upon the mechanics ol poHtics — marching societies, 

 empty ceremonies, participation for its own sake, the 

 development of innumerable political gadgets — was 

 made obsolete by the Bryan campaign pattern. 



Bryan's impact upon presidential politics was not all 

 gain, however. A political struggle which revolves 

 around the personalities of two candidates may be 

 more bitter than a contest between rival organizations. 

 As in Bryan's case, the candidate may be captivated 

 by his apparent personal influence and neglect the 

 important task of building an efTective political 

 organization. The most colorful and appealing cam- 

 paigners are not necessarily the ablest leaders for their 

 parties or for the nation. To the e.xtent that the 

 personal campaign is physically exhausting, the candi- 

 date cannot appear always at his best, and the struggle 

 for office may actually be detrimental to his health. 

 He may be forced to take rigid positions on issues with 

 respect to which he should be free from commitments. 

 The issues which are argued in the campaign are not 

 necessarily important or "real" ; they may have been 

 developed merely for obtaining office, or they may 

 involve unrealistic solutions to significant problems. 

 Bryan's "free silver" agitation is an example of the 

 latter situation and, possibly, the former. And, 

 finally, personal campaigning is liable to descend to 

 the level of a popularity contest with little genuine 

 significance in terms of realistic choice for the 

 electorate. 



Professor Clinton Rossiter in his study of the func- 

 tions and implications of our highest office, The 

 American Presidency, has distinguished a number of 

 presidential roles. Among them are the constitutional 

 galaxy — Chief of State, Chief Executive, Chief 

 Diplomat, Commander in Chief, and Chief Legislator. 

 But the Presidency involves certain critical extra- 

 constitutional roles which tend to make that office 

 the most significant position in the world today. 

 Two of these roles, that of "chief of party" and that of 

 "voice of the people," seem to have direct relevance 

 to the campaign pattern of William Jennings Bryan. 

 Following a series of Presidents who were reluctant to 

 assert their influence within their own parties, Bryan 

 set out to capture the leadership of the Democratic 

 Party. Although he did not become President, Bryan 

 was certainly the principal national leader of his party 

 for more than a dozen years.'"' His strong appeal to 

 the American people through the medium of personal 



m 



My Papa will Vota fcfr 



iVAN: 



4^^ 



Wlf^ Silver Coin~di^kj^>-fo 1. 



Tariff for Revenue On 



Income Tax inul V,i 



Figure i8. — Brv.\n so.M' doll from the cam- 

 paign of 1896. Campaign novelties such as 

 this one communicated the issues of the 

 contest in a humorous manner and had a 

 wide appeal. (Smithsonian photo 48595-0, 

 Becker collection.) 



campaigning gave him tremendous power within the 

 Party. But ev-en more than its influence on party 

 leadership, Bryan's campaign style was important in 

 the development of the President's function as "the 

 Voice of the People, the leading formulator and ex- 

 pounder of public opinion in the United States." '"^ 

 In both theory and practice, Bryan's campaign tech- 

 nique required a high degree of candidate-voter con- 

 tact. Bryan loved to meet the people, for he believed 

 that the essence of democracy lay in the person-to- 

 person relationship: having proven himself in this 

 most basic democratic situation, the candidate was 

 qualified to represent on the national scene the views 

 of the people as he interpreted them — qualified, in 

 short, to be the voice of the people. The particular 

 innovations which Bryan introduced into the presi- 

 dential campaign tended to expand the direct rela- 

 tionship between the political leader and his following. 

 Instead of consulting with party leaders, Bryan 

 campaigned for the votes and the adulation of the 

 public : hence, he was responsible to the public rather 

 than to the leaders. 



It would be folly to assume that responsibility to the 

 Nation is exclusive of responsibility to party. Ideally, 



Glad, op. rit. (footnote 2), ch. 7. 



i"2 Clinton Rossiter, The American Presidency (New American 

 Library edition, New York, 1956), p. 22. 



P.\PER 46: BRYAN THE CAMP.\IGNER 



79 



