James A. Garfield's Front Porch Campaign

During the late nineteenth century, James A. Garfield was running for the presidency for the 1880 Presidential Campaign. Unlike his competitors, Garfield used a tactic known to history as a Front Porch Campaign. This type of campaign propaganda had three stages and allowed for the voters get to know the president nominee in his own house. The first stage was to invited close friends, relatives, and key voters to visit him in his home for a good chat and make Garfield look “physically attractive, and outgoing, a friendly bear of a man” (Knepper, pg. 257) This would later expand to other citizens who wish to vote and know what Garfield had in mind. For instance, Garfield had to ask his sons and secretary to live in the barn for a while to accommodate guests who were sleeping overnight (Bourdon, pg. 115). …show more content…
The next stage is to invite large groups of individuals or crowds that would attend Garfield’s speeches at his front lawn and be entertained, like a concert (Bourdon, pg. 121). The final stage was to cement Garfield’s statements and his positions while talking to special interest groups and keeping his door open to visitors. For instance, African American, German, and women suffragist visited Garfield and wanted to see if they were on their side (Bourdon, pg. 122, 124, 126). Garfield made sure that he was able to persuade all the groups he could, but ultimately ignored their requests (The Gilded Age). In conclusion, the Front Porch Campaign was designed for the presidential nominee to be openly hospitable as he invites everyone across the country to his house to listen to what he has to say and what his goals are as he promotes

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