Editing Cross of Gold speech (section)

=== Candidates for the nomination ===

Despite the desire of silver delegates to nominate a candidate who shared their beliefs, and although several states instructed their delegates to vote for a specific candidate, there was no overwhelming favorite for the nomination going into the convention. With a two-thirds vote of the delegates needed to nominate, almost every silver delegate would have to vote for the same candidate to assure success, though any organized support from gold delegates would greatly damage a silver candidate's chances.{{sfn|Bensel|pp=301–302}}

[[File:Horace Boies.jpg|thumb|upright|Former Iowa Governor [[Horace Boies]] was a major contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 1896.]]

The only gold man who put together any sort of campaign for the Democratic nomination was Treasury Secretary [[John G. Carlisle]], but he withdrew in April, stating that he was more concerned about the platform of the party than who would lead it. However, as late as June, the gold forces, which still controlled the [[Democratic National Committee]] (DNC), continued to believe that the nominee could be pro-gold. Cleveland friend and former [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] [[Donald M. Dickinson]] wrote to the President in June 1896 hoping that the delegates would recognize "common sense" and be frightened at the thought of nominating a radical.{{sfn|Williams|p=72}}

One of the leaders of the silver movement was Illinois Governor Altgeld; a native of Germany, he was constitutionally barred from the presidency by his foreign birth.{{sfn|Williams|p=69}} Going into the convention, the two leading candidates for the nomination were former Congressman Bland, who had originated the Bland-Allison Act, and former [[Iowa]] Governor [[Horace Boies]], with Bland considered the frontrunner. These were the only two candidates to put together organizations to try to secure delegate votes, though both efforts were cash-starved.  Both men had electoral problems: Bland at age 61 was seen by some as a man whose time had passed; Boies was a former Republican who had once decried bimetallism. There were a large number of potential candidates seen as having less support; these included Vice President [[Adlai Stevenson I|Adlai Stevenson]] of Illinois, Senator [[Joseph C. Blackburn]] of Kentucky, Senator Teller, and Bryan.{{sfn|Williams|pp=70–73}}