In 1899, William A. Peffer published a series of articles in the Chicago Tribune recounting his career in the People’s Party, a reformist political party active in the American South and Midwest during the 1890’s of which he was the first U.S. Senator. These articles serve as a memoire focusing on the history and the ideas of the People’s Party, and above all its failure. The experience of political marginality is central to his account, in part because of the geographical location of the midwestern state in which he was elected (Kansas), his position as U.S. Senator of a minority party, and his role withinthe party itself. Nevertheless, this marginal situation was also “chosen” and expressed as a radical vindication of his political identity. As a consequence, this testimony shows how political marginality can be understood as a necessary stage of self-definition before recognition in the political field.