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The [[Panic of 1893]] damaged the Bourbons because Cleveland was President at the time and was blamed for the consequent economic losses.

The [[Panic of 1893]] damaged the Bourbons because Cleveland was President at the time and was blamed for the consequent economic losses.

The Bourbons' great opponent was [[William Jennings Bryan]], who harnessed the energy of an agrarian insurgency with his [[Cross of Gold]] speech and defeated the Bourbons at the decisive [[1896 Democratic National Convention]]. Some of the Bourbons sat out the 1896 election; others created the third party ticket of the [[National Democratic Party (United States)|National Democratic Party]] led by [[John M. Palmer]], a former governor of Illinois. Most Bourbons returned to the Democrat Party by 1900 or 1904 at the latest.  Bryan demonstrated his hold on the party by winning the 1900 and 1908 Democratic nominations as well; in 1904, a Bourbon, [[Alton B. Parker]], won the nomination. He lost, as did Bryan every time.  

The Bourbons' great opponent was [[William Jennings Bryan]], who harnessed the energy of an agrarian insurgency with his Cross of Gold speech and defeated the Bourbons at the decisive 1896 Democratic National Convention. Some of the Bourbons sat out the 1896 election; others created the third party ticket of the National Democratic Party led by [[John M. Palmer]], a former governor of Illinois. Most Bourbons returned to the Democrat Party by 1900 or 1904 at the latest.  Bryan demonstrated his hold on the party by winning the 1900 and 1908 Democratic nominations as well; in 1904, a Bourbon, [[Alton B. Parker]], won the nomination. He lost, as did Bryan every time.  

[[William L. Wilson]], Cleveland's postmaster general, confided to his diary that he opposed Bryan on moral and ideological as well as party grounds. Wilson had begun his public service convinced that Congress was too much controlled by special interests, and his unsuccessful tariff fight had burned this conviction deeper. He feared the triumph of free silver would bring class legislation, [[paternalism]], and selfishness feeding upon national bounty as surely as did protection. Moreover, free silver at 16 to 1 was morally wrong, "involving as it does the attempt to call 50 cents a dollar and make it legal tender for dollar debts." Populism, he said, was "the product of protection founded on the idea that Government can and therefore Government ought to make people prosperous." [Summers 240]

[[William L. Wilson]], Cleveland's postmaster general, confided to his diary that he opposed Bryan on moral and ideological as well as party grounds. Wilson had begun his public service convinced that Congress was too much controlled by special interests, and his unsuccessful tariff fight had burned this conviction deeper. He feared the triumph of free silver would bring class legislation, [[paternalism]], and selfishness feeding upon national bounty as surely as did protection. Moreover, free silver at 16 to 1 was morally wrong, "involving as it does the attempt to call 50 cents a dollar and make it legal tender for dollar debts." Populism, he said, was "the product of protection founded on the idea that Government can and therefore Government ought to make people prosperous." [Summers 240]