Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president and adopted a platform calling for the free coinage of silver. Gold standard Democrats opposed Bryan and the free silver platform. They formed a new party—the National Democratic Party, or Gold Democrats—which Buckner joined. At the new party's state convention in Louisville, Buckner's name was proposed as a candidate for vice president. He was given the nomination without opposition at the party's national convention in Indianapolis. Former Union general John Palmer was chosen as the party's nominee for president. Palmer and Buckner both had developed reputations as independent executives while serving as governors of their respective states. Because they had served on opposite sides during the Civil War, their presence on the same ticket emphasized national unity. The ticket was endorsed by several major newspapers including the Chicago Chronicle, Louisville Courier-Journal, Detroit Free Press, Richmond Times, and New Orleans Picayune. Despite these advantages, the ticket was hurt by the candidates' ages, Palmer being 79 and Buckner 73. Further, some supporters feared that voting for the National Democrat ticket would be a wasted vote and might even throw the election to Bryan. Ultimately, Palmer and Buckner received just over one percent of the vote in the election. Following this defeat, Buckner retired to Glen Lily but remained active in politics. Though he always claimed membership in the Democratic party, he opposed the machine politics of William Goebel, his party's gubernatorial nominee in 1899. In 1903, he supported his son-in-law, Morris Belknap, for governor against Goebel's lieutenant governor, J. C. W. Beckham. When the Democrats again nominated William Jennings Bryan in the 1908 presidential election, Buckner openly supported Bryan's opponent, Republican William Howard Taft. At 80 years of age, Buckner memorized five of Shakespeare's plays because cataracts threatened to blind him, but an operation saved his sight. On a visit to the White House in 1904, Buckner asked President Theodore Roosevelt to appoint his only son as a cadet at West Point, and Roosevelt quickly agreed. His son Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. would later serve in the U.S. Army and be killed at the Battle of Okinawa, making him the highest-ranking American to have been killed by enemy fire during World War II. Following the deaths of Stephen D. Lee and Alexander P. Stewart in 1908, Buckner became the last surviving Confederate soldier with the rank of lieutenant general.