ABSTRACT
By the time he reached twenty, Curtin had begun his lifelong involvement in the Labor Party. Greatly influenced by the speeches of Tom Mann, a British union leader who toured Australia from 1902 to 1908, Curtin attended the Australian Labor Party's informal "college" to train speakers and ran for a seat in Parliament, but lost. The experience did develop his public speaking and knowledge of campaign strategies, both of which were to serve him well in the future.
