Haystacks of Influence by John Hay

I am one with a purpose of capturing the popular imagination and I do this by being the witty poetic diplomat that I humbly accept. I have a minor addition to my humble career as Secretary of State. I was able to save China which has an enormous impact on today. In 1894, Russia and Germany, the European brat(wurst)s, turned their eyes towards an unstable China and began to cut into Manchurian land. This posed danger to missionaries and economists. Props to the press for raising awareness and props to Britain for encouraging us to do something. Enter me and the rest is history. In 1899, my Open Door Policy urged the Europeans to respect Chinese rights. Without surprise, it gained worldwide acceptance while making other countries quiver. Italy accepted our policy without trouble and Britain, France, Germany and Japan accepted as long as others did the same. Russia refused, and a refusal equals an acceptance (right?) so the policy was in effect. My cause increased by the Chinese themselves. In the Boxer Rebellion, they killed many whites including missionaries and diplomates who resided in Peking (Beijing). Though a tragic event where we owed them $24.5 M (and only paid $18 M), this supported the truth that said that we must respect China's rights. China was gracious to send students to study in America and learn their western ways, and this was key in westernizing their culture. Anyway, in addition to the Open Door Policy, I made a note in 1900 that was directed to embrace China's territorial and commercial integrity. Many argue that China survived due to European powers not trusting the other powers. That may be true, but the number one reason was due to my words of poetic justice. If I didn't step in, these Chinese would have most likely been conquered by either China and Germany which would have put America at a major disadvantage in both world wars and the Cold War because of all the raw materials China produces. If no one stepped into this mess, we'd be looking at Communism across the board. Who cares if China will be the number two economy in 2010, the thing is America will be number one because I helped everyone dodge a huge bullet. That is why I have haystacks of influence.

Class Conflict: Plowholders vs Bondholders

The campaign pitted Democrat William Jennings Bryan (below) against Republican William McKinley. The main focus of this campaign was supposed to be about the economic depression and free trade, but William Jennings Bryan turned this into the issue of free silver. Bryan was able to campaign in twenty seven states and made over 600 speeches (including 36 in one day). His free silver idea was praised by many who believed that silver would lead America out of a huge depression.

However, there was heavy opposition to this free silver idea. This was mainly among the eastern conservatives who believed that their money was in jeopardy of changing into 50cent dollars. These gold bugs did what ever was in their power to prevent Bryan from taking the presidency. Enter, Mark Hanna (below) who was chairman of the Republican National Committee by kissing up to McKinley. Hanna (above) was able to reject the plutocrats abd raise up money for "education" (propaganda). McKinley's followers were also successful campaigners as their budged outnumbered the Democratic budged in a 16:1 ratio. All the Democrats thought they bought the election. The democrats took even larger tolls due to the power of large business owners were threatening to pay in 50 cent pieces if Bryan won. This led to even more fear of the free silver and more supported McKinley. This paid off when McKinley (below) won 271-176 electorial-wise and about 7M people to 6.5M popular-wise. Why did McKinley win? Though Bryan was strong in the south and west, the north still had the bulk of society. These were workers who felt threatened by free silver and free trade that would damage their respective companies. They believed this would lead to inflation which was superfluous. Why important? Though it had a familiar story with older elections of the privaledged few vs everyone else, Bryan was able to make a theory that would change the social order. This election would ultimately preserve the economy, the big cities, and the thriving businesses. This also secured Republican dominance for the last half of the nineteenth century which would ultimately lead to less voter participation, weakening of party organizations, the end of the issues of money and civil service reform, and the growth of industrial regulation and labor welfare.

(as much resentment and discomfort I had about putting up this picture, the late nineteenth century was the era of their dominance)