William Jennings Bryan was only 36 years old when he became the Democratic presidential candidate in 1896, the youngest major party nominee in history. The text printed on this campaign ribbon is from the conclusion of his "Cross of Gold" speech delivered at the National Democratic Convention in Chicago, Illinois on July 9, 1896. This speech won him his party's nomination and is widely regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American political history. The "16 to 1" refers to the Democratic Party's "free silver" policy position to move the nation from the gold to the silver standard. Bryan was a leading voice for the belief that a silver-to-gold coin ratio of 16:1 as the currency standard would lead to national economic prosperity after the Economic Panic of 1893.
A campain poster for Agnes Nestor, Democratic Candidate for State Represenative in 1928. Nestor was a labor leader and social reformer who organized for woman's suffrage and workers' rights for the International Glove Workers Union and Women's Trade Union League.
The Chicago Daily Tribune staff expected a landslide Thomas E. Dewey victory over Harry S. Truman in the Presidential election of 1948, and therefore decided to make Dewey Defeats Truman the headline for the front page of the November 3, 1948 issue of the newspaper. The actual results from the November 2 election showed, however, that Truman was the winning candidate.