1916 United States presidential election (Idea by u/SkipperPengn)

The 1916 United States presidential election was the 33rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1916. Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan narrowly defeated incumbent Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt.

In June, the 1916 Democratic National Convention nominated Bryan due to his fiery speeches against U.S. Involvement in the Great War and Roosevelt's New Nationalism. Bryan secured the nomination in a close race against Thomas Marshall, Champ Clark, and Judson Harmon. While Bryan, originally, had no intention to run, he was convinced to run after a major grassroots campaign called for his nomination due to Roosevelt's interventionism and New Nationalism.

At the 1916 Republican National Convention, the incumbent president, Theodore Roosevelt won the nomination in a landslide. Roosevelt faced opposition from the isolationist wing of the Republican Party who supported Robert La Follette. Robert La Follette criticized Roosevelt on his declaration of war against Germany after the sinking of the Lusitania. La Follette called the move "risky" and declared "the will of the people has been ignored at the National Convention as men are sent to die in a foreign land, for a foreign nation, and against a foreign enemy".

The 1916 election took place when the nation was dominated by war -- the Mexican Revolution and the Great War. Although the United States was heavily involved in the Great War on the side of the Entente, public opinion grew again the War and in favor of peace. The United States had joined the war in 1915 on the side of the Entente, which included Great Britain, France, and Russia against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, which made up the Central Powers. Despite the population being more sympathetic to the Allies, they grew against the war due to a series of failed offensive campaigns which oversaw a major loss of American lives. As the casualty numbers returned home, the nation grew against the war. Roosevelt, however, defended the war effort stating it was our duty to get involved after 128 Americans died in the Sinking of the Lusitania which was caused by a German U-Boat torpedoing the ship. Bryan's campaign used popular anti-war slogans such as "Not Our Land, Not Our War" and "Return Our Boys Home" to appeal to the major anti-war base of the American voter. Roosevelt criticized Bryan's position as "un-American".

Throughout the election, Bryan was considered the favorite to win due to Roosevelt's growing unpopularity since 1915. After a hard-fought election, Bryan defeated Roosevelt and won the popular vote by just under 600,000 votes. Bryan comfortably won a majority in the electoral college by sweeping the Solid South, the West Coast, along with winning several swing states with razor-thin margins. Due to Roosevelt's unpopularity, he failed to carry the states of Oregon, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Indiana, Delaware, and West Virginia which were swing states considered to be necessary for a win. Bryan won West Virginia and Delaware, states that had not voted for a Democrat since 1892.

The election of William Jennings Bryan ended 20 years of Republican control of the Executive Branch. This was the first time since 1892 that a Republican incumbent lost an election. The United States left the war in August 1917, 6 months after Bryan's first term began.

Democratic Party nomination
The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri between June 14th and June 17th.

The Democratic Convention aimed to find a candidate that could unseat Theodore Roosevelt. They had hoped for Woodrow Wilson to run again, however, he declined to run again after his loss in 1912. Although several candidates were officially running for the Democratic nomination, there were only three that gained national focus, William Jennings Bryan, who ran as the nominee and lost in 1896, 1900, and 1908. Bryan was challenged by Champ Clark, the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives, who believed Bryan was too soft on foreign policy. Challenging them both was the 1912 Vice Presidential nominee, Thomas R. Marshall, who had served as Governor of Indiana from 1903 to 1913.

Although Clark was in the lead on the first ballot, Bryan soon soared past him on the second day after a fiery speech in the Convention Hall. The speech called out Roosevelt's grip on the nation, calling it "the closest we are to the grip of authoritarianism". His speech was well received by the Convention members, and nationally, which led to him winning the Democratic Nomination on June 17th.

Republican Democratic Party nomination
The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago between June 7th and June 10th.

The Convention saw incumbent president, Theodore Roosevelt, win against Robert La Follette who had the support of the isolationist wing of the Republican Party. Roosevelt however defeated La Follette in a landslide. Herbert Shadley won re-nominated uncontested.

Socialist candidates
Eugene V. Debs and [w:b|[Charles Edward Russell]] declined to run for the nomination. Debs, who had served as the party's presidential nominee since its foundation, chose to run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Indiana's 5th congressional district. |Allan Benson, a newspaper editor from New York, quickly came to dominate the field on a platform of his fervent opposition to militarism and proposal that all wars should be voted upon in a national referendum. Rather than a traditional nominating convention, the vote was conducted through a mail-order ballot, with Benson capturing 16,639 out of a total of 32,398 cast (to 12,264 for Maurer and 3,495 for Le Sueur). A vote for the vice-presidential nomination was jointly held with George Ross Kirkpatrick, a lecturer from New Jersey, winning the nomination 20,607 to 11,388 over Kate Richards O'Hare of Missouri.