computed that he
addressed a larger number of men, from the platform, than any other man
that ever lived.

He was a delegate to several national conventions of his party, and in
1888, and again in 1892, there was a strong movement to give him the
presidential nomination; but he decisively suppressed it each time--on
the first occasion because he had gone there as a friend and supporter
of John Sherman, and on the second because he declared that President
Harrison was entitled to a renomination. In 1896 he was unanimously
nominated on the first ballot. One circumstance that pointed him out as
the logical candidate was the fact that his tariff bill had been
replaced by one that proved a complete failure. The most exciting
question in the canvass was that of free coinage of silver. Mr. McKinley
was on a platform that declared for the gold standard, and his opponent,
William J. Bryan, was on one that declared for free and unlimited
coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one. Mr. McKinley was
elected by a plurality in the popular vote of more than 600,000, and in
the electoral college by 271 to 176. In 1900 he was renominated, and his
opponent as before was Mr. Bryan, the issues being the same. This time
Mr. McKinley had a plurality in the popular vote of more than 800,000,
and in the electoral college had 292 to 155.

In the canvass of 1896 Mr. McKinley announced that he would make no
electioneering tour. But the people were determined to hear him, and
they went to Canton in large delegations and excursions from all parts
of the country. From his doorstep he made more than three hundred
addresses, speaking thus to three-quarters of a million persons. There
was scarcely any repetition, yet every speech was an admirable specimen
of argument and oratory.

Immediately after his first inauguration he called a special session of
Congress to revise the tariff, and the new bill was put through in time
to have a fair chance to vindicate itself before new elections occurred.
The other notable event in the first year of his administration was the
treaty for annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, which he signed in June,
but which was not confirmed by the Senate till a year later. In 1898
occurred the most important event in American affairs since the Civil
War--the war with Spain. This arose from the intolerable condition of
things in Cuba, where the Spanish authorities, endeavoring to suppress
the last of many insurrections, ha