From the Front Porch to the Front Page: McKinley and Bryan in the 1896 Presidential CampaignTexas A&M University Press, 2005 - 230 pages The last presidential campaign of the nineteenth century was remarkable in a number of ways. -It marked the beginning of the use of the news media in a modern manner. -It saw the Democratic Party shift toward the more liberal position it occupies today. -It established much of what we now consider the Republican coalition: Northeastern, conservative, pro-business. It was also notable for the rhetorical differences of its two candidates. In what is often thought of as a single-issue campaign, William Jennings Bryan delivered his famous "Cross of Gold" speech but lost the election. Meanwhile, William McKinley addressed a range of topics in more than three hundred speeches--without ever leaving his front porch. The campaign of 1896 gave the public one of the most dramatic and interesting battles of political oratory in American history, even though, ironically, its issues faded quickly into insignificance after the election. In From the Front Porch to the Front Page, author William D. Harpine traces the campaign month-by-month to show the development of Bryan's rhetoric and the stability of McKinley's. He contrasts the divisive oratory Bryan employed to whip up fervor (perhaps explaining the 80 percent turnout in the election) with the lower-keyed unifying strategy McKinley adopted and with McKinley's astute privileging of rhetorical siting over actual rhetoric. Beyond adding depth and detail to the scholarly understanding of the 1896 presidential campaign itself (and especially the "Cross of Gold" speech), this book casts light on the importance of historical perspective in understanding rhetorical efforts in politics. |
From inside the book
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... ( Dawes , no mean authority in political matters , eventually be- came vice president of the United States and won the Nobel Peace Prize . ) In March , 1896 , McKinley refused to make a deal with the bosses ; Dawes commented that " the ...
... Dawes commented that " Hanna is being greatly disappointed in his canvass for funds . The great trouble with our campaign is lack of funds for legitimate expenses . " 75 On August 28 , two months after McKinley's nomination , Dawes ...
... Dawes an envelope containing fifty thousand dollars in cash from a railroad company ( that sort of thing was legal then ) . At the same time , Dawes received a simi- lar check from someone else . These turned out to be the largest ...
... Dawes on June 26.47 The notification was a pseudo - event . Although the notification ceremony was common practice in that era , there was no need for a committee to notify McKinley , who already knew that he had been nominated . The ...
... Dawes mentioned in his journal that McKinley showed him a draft of the document and that Dawes suggested " a few minor changes which he adopted . " 69 McKinley had apparently intended to write a short letter but instead prepared a full ...
Contents
13 | |
26 | |
37 | |
56 | |
Unmade by One Speech? Bryans Trip to Madison Square Garden | 69 |
McKinleys Front Porch Oratory in September 1896 | 90 |
McKinleys Speech to the Homestead Workers | 111 |
Bryans Railroad Campaign in September 1896 | 128 |
The Closing Weeks of the Front Porch Campaign | 146 |
The End of Bryans First Battle | 160 |
Identification and Timeliness Revisited | 176 |
Notes | 187 |
Index | 221 |