Middle-of-the-Road Populists
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD POPULISTS
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD POPULISTS, the name given during the 1896 presidential campaign to those members of the People's (Populist) Party who objected to fusion with the Democrats and who insisted that the party should "keep in the middle of the road." At their national convention in Saint Louis, they were unable to prevent the party from accepting the Democratic candidate, William Jennings Bryan, as its candidate for president, but they forced the convention to nominate a Populist, Thomas E. Watson of Georgia, for vice president. After 1896 the Middle-of-the-Road Populists formed a separate organization, which endured feebly for a dozen years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Goodwyn, Lawrence. The Populist Moment: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Hicks, John D. The Populist Revolt: A History of the Farmers' Alliance and the People's Party. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1959.
John D.Hicks/a. g.
See alsoConventions, Party Nominating ; Democratic Party ; Populism .