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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... speakers . Both addressed the cam- paign issues , mostly the gold standard and the protective tariff , in a way that roused public interest in politics to a frenzy . That the campaign's major issues turned out , in the end Introduction.
... speaker , and made calculated appeals to the ordinary American , his speeches show considerable evidence of intelligence , knowl- edge , and insight . Bryan may be equally well known today for his work assisting the prosecution in the ...
... speakers , but they employed contrasting approaches . Bryan was energetic and , at his best , remarkably eloquent ... speaker . One does not study a McKinley speech and feel that one has studied great oratory . McKinley did , however ...
... speaker was right . 4. Although the campaign issues seemed like little more than footnotes to the whole business ... speakers , or obscure speeches by famous people . For ex- ample , although some of Bryan's speeches have received ...
... speakers are not the result of careful examination of contemporaneous materials . This is certainly the case with McKinley and Bryan and may be the main motivation behind the bizarre evaluations that persist about both speakers . There ...
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 |