Beyond the Óperencia — A Presidential Election Campaign Decided by a Hungarian Immigrant: Part IV

The following is an adapted version of an article written by Lázár Pap, originally published in Hungarian in Magyar Krónika.

America—the new world, the land of opportunity, the land of the free. In the 19th and 20th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Hungarians left their former lives behind to cross the Atlantic and try their luck Far Far Away, that is, ‘Beyond the Óperencia’, as Hungarian fairy tales go. In its series, Magyar Krónika looks at the meeting points of America and Hungary through the Hungarian diaspora living in the US. In this section, let us continue the story of Joseph Pulitzer, whose creative press campaign helped Grover Cleveland become President of the United States.

As a press magnate, Joseph Pulitzer had an influence on public opinion and domestic politics in the United States. At the helm of his newspaper, The World, he supported the Democratic Party’s candidate, Grover Cleveland, with all his might and influence during the 1884 election.

Grover Cleveland began his career as a lawyer in the city of Buffalo. He first became sheriff of Erie County, then mayor of Buffalo. The Democratic Party then launched him as a candidate for governor of New York State. Pulitzer followed the politician’s career closely and was delighted when he was elected governor in 1882. A year later, he said of him: ‘Governor Cleveland seems to have no objection to work, showing no sign of shying away from it. He is at the governor’s office early in the morning and often works at his desk even after the city hall bells have rung midnight.’

A year before the presidential election, on 8 July 1883, the Democratic Party convention gathered to select its candidate. Pulitzer’s newspaper, The World, wasted no time in throwing its support behind Cleveland, emphasizing that he was the son of an ordinary family, had no aristocratic ancestors, and had achieved everything through his own talent. Among other things, the paper argued in favour of Cleveland: ‘He will certainly make a good president—not as a genius or a charismatic personality, but as someone who will crack down on the scoundrels who are parasitizing the state and who must be removed from Washington.’

‘Pulitzer’s newspaper, The World, wasted no time in throwing its support behind Cleveland’

A few days later, the 47-year-old governor was officially elected as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. By then, the Republicans had already decided who they would nominate: their choice fell on James G Blaine. The Republican candidate was an old hand, having entered Congress from the state of Maine, where his talent quickly earned him a leading role. From 1869 he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for five years.

Blaine had wanted to be a candidate in 1876 and 1880 but failed both times due to his scandalous ties to the railroad companies. Although he denied the allegations, his dubious purchases and sales of railroad bonds were made public, and it also came to light that he had repeatedly used his position to enrich himself. Blaine’s questionable morality caused division among Republicans, with many willing to switch their votes to the Democratic candidate, which increased Cleveland’s chances of winning the election.

However, the campaign took a sudden turn. The Buffalo Evening Telegraph published an article claiming that Grover Cleveland, who was otherwise unmarried, had a child from an extramarital affair. The governor did not deny the reports, and it seemed that the Democrats had lost the election. The press attacked Cleveland with full force, and public opinion turned against him. A group of clergymen also emphasized the immorality of the Democratic candidate and began investigating the matter.

In this hostile environment and seemingly hopeless situation, The World stood by Cleveland and showed its true strength. For the remainder of the campaign, Pulitzer tried to prevent the Republicans from focusing voters’ attention solely on private life by raising current social issues. He sought to draw attention to Blaine’s corrupt past and published numerous cartoons in The World about Blaine’s enrichment and corruption scandals. ‘Mr Blaine is the tool of monopolists and millionaires. He is Jay Gould’s business partner and owes much of his fortune to speculation devised by this brilliant enemy of the American Republic,’ the newspaper wrote on one occasion.

In the final stages of the campaign, there was another unexpected turn of events. Blaine attended a meeting organized by Protestant ministers at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. There, Reverend Samuel Burchard made his fateful speech: ‘We are Republicans, and we have no intention of leaving our party for a party whose history is nothing but Rum, Romanness, and Rebellion,’ he said. Blaine said nothing in response, which essentially meant he agreed. In addition, he made another blunder by attending a banquet hosted for the cream of the financial world, despite warnings from his party colleagues. Blaine faced the consequences the very next day when he saw the front page of The World. He practically lost the advantage he had gained after the scandal that unfolded around Cleveland in a single evening.

Pulitzer recognized the significance of Blaine’s mistakes and exploited them. The next day, readers saw a huge caricature on the front page of The World, depicting ‘Belshazzar’ Blaine feasting with the powerful, represented by Jay Gould and Vanderbilt, among others. On their table were ‘lobby pudding’, ‘Gould cake’, ‘monopoly soup’, and ‘patronage jobs’. This cartoon is still considered one of the most influential political cartoons to this day. As if that weren’t enough, Pulitzer played his trump card in the editorial, Reverend Buchard’s speech, which easily turned the Catholic population, Irish immigrants, and undecided Democrats and Republicans against Blaine.

‘Pulitzer’s “new style of journalism” proved that it was capable of shaping public opinion in a way that had a direct impact on the elections’

The election was extremely close: in the end, New York State’s 36 electoral votes decided the outcome. Cleveland won roughly a thousand more votes than his Republican opponent, which translated into a 219:182 victory in terms of electoral votes. Nearly 20 years later, the president himself openly acknowledged The World’s achievements: ‘The contest was so close that I can say without reservation that if The World of New York had not supported the Democrats’ goals so vigorously and effectively at that time, the final result could easily have been the opposite.’

Pulitzer campaigned for Cleveland in an extremely conscious and deliberate manner. When Blaine made a mistake, he immediately ‘rained a series of deadly blows on the enemy’, as Cleveland himself put it, referring to the role of the newspaper. The high-quality editorial articles were complemented by excellently executed, easily understandable satirical drawings and caricatures. Pulitzer’s ‘new style of journalism’ proved that it was capable of shaping public opinion in a way that had a direct impact on the elections.

You can read about Joseph Pulitzer’s further adventures in Part V.

This article is based on András Csillag’s work titled Joseph Pulitzer and the American Press.

Read the previous parts of the series below:

Click here to read the original article.

The post Beyond the Óperencia — A Presidential Election Campaign Decided by a Hungarian Immigrant: Part IV appeared first on Hungarian Conservative.