Bryan believed he was making tlie best possible use 

 of his talents. 



This is not the place to retell in detail the story of 

 Bryan's "First Battle." ''''' In approximately 100 

 days, Bryan, according to his own estimate, traveled 

 more than 18,000 miles, most of them by rail, visited 

 27 States, made approximately 600 speeches, and was 

 seen by an estimated 5,000,000 people.'^' Bryan's 

 eflfort during this season was the first instance of an 

 intensi\'e personal campaign by a presidential candi- 

 date, and it was the first true "whistle stop" railroad 

 campaign. Other candidates had spoken briefly and 

 shaken hands from the rear platforms of their trains, 

 but never before had a presidential aspirant made the 

 "whistle stop" technique into a formal feature of the 

 contest. For more than fifty years after the campaign 

 of 1896, "whistle stop" oratory and campaign trains 

 were nearly synonymous with presidential struggles. 

 To the degree that it inaugurated major innovations 

 in campaigning, Bryan's battle in 1896 was a new 

 departure; but for Bryan himself there was little that 

 was really new. He had applied to the presidential 

 contest essentially those principles he had developed 

 during his years in local and state politics, and his 

 experience on the chautauqua and lyceum circuits. 



Bryan, in 1896, was seemingly indefatigable: he 

 rode dreary trains for hundreds and thousands of 

 miles, and for days on end. Often, he was awakened 

 in the small hours of the morning to wave from his 

 observation platform to enthusiastic crowds gathered 

 at tiny country depots along his route. For much of 

 the trip, he had no special accommodations — just 

 ordinary sleepers and day coaches — but toward the 

 end of the campaign the Democratic National Com- 

 mittee provided, out of its meager funds, a private car 

 for the candidate. He had the good fortune of being 

 able to sleep anywhere and, apparently, at any time. 

 He was a trial to newspaper men on his campaign 

 journeys, for he frequently arose early in the morning 

 to greet his admirers or make nearly impossible train 

 connections. His long days of campaigning wore 

 heavily on the reporters. '^'■' 



As in his earlier political travels, Bryan particularly 

 enjoyed speaking in small towns where his efforts 



'5' In view of Bryan's long experience in campaigning, it is 

 scarcely accurate to describe the struggle of 1896 as a "first 

 battle." 



159 Brv.\n, The First Battle, p. 618. 



■3° Matthew Josephson, op. cit. (footnote 4), pp. 688-707; 

 Ch.^rles Willis Thompson, Presidents Vie Known and Two Near 

 Presidents (Indianapolis, 1929), pp. 76-88. 



Figure ID. — Bryan conducted an aggressive tour 

 of the nation during the presidential campaign of 

 1896, traveling more than 18,000 miles and visiting 

 27 States. Here, the campaign train halts for a 

 rear-platform appearance of the candidate and 

 Mrs. Bryan at Crestline, Ohio. (William Jennings 

 Bryan, The First Battle, i8g6, facing p. 528.) 



seemed especially successful. His trip through Iowa 

 at the very beginning of the campaign probably 

 typified his small-town speaking techniques. The 

 hostile New York Times reported that "Bryan improves 

 many opportunities to talk and say nothing." Speak- 

 ing at almost every little station on the railroad, he 

 was cut short on numerous occasions because of the 

 train schedule, although at more important places 

 he was able to make more significant statements. 

 At Davenport, Bryan admitted, "I promised myself 

 that I would not do any talking on the road, but the 

 presence of so many enthusiasts presents a temptation 

 which I am not able to withstand." No doubt re- 

 ceptions such as that at West Liberty, Iowa, where a 

 "brass band and 500 people received the nominee," 

 encouraged him to talk. Among other things, Bryan 

 said, 



I am very glad to see you and to give you a chance to 

 meet a candidate. I believe that it is the duty of any 

 person who is a candidate for office to become acquainted 

 with the people whom he is to serve if elected .... A 

 person chosen is nothing but a hired man, no matter how 

 exalted the office or how lowly.""'" 



Elsewhere the pattern was much the same. During 



160 The New York Times, August 9, 1896, p. 2. 



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