1 h 17 minAudiobook3 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if an election leaves a republic unable to survive its own quarrels?
In Ingersoll Lockwood's 1900; or, The Last President, an American election opens onto a frightening political possibility. Money, debt and class divide the country. Farmers, workers and bankers disagree over what money should be, while the story imagines what follows if the side Lockwood fears takes power.
New York becomes a stage for wealth, poverty and gathering anger. Crowds fill the tale with pressure, and fear hangs over the city. This short political novel carries the urgency of a warning: beneath the election struggle lies a larger question about whether the American republic can hold together.
What you’ll discover
- An election under strain Enter a political struggle where arguments over money reach into the foundations of the republic.
- A city on edge See New York's great wealth and crowded poverty become the setting for class anger.
- Fear as political force Explore how dread shapes Lockwood's vision of an election and its possible consequences.
- Democracy's fragile foundations Face the unsettling possibility that a nation's own divisions can threaten its political survival.
- An urgent warning tale Follow a plain, quick narrative that puts political alarm ahead of richly drawn characters.
Who will love it
Readers who love American history, political what-if tales, and stories of elections, money and power. It also suits anyone curious how fear and hope shaped the politics of the 1890s.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An election night that nearly burns New York
- A jubilant Chicago and a hidden master
- Silver Pilgrims march on Washington
- Free silver and promises of prosperity
- Reform sharpens the country's divisions
Who’s who
- The PresidentA young Democratic winner of 1896 who promises rule by the common people and later fears he cannot control what he began.
- Governor MortonNew York's aged Governor, who calls out the regiments on election night and doubts the Republic can survive.
- John P. AltgeldThe Illinois leader who holds the Chicago crowd in check and becomes Secretary of War.
- The SpeakerThe firm presiding officer of the House who keeps order in the final session and answers the President coldly.
- The President's wifeThe calm partner who hears his private fears and answers with trust.
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1900; or, The Last President
by Ingersoll Lockwood · 1896
A November night in 1896 brings riots to New York, and a Governor fears for the Republic itself.
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In short
What if an election victory brings both wild hope and fear? Ingersoll Lockwood tells that story in 1900; or, The Last President, a short political fantasy about the night William Jennings Bryan wins in 1896.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An election night that nearly burns New York
The story opens on Tuesday, November 3, 1896. News comes that Bryan has won the presidency, and New York falls into terror. Mounted police tell the rich to bar their doors and put out the lights.
Mobs led by Anarchists and Socialists push the police north to Union Square, aiming at the homes of the wealthy. Governor Morton calls out the Seventh, Twenty-second and Seventy-first regiments. Their volleys and bayonet charge drive the crowd into hiding by midnight.
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What is 1900; or, The Last President about?
It imagines William Jennings Bryan winning the 1896 election and the country sliding into riot, cheap money and sectional conflict. Its early scenes follow the election celebrations, his inauguration and sweeping proposals for reform.
Is 1900; or, The Last President a true story?
No, it is a political fantasy. It uses real politicians and real debates, such as free silver, but the events and the outcome are the author's invention.
What does free silver mean in the book?
Free silver means letting anyone bring silver to the mint to be coined at a fixed ratio to gold, here sixteen to one. The book shows its supporters hoping for wealth and its critics fearing ruin.
The author
Ingersoll Lockwood
1841–1918 · American lawyer and novelist
Ingersoll Lockwood (1841–1918) was an American lawyer and writer born in Ossining, New York. He wrote Travels and Adventures of Little Baron Trump and His Wonderful Dog Bulger (1890), Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey (1893), and 1900; or, The Last President (1896). He died in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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