nomination After the selection of Bryan, the convention turned its attention to picking a running mate. Newspaper publisher John Roll McLean of Ohio was viewed as a possible candidate, in part because his fortune could help fund the ticket. Former Representative George F. Williams of Massachusetts, businessman Arthur Sewall of Maine, and former Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland of Arkansas were all mentioned as possible candidates. Eight names were placed in nomination: Arthur Sewall, John R. McLean, Joseph C. Sibley, George F. Williams, Walter Clark, J. Hamilton Lewis, George W. Fithian, and Sylvester Pennoyer. After being placed in nomination, McLean, Sibley, and Fithian made it known to the convention that they were not candidates for the vice presidency. Sewall ultimately received the nomination on the fifth ballot. The Populist Party and the Silver Republican Party also both nominated Bryan for president, but the Populists nominated former Georgia Representative Thomas E. Watson instead of Sewell. Vice Presidential candidates Declined Balloting See also History of the United States Democratic Party 1896 United States presidential election 1896 Republican National Convention List of Democratic National Conventions U.S. presidential nomination convention William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1896 References Further reading Coletta, Paulo E. William Jennings Bryan: Volume I, Political Evangelist, 1860–1908, (1964) Geer, John G., and Thomas R. Rochon. "William Jennings Bryan on the Yellow Brick Road." Journal of American Culture 16.4 (1993): 59-63. Bryan resembles the Wizard of Oz Harpine, William D. "Bryan's “a cross of gold:” The rhetoric of polarization at the 1896 democratic convention." Quarterly Journal of Speech 87.3 (2001): 291-304. online Jones, Stanley L. The presidential election of 1896 (1964). Nevins, Allan. Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage (1932) online. Primary sources Chester, Edward W A guide to political platforms (1977) pp 127–135 online External links 1896 Democratic National Convention at the Political Graveyard Democratic Party Platform of 1896 at The American Presidency Project 1896 United States presidential election 1896 in Illinois 1890s in Chicago Political conventions in Chicago Democratic Party of Illinois Political events in Illinois Democratic National Conventions 1896 conferences July 1896 events