 At the 1896 Republican National Convention, he was the alternate delegate to state senator Charles Alfred Pillsbury, and lobbied on behalf of eventual nominee William McKinley to African American delegates from the South.At the 1900 Republican state convention, he gave an impassioned speech where, as described by the "Minneapolis Journal", he "hypnotize[d] the convention with oratory" in arguing for a spot in Minnesota's national convention delegation for an African American.The "Journal" would report that "Before the delegates had time to pull up the lower jaws they dropped in amazement when they heard him nominate himself [.