Whistle-stop train tour
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A whistle stop or whistle-stop tour is a style of political campaigning where the politician makes a series of brief appearances or speeches at a number of small towns over a short period of time. Originally, whistle-stop appearances were made from the open platform of an observation car or a private railroad car.
Definition and usage[]
The definition of the term derives from the practice of a small, occasionally used railway station signaling a train so the engineer will know to stop. Trains inbound to a "whistle stop" station would signal their approach with a blast of the train's steam whistle which would alert the train depot attendant to their arrival.[citation needed] If passengers, mail, or freight waited to be picked up at the depot, the depot master would raise a tower signal to indicate to the train engineer that the train should stop. If no stop was necessary, a different signal would be raised and the engineer could pass through the depot without stopping.[citation needed]
One usage of the term in the political context, by Robert A. Taft, was derisive. He accused then-President Harry S. Truman of "blackguarding Congress at whistle stops across the country".[1]
Background[]
In the 19th century, when travel by railroad was the most common means of transport, politicians would charter tour trains which would travel from town to town. At each stop, the candidate would make a speech from the train, but might rarely set foot on the ground. "Whistle stop" campaign speeches would be made from the rear platform of a train.
One of the most famous railroad cars to be used in the U.S. whistle-stop tours was the Ferdinand Magellan, the only car custom built for the President of the United States in the 20th century. Originally built in 1928 by the Pullman Company and officially the "U.S. No. 1 Presidential Railcar", the Ferdinand Magellan is on display at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, Florida. The famous news photo of Harry S Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune with a banner headline stating "Dewey Defeats Truman" was taken on this platform on Wednesday, November 3, 1948, at St. Louis Union Station. The Ferdinand Magellan was also used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and, to a much lesser extent, by President Dwight Eisenhower. The Magellan’s last official trip before retirement was in 1954, when first lady Mamie Eisenhower rode it from Washington, D.C., to Groton, Connecticut, to christen the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. President Ronald Reagan used the Magellan for one day, October 12, 1984, traveling 120 miles in Ohio, from Dayton to Perrysburg, making five stops to give "whistle stop" speeches along the way.
Modern whistle-stop tours[]
Prince Charles of the United Kingdom started a five-day whistle-stop tour of the United Kingdom on Monday, September 6, 2010, with a speech in Glasgow. The green campaigning tour is a part of the Prince's Start initiative that aims to build public awareness of sustainable activities. Indeed in Europe, touring politicians still occasionally take a train, as the excellent and still dense railway network offers access comparable to road travel and as it is better suited for extensive trips than air travel. In 2009 for example German chancellor (and CDU candidate) Angela Merkel made a highly publicized tour in Konrad Adenauer's old campaign train.[2] The SPD on the other hand discontinued the use of train tours for campaigns before the 1998 election.[3]
On September 30, 2020, after the first presidential debate against Donald Trump, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had an Amtrak "Build Back Better Express" train tour of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania from Cleveland, Ohio, to Johnstown, Pennsylvania.[4][5][6][7]
Gallery[]
The following are examples of whistle-stop train tours:
William Jennings Bryan delivers a whistle stop speech during his 1896 United States presidential campaign
Then-Republican vice presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt conducts a whistle stop during the 1900 United States presidential election
Republican presidential nominee Charles Evans Hughes, and his wife shake hands with supporters at Chicago's Union Station during his 1916 United States presidential campaign
Democratic presidential nominee James M. Cox makes a whistle stop appearance during his 1920 United States presidential campaign
Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor conduct whistle stop tour for his 1932 United States presidential campaign
President Harry Truman and his family embark on a whistle stop tour during his 1948 United States presidential campaign
President Lyndon B. Johnson joins his wife on a whistle stop tour for his 1964 United States presidential campaign
Robert F. Kennedy speaks during a whistle stop for his 1968 United States presidential campaign
President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford wave from a train during their whistle stop tour of Michigan during the 1976 United States presidential election
President Ronald Reagan goes on a whistle-stop tour through Ohio for his 1984 United States presidential campaign
Rail car being used by Tom Bradley for a whistle stop tour during his 1986 California gubernatorial campaign
Crowd greets Tom Bradley's 1986 whistle stop at the Fresno station
George H. W. Bush conducting a whistle stop tour of Georgia during his 1992 United States presidential campaign
George H. W. Bush waves to spectators along the route of his 1992 campaign whistle stop tour of Ohio
John Kerry on a whistle stop tour during his 2004 United States presidential campaign
Vladimir Zhirinovsky conducts a whistle stop in support of his party (LDPR) ahead of the 2007 Russian legislative election
President-Elect Barack Obama on a celebratory whistle-stop tour en route to his 2009 inauguration
Chet Culver delivers a speech during a whistle stop tour he conducted with Roxanne Conlin in 2010 for his Iowa gubernatorial reelection campaign and her U.S. senate campaign
As part of her 2012 U.S. Senate campaign, Elizabeth Warren embarks on a whistle stop tour
References[]
- ^ Truman by David McCullough
- ^ "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl".
- ^ "Kein Wahlkampfzug".
- ^ "Joe Biden Express rolls into Western Pennsylvania for whistle-stop train tour | TribLIVE.com". triblive.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ "Presidential campaign whistle-stop train tours punctuate Pennsylvania, U.S. political history | TribLIVE.com". triblive.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ "All aboard the Twitch train: Biden campaign using Amazon platform for stream of whistle-stop tour". GeekWire. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
- ^ "Biden begins whistle-stop train tour through Pennsylvania". UPI. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
External links[]
- Media related to Whistle stop tours at Wikimedia Commons
- Political terminology of the United States