Keith Melder 



Bryan the Campaigner 



/;/ recent years, the SwithsonicDi Institution 

 has acquired a rich and varied collection of 

 political campaign objects — tokens, buttons, 

 badges, ribbons, banners, torches, clothing, 

 and novelties of every sort. Some of these 

 political items are now exhibited in the Smith- 

 sonian' s netv Museum of History and Tech- 

 nology . 



Growth of these political collections and 

 preparation of plans for exhibiting them have 

 stimulated serious research into the develop- 

 ment of campaigning. Members of the staff 

 and scholars from outside the M-usemn have 

 begun to investigate the changing manner in 

 which campaign objects were used and the 

 changing patterns of their symbolism. The 

 present study has resulted from investigation 

 into the evolution of presidential campaigning 

 in the late 19th century. 



Preliminary evidence indicates that a fnajor 

 shift in the pattern of campaigning took place 

 at the end of the century. During the post- 

 Civil War era, political loyalties icere rein- 

 forced by tnass demonstrations, highly organised 



marching clubs, and campaign objects. Presi- 

 dential candidates preferred not to engage in 

 active campaigning. 



Between 1896 and 1912 a major change 

 occurred in the pattern of presidential politics, 

 and since that time candidates have felt obli- 

 gated to go to the people, conducting vigorous 

 and extensive personal campaigns. By entering 

 political contests in their own behalf, candi- 

 dates have diminished the reliance of their 

 parties upon marching groups and campaign 

 objects as evidence of political loyalties. Al- 

 though campaign objects have not disappeared 

 from American politics, their significance has 

 been altered by the development of personal 

 campaigning. 



It is the purpose of the present study to under- 

 stand and evaluate the influence of one major 

 candidate — William Jennings Bryan — in 

 bringing about this significant change. 



The Author: K.eith Melder is associate 

 curator, division of political history, in the 

 Smithsonian Institution s Museum of History 

 and Technology. 



Introduction 



AT THE END OF HIS FIRST dramatic struggle for the 

 L Presidency, William Jennings Bryan wrote : "The 

 campaign of 1896 was a remarkable one whether we 

 measure it by the magnitude of the issues involved or 

 by the depth of interest aroused." ' It also produced 



one of the most significant changes in presidential 

 campaigning to occur during the 19th century. Like 

 the Harrison-Tyler contest of 1840, which involved a 

 major departure from previous, less exciting and 

 "popular" efforts, the 1896 contest represented an 

 important stage in the evolution of presidential 

 campaign techniques. In it the candidate himself 



'William Jennings Bry.\n, The First Battle. The Story oj the 

 Campaign of 1896 (Chicago, 1896), p. 11. The present paper 

 has grown out of research into the background and the use of 

 presidential campaign objects in the collections of the Museum 



of History and Technology. I am most grateful for suggestions 

 made by Professor Paolo E. Coletta, of the United States Naval 

 Academy. Professor Coletta generously permitted me to read 

 the unpublished manuscript of his political biography of Bryan. 



PAPER 46: BRYAN THE CAMPAIGNER 



47 



