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 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.

      William D. Harpine traces the campaign month-by-month to show 
the development of Bryan's rhetoric and the stability of McKinley's. 
Beyond adding depth and detail to the scholarly understanding of the 
1896 presidential campaign itself, this book casts light on the 
importance of historical perspective in understanding rhetorical efforts 
in politics.  

_________________________________________________________

WILLIAM D. HARPINE, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of 
Illinois, is a professor of communications at the University of South 
Carolina–Aiken.


Number Thirteen: Presidential Rhetoric Series


What people are saying about this book

". . . demolishes the images of McKinley as a vapid politician and 
Bryan as a rube. [Harpine's] study of the 1896 presidential campaign 
instead depicts two sophisticated and resourceful opponents who 
employ strategies of persuasion that are sometimes novel and at 
other times as old as those used by ancient Greek orators."—Philip 
Abbott, Wayne State University