Overview

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.

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9781585445592

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Reviews

... 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

Author Information

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.

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