his capture of party control in Nebraska was important 

 in setting the stage for his assumption of national 

 Democratic leadership at Chicago in 1896. Between 

 1892 and 1896 Bryan also shifted the focus of his 

 political attack from the tariff to the currency ques- 

 tion, becoming a major figure in the national silver 

 movement during these years. His accomplishments 

 during this period depended to no little degree upon 

 his campaign techniques. 



To a certain extent, practitioners of politics neces- 

 sarily operate in two separate arenas, that of the 

 "smoke-filled room" — the machine organization, and 

 that of the public platform. Because the demands of 

 these two arenas are fundamentally different, most 

 politicians maintain two separate personalities or 

 "faces." Bryan was never able to adapt fully to this 

 requirement of politics, and he seems to have pre- 

 served essentially similar attitudes in the back room and 

 on the speaker's rostrum. He was never a machine 

 politician, concerned chiefly with developing a loyal 

 organization through the mechanisms of rewards and 

 punishments. William Allen \Vhite, one of Bryan's 

 most observant contemporaries, has written: 



Bryan showed his greatest personal strength in the fact 

 that he was utterly without a political machine, .^nd 

 Bryan was machineless, not because he abhorred the 

 machine, but because he ignored it. He did not know 

 what to do with captains and lieutenants. He had only 

 his clarion voice. 120 



Nevertheless, in order to succeed at his vocation, 

 Bryan needed to capture control of the party organi- 

 zation in Nebraska. He used virtually the same tech- 

 niques to accomplish this feat that he had used to gain 

 his seat in the House of Representatives — a voice and 

 a message. By inspiring great enthusiasm among 

 young Democrats in the state, and by appealing to all 

 voters, regardless of their party affiliation, Bryan was 

 able to control and essentially reconstruct the Ne- 

 braska Democracy. Although he did not direct the 

 party machinery until 1896, he had become the 

 state's leading Democrat by 1892.'-' 



'20 \ViLLiAM .Allen White. Masks in a Pagiaid (New York: 

 Macmillan, 1928), pp. 274-275. 



■21 A major battle for power occurred in the Democratic 

 State Convention of April 13-14, 1892, when the younger 

 generation clashed directly with the older, the latter group 

 maintaining control of the Democratic machinery by a very 

 slim margin. See Paolo E. Coletta, "The Democratic 

 State Convention of .April 13-14, 1892," Nebraska History 

 (December 1958), vol. 39, pp. 317-333. 



Figure 7, — 1 HIS iormal campaign portr.ait 

 was characteristic of the impression which 

 Bryan wished to create. A serious, good- 

 looking young man, Bryan appeared to be 

 the antithesis of the sinister influences in 

 political machines. {Courtesy \ebrasha State 

 Historical Society.) 



CAMPAIGN FOR SENATE 



In 1893, Bryan's friends felt confident enough to 

 enter his name in the senatorial race. Democrats 

 had little hope of achieving victory because Senators 

 were chosen by state legislatures, and the Nebraska 

 legislature was almost evenly matched between Re- 

 publicans and Independents, with only a tiny minority 

 of Democrats. The Democratic leadership was hope- 

 lessly split and Bryan, w-ho hoped for support from 

 the Independents, was "the only hope the democracy 

 of this state has."'"' But because he was in Washing- 

 ton, he could not take advantage of his personal popu- 

 larity: "If you could be here, without lea\dng 

 Washington," wrote one of his friends, "you could do 

 a great deal. The main trouble is that the Big Chiefs 

 are against you, & the multitude that is for you has 



122 Bryan papers, letter from James Devenny, chairman of the 

 Democratic County Committee, Tecuinseh, Nebraska, January 

 21, 1893, to Bryan. See also, L. A. Dunphy, Colon, to Bryan, 

 January 5, 1893; and F. R. Mayes, Bartlett, to Bryan, January 

 9, indicating much Independent support for Bryan. 



PAPER 46: BRYAN THE CAMP.AIGNER 



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