The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst (33 page)
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Authors: Kenneth Whyte
BOOK: The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst
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The
Journal
supposed that the
Times
had adopted this novel line of inquiry in preference to the hard work of controverting Bryan’s arguments, and went on to note that similar diagnoses might be reached in examination of McKinley’s self-consecration to the cause of protective tariffs, or William Lloyd Garrison’s opposition to slavery: “And Lincoln, the uncouth Western statesman who received at the hands of the New York press much such a greeting as has been thrust upon Bryan, had the single purpose of preserving the Union. Was he insane?”
44
Journal
supposed that the
Times
had adopted this novel line of inquiry in preference to the hard work of controverting Bryan’s arguments, and went on to note that similar diagnoses might be reached in examination of McKinley’s self-consecration to the cause of protective tariffs, or William Lloyd Garrison’s opposition to slavery: “And Lincoln, the uncouth Western statesman who received at the hands of the New York press much such a greeting as has been thrust upon Bryan, had the single purpose of preserving the Union. Was he insane?”
44
Every time Hearst answered a critic of the Democratic leader or his campaign, the paper itself came under attack. The
Journal,
as Hearst would later romanticize it, was like a “solitary ship surrounded and hemmed in by a host of others, and from all sides shot and shell poured into our devoted hulk. Editorial guns raked us, business guns shattered us, popular guns battered us, and above the din and flame of battle rose the curses of the Wall Street crowd that hated us.”
45
Journal,
as Hearst would later romanticize it, was like a “solitary ship surrounded and hemmed in by a host of others, and from all sides shot and shell poured into our devoted hulk. Editorial guns raked us, business guns shattered us, popular guns battered us, and above the din and flame of battle rose the curses of the Wall Street crowd that hated us.”
45
Not all of the complaints came from Republicans and Park Row competitors. Phoebe Hearst asked Ed Clark, her financial manager, to approach Will about moderating his support for Bryan. She was worrying about the purchasing power of her U.S. millions in the event of a Democratic victory. She was also taking flak from her many social and financial connections on Wall Street, where her son’s rag was regarded as the voice of Armageddon. Hosmer B. Parsons, Phoebe’s attorney and the future president of Wells Fargo Bank, wrote her with his personal estimation of the
Journal
’s inanity: “There must be much improvement in the morale and dignity of the
Journal
before it can hope to rank with some of the other NY papers and become a commercial success. I am sure it is now conducted upon a mistakenly low estimate of public intelligence and taste.”
46
To her credit, Phoebe did not press her concerns with Will and in public gave him nothing but support.
Journal
’s inanity: “There must be much improvement in the morale and dignity of the
Journal
before it can hope to rank with some of the other NY papers and become a commercial success. I am sure it is now conducted upon a mistakenly low estimate of public intelligence and taste.”
46
To her credit, Phoebe did not press her concerns with Will and in public gave him nothing but support.
The young San Francisco publisher W.R. Hearst, dressed like a dude.
W.R. considered himself a hit on stage at Harvard.
Phoebe Apperson Hearst blazed with diamonds.
Senator George Hearst lived as he pleased.
Hearst’s
Vamoose
: like a torpedo boat, without the ordnance.
Vamoose
: like a torpedo boat, without the ordnance.
The newspaper buildings of Park Row, the most exciting street in New York.
A confident W.R. on the eve of his New York adventure, painted by Orrin Peck.
W.R. sent up by his own cartoonist, Homer Davenport.
Davenport: literally born to draw.
Joseph Pulitzer called Dana a “mendacious blackguard.”
Charles Anderson Dana called Pulitzer a “venomous, greedy junk dealer.”
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