The fascinating election of 1896.

[Brigid]

Watching a favorite documentary, and right now they're talking about the election of 1896. It's William Jennings Bryan v William McKinley. Terrified that Bryan's attacks on them are resonating with the public, industrialists like Carnegie, Morgan, and Rockefeller colluded together to get McKinley elected. They donated heavily to McKinley's campaign. They also employed this tactic: Warning workers that their jobs would disappear if Bryan won. And back then, balloting was apparently not as secret as it is now, and it was sometimes possible to find out how an individual voted. As one historian put it, "Are you going to vote with your heart or your pocketbook?" Does this tactic sound familiar?