# Fourth Party System The Fourth Party System (c. 1896–1932) opened with the realigning election of 1896, in which Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat [[William Jennings Bryan]] and his fusion with the [[Populist Party]]. The result cemented Republican dominance built on a coalition of industry, finance, urban labor, and the gold standard, while Democrats were largely confined to the Solid South. This was the **Progressive Era**: both parties contained reform wings grappling with industrial capitalism, trusts, immigration, and corruption. Its most dramatic episode was the 1912 three-way race, when [[Theodore Roosevelt]] bolted the Republicans to run on the **[[Bull Moose Party]]** ticket, splitting the GOP and electing Democrat Woodrow Wilson. The system's Republican ascendancy ran through the 1920s until the [[Great Depression]] discredited it and produced the New Deal realignment of 1932, beginning the [[Fifth Party System]]. ## See Also - [[Republican Party]] · [[Democratic Party]] · [[Bull Moose Party]] · [[Populist Party]] - [[Third Party System]] · [[Fifth Party System]] - [[Realignment]]