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knew the media. “It is only the concrete that appeals to the Daily Press,” he tells Ford, “and it is hard to keep them supplied with concrete material. They will not publish our general effusions.” Bellamy’s frank and honest assessment must have appealed to Ford, the man who once followed the minister to his new church. “It is easy to foresee that shortly the great din of the Presidential Campaign will drown out our noise unless we make preparations for keeping our rumble going,” he continued, correctly assessing what would be a historic confrontation between Grover Cleveland, itching for retribution, and then-President Benjamin Harrison, who had, in 1888, prevented Cleveland from having a second term. “I believe we can do this,” said Bellamy. “But we must do it by giving concrete news to the Press.”

How did he propose to give such news to the Press?

“I have a special plan to submit to you for the making of this kind of news,” he said:

The Dailies will publish, and comment on, what leading statesmen say. What Mr. Blaine, Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Reed, Mr. McKinley etc. think about this plan would be telegraphed everywhere, printed, and commented on editorially. Such men, who would not allow themselves to be “interviewed,” would talk with me as the Chairman of this great movement and would allow me to give “currency to their opinions.”

So I want to ask you if this would not be the best step now;—

Let me go on to Washington taking letters from Gov. Russell to our Massachusetts Senators and Representatives asking their cordial endorsement and introduction since this is a Boston idea.

Bellamy was clearly no country rube, with no small ambition to “see the leading men in Washington, including the President.” And he left no stone unturned: the ten-day trip would be cost effective. “It would cost about $75.00,” he told Ford. “But that amount might otherwise quickly be spent in printing and postage which would not achieve anywhere near the same result.”

Ford was convinced. And his considerable connections would undoubtedly serve Bellamy’s cause, greasing the wheels and opening doors, including that of the influential Republican congressman from Massachusetts, Henry Cabot Lodge. An appointment at the White House soon came through.

Bellamy charged down to Washington, but not without shrewdly stopping first in New York to secure the support of the once (and future) president Grover Cleveland. In the election of 1888, Cleveland, the incumbent, had beaten the challenger Harrison in the popular vote—only to lose in the electoral college when the Tammany Hall machine helped tip New York State’s decisive thirty-four votes into the Republican column. Now Cleveland was preparing to try to take back the presidency for the Democrats in the 1892 balloting.

At the White House, Congressman Lodge introduced Bellamy to President Harrison, letting it be known that Cleveland had already promised support. Harrison quickly agreed to back the Columbus school commemoration and promised to write a letter of endorsement. But Bellamy also conducted one of his many interviews—this was “the concrete material” the press would love—with the president. Harrison told him that he was “interested in all that pertains to the Public School and I like to see the Flag over the School.” Already in campaign mode, he reminded Bellamy that “I did as much as anyone to promote the School Flag idea.” But Harrison’s limitations were apparent. “The best thing to do with [these flags] is for these business men to give them to the Public Schools to be a perpetual lesson in patriotism,” he told Bellamy. Harrison was probably less a marketing man than Bellamy. “They used to think that all the school had to do was to teach the ‘3 Rs’ as we called it out West,” the president continued. “But they see it differently now, and it is time. The school is the place for education in intelligent patriotism and citizenship.”

Harrison was proud of his support for public education and it was clear that Bellamy and Upham had done the right thing by making the schools the central sponsor