, they hired a public relations team with extremely rich experience.

They printed over 100 million copies of the document throughout the West.

Most of these short articles were speeches by McKinley or other party spokespersons.

They printed and distributed these materials to households, farmers, and newspapers.

Hanna and the campaign team developed an exhaustive schedule and began casting a wide net.

In the end, even the smallest magazine in the country received special plates for its reprint.

In a newspaper with a circulation of over 165 million copies, there was a three-and-a-half-page column every week about McKinley's campaign, introducing his life and explaining his policy guidelines.

They even produced truckloads of comics, advertisements, and campaign pins and began distributing them.

Trains painted with Republican campaign slogans, such as "Don't vote in this year's election, but vote for McKinley," appeared on all the western railways, making people see them everywhere.

To complement the print campaign, the campaign hired as many as 1400 staffers to go into all the uncertain states, such as Wyoming, and infiltrate every constituency.

"Bombard them with information, repeat, repeat, and repeat again!" Chen Jianqiu said on the phone.

He knew that this was not a very clever approach, but it was extremely effective.

Anyway, as long as the financial resources allow.

As summer turns to fall, the campaign intensifies, with both sides showing off their talents and making the race lively.

The campaign passion within the Republican Party was completely ignited, and some party members who had previously been on the sidelines also joined in enthusiastically.

Even a large group of volunteers from the highest levels of the party came to assist the hired hands and personally campaigned for McKinley.

For example, Theodore Roosevelt used his prestige in the Dakotas to begin canvassing votes for the Republican Party.

He was joined in doing so by his good friend, Circuit Justice William Howard Taft.

The election has turned into a crusade-like struggle, and the entire Republican Party has been mobilized.

By October, the Republican-controlled newspapers began to work together.

They began to attack the loopholes in Bryan's policies, telling the workers that if they chose Bryan, it would mean compression of employment, which means that more workers would face unemployment.

Under the overwhelming attack of massive information from newspapers, a split once again occurred within the Democratic Party.

As Chen Jianqiu said before, not only the Republican Party will face currency problems, but the Democratic Party as well.

Many Democrats who supported the "gold standard" system chose to betray their party and stand with the Republicans because, based on their analysis, they deeply felt that Bryan's policies would lead the United States into the abyss.

Meanwhile, middle-class Democrats fear anarchy even more.

Even Bryan's base, the working class, was convinced by the newspapers that the silver dollar's inflation would cause prices to rise faster than improved wages.

Brian found this difficult to support.

Those western states that were once in control began to clearly turn to McKinley.

The final straw that broke the camel's back for Bryan and the Democratic Party was that Chinese politicians in New Mexico and surrounding states clearly stated that they would support McKinley and the Republican Party.

Although the total number of Chinese is still small, it is enough to have a huge impact on local and surrounding voters.

The final vote takes place in November.

Brian suffered a crushing defeat.

He was far behind McKinley in both the popular vote and the electoral vote. As for the candidate who split from the Democratic Party, he only received single-digit electoral votes.

The Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in this election.

Brian had to face the fact of failure.

William McKinley would become the next President of the United States.

(End of this chapter)