America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 556 If you don't vote this year, vote for McKinley

Of course, McKinley and Hanna understood what Chen Jianqiu was referring to.

At the beginning, the bill was promoted mainly by the western coastal states represented by California.

As representatives of politicians in the east, the two are actually not interested in the Chinese issue.

After all, in their view, even if the number of Chinese in the United States is doubled, their interests and the ruling foundation of the Republican Party cannot be shaken.

However, it is not a simple matter to abolish a bill that has passed. It needs sufficient reasons to convince those members of Congress.

These MPs come from all over the country and represent many different groups.

The way they think about problems is very different.

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

Even if the president and the ruling party want to implement something, they are often defeated in Congress, let alone the bill back then.

However, the price offered is obviously more sincere than some guys who open their mouths to ask for the Minister of Finance.

After much deliberation, McKinley said:
"Mr. Chen, I know what you mean. I promise you that if I can become president, I will definitely start to promote 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 people and I choose to stand with you, you don't let those who support you down."

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

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

Chen Jianqiu put the two bowls on the tea table, and then uncorked the small pottery bottle.

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

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

The wine was slightly turbid and submerged in the bottom of the bowl.

Chen Jianqiu handed one of the bowls to McKinley, one to Hanna, and he lifted the last bowl:
"Um, is this a kind of ritual in your east?" The old man Hannah sniffed it with his nose. "This wine looks good."

The old man is actually a person who likes to drink, and this wine is different from what he has seen before.

"Not really. Strictly speaking, all three of us have to cut our fingers and put some blood in. Why, let's follow that specification?"

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

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

And 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 took McKinley's hand:
"Now, we're kind of on the front line."

After gaining 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 made preparations for the election in full swing.

This office is not far from Chen Jianqiu's headquarters in New York.

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

Election offices began recruiting.

The first is the side of the gold master.

On the second day after the establishment of the election office, Mr. Chen, the chairman of Sanjiang Bank and the new darling of Wall Street, announced in a high-profile manner that he would support McKinley with $20.

Plus Morgan's previous fundraising.

The 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.

Hanna walked back and forth among the leaders of various industries in the business world, explaining to them McKinley's possible future ruling position, that is, while pursuing the gold standard, he will safeguard the interests of major businessmen.

Speaking of this, plus there are two big bosses Zhuyu in front, there is no reason to hesitate.

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

Others simply joined their election teams directly.

For example, James A. Gehry, a millionaire in the cotton manufacturing industry, was tricked into entering Sanjiang Bank when he was negotiating loan business;
Russell A. Alger, a good friend of Chen Jianqiu in Colorado, the largest lumber merchant in the west, also paid $20 to join after chatting with Hanna;

The election funds Hanna raised quickly exceeded his imagination. Even though he was a millionaire himself, he did not expect that the election funds at his disposal had already reached as many as one million dollars.

Money can turn ghosts around, let alone this is in the United States.

As long as you have enough money, the ghost here will not only push the millstone for you, but also be responsible for the packaging and sales of the latter.

Hanna began to follow the plan he had agreed with Chen Jianqiu on the phone, and began to wave the checkbook to collect those who might become McKinley's opponents in the party.

Move it with emotion and understand it with reason. If you are unreasonable, then slap him in the face with a check.

Anyone who can be bought by a check is not worthy of being the Republican presidential candidate.

Only those who cannot be bought are worth fighting against.

But unfortunately, after Hanna went around in several states, he found that none of the Republicans were willing to stand for the election.

Compared with Hanna, the action of the "Anti-Bone Boys Alliance" formed by Putat and Quay was a little slower.

They originally planned to encourage people in the states who did not deal with McKinley to stand up and compete with him for the position of the party candidate.

But when they started to visit one by one, they found that those people either chose not to be elected this year, or simply turned their backs and told them that they would unswervingly support McKinley.

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

The two leading Republicans in New York and Pennsylvania were depressed.

They really couldn't imagine how many resources Hanna used to settle these people.

After dealing with these potential opponents in the party, what McKinley faced next was the challenge of the "silver faction" in the Republican Party.

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

Either change your mind or get out.

Accept quitting the party, and welcome those who hold the same attitude to quit the party together, don't be dragging your feet.

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 kind of tough attitude made the hearts of those who shouted to quit the party all day long, and in the end those who actually quit the party became a minority.

McKinley and Hanna's team was busy following the established guidelines.

When the time came to June 1896, when the Republican National Convention was held in St. Louis, Governor McKinley became the candidate of the Republican Party, which had become a certainty.

He won the final party vote by a large margin.

Compared with the unification of the Republican Party, their main opponent, the Democratic Party, has encountered a lot of trouble.

The current president, Grover Cleveland, did not choose to seek his second consecutive term. First, because he was hit by the financial crisis during his tenure, and many policies were criticized; second, he himself was exhausted and planned to retire.

So, that opens up opportunities for other people in the party.

Former Congressman William Jennings Bryan was pushed to the fore.

He grew up in Illinois and used to be a lawyer. He is very eloquent and his speeches are very contagious.

This person is an unwavering supporter of the "gold and silver standard" system.

He delivered the famous "Golden Cross" speech at the Democratic Party's National Convention, denouncing the gold standard system as the exploitation of civilians by capitalists and rich people, and thus won the Democratic Party's nomination.

He was then nominated by the Populist Party.

The latter has captured territory in many states in the past few years, including California, where Hawley was governor.

They have united with the Democratic Party to fight against the menacing Republican Party.

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

A section of Bourbon Democratic conservatives who were dissatisfied with the status quo of the Democratic Party created the National Democratic Party and nominated Senator John M. Palmer as their candidate.

As the curtain falls on the bipartisan national conventions and the dust settles on the final candidates.

The presidential election of 1896 kicked off.

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

The young candidate traveled 27 miles through [-] states.

His ebullient, impassioned style of speaking has earned him a huge following.

And his attacks on the rich and his approach to tariffs won him the support of many workers and farmers.

Brian described his election as a crusade against the rich by the workers, and he is their spokesperson!
Chen Jianqiu, who is far away in New York, scoffed at such a concept.

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

Any oppositional policy that does not talk about class is a castle in the sky and nonsense.

Under the current conditions, only when the economy resumes prosperity and the overall improvement of social welfare can the living standards of those workers and farmers be substantially improved.

But it has something to do with Chen Jianqiu's money.

So, instead of expressing any opinion, he let Hanna carry out the election campaign according to the plan in situ.

Unlike previous campaigns.

In a traditional campaign scenario, states that have already won or lost will spend little more time and money on window dressing.

But this time, due to the existence of those western states that had just merged into the Federation, it was difficult to determine whether they voted for or against it beforehand.

So, according to Chen Jianqiu's intention.

Every state must compete.

First, they hired an extremely experienced public relations team.

They printed more than 1 million documents throughout the West.

Most of these essays were speeches by McKinley or other party spokesmen.

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

Hanna and the election team laid out a detailed agenda and began casting a wide net.

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

In the newspaper, which has sold more than 165 million copies, there are three and a half pages of columns on McKinley's campaign every week, introducing his life and explaining his policy.

They even made truckloads of comics, ads, campaign pins and started distributing them.

On various railways in the west, trains with Republican campaign slogans plastered on them appeared, such as "Don't vote in this year's election, but vote for McKinley if you want to vote", making people look up and look down.

Complementing the print, the campaign employed a whopping 1400 people, went into every state in limbo, like Wyoming, and infiltrated every precinct.

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

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

Anyway, financial resources allow it.

As summer went to autumn, the intensity of the election became more and more fierce, and both sides showed their abilities, and the excitement was extraordinary.

The campaign enthusiasm within the Republican Party was completely ignited, and some party insiders who had been on the sidelines also actively joined in.

Even a large group of volunteers from the highest echelons of the party came to assist the hired men and campaigned for McKinley himself.

For example, Theodore Roosevelt used his prestige in the Dakota state to start canvassing for the Republican Party.

He did so with his close friend, Circuit Justice William Howard Taft.

The election has turned into a crusade, and the power of the entire Republican Party has been mobilized.

In October, the newspapers controlled by the Republican Party began to unify their efforts,

They began to attack Blaine's policy loopholes, telling workers that if Blaine is chosen, it means that employment will be compressed, that is, more workers will face unemployment.

Under the overwhelming offensive of massive newspaper information, the Democratic Party once again split.

As Chen Jianqiu said before, not only the Republican Party will face currency issues, but also the Democratic Party.

Many Democrats who support the "gold standard" system choose to betray their own party and stand with the Republican Party, because under the analysis of maintaining, they deeply feel that Bryan's policy will lead the United States into the abyss.

At the same time, middle-class members of the Democratic Party are more afraid of anarchy.

Even Blaine's base, the workers, was influenced by the newspapers to believe that inflation of the silver dollar would cause prices to rise faster than improved wages.

In this regard, Brian became a little difficult to support.

Those western states that had been holding hands in their hands have obviously begun to fall to McKinley.

The final straw that crushed Bryan and the Democratic Party was the Chinese politicians in New Mexico and nearby states who 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 will take place in November.

Bryan was defeated.

Whether it was the popular vote or the electoral vote, he was far behind McKinley. As for the candidate who split from the Democratic Party, he only won single-digit electoral votes.

In this election, the Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat.

Brian had to face the fact of failure.

William McKinley will be the next President of the United States.

(End of this chapter)