William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American orator and politician from <a title="Nebraska" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska">Nebraska</a>. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="History of the Democratic Party (United States)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Democratic_Party_(United_States)">Democratic Party</a>, standing three times as the party's nominee for <a title="President of the United States" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States">President of the United States</a>. He also served in the <a title="United States House of Representatives" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives">United States House of Representatives</a> and as the <a title="United States Secretary of State" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_State">United States Secretary of State</a> under <a title="Woodrow Wilson" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson">Woodrow Wilson</a>. Just before his death he gained national attention for attacking the teaching of evolution in the <a title="Scopes Trial" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial">Scopes Trial</a>. Because of his faith in the wisdom of the common people, he was often called "The Great Commoner".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan#cite_note-1">[1]</a>

Born and raised in Illinois, Bryan moved to Nebraska in the 1880s. He won election to the House of Representatives in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States House of Representatives elections, 1890" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,1890">1890 elections</a>, serving two terms before making an unsuccessful run for the <a title="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate">Senate</a> in 1894. At the <a title="1896 Democratic National Convention" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Democratic_National_Convention">1896 Democratic National Convention</a>, Bryan delivered his "<a title="Cross of Gold speech" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Gold_speech">Cross of Gold speech</a>" which attacked the <a title="Gold standard" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard">gold standard</a> and the eastern moneyed interests and crusaded for inflationary policies built around <a title="Free silver" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_silver">the expanded coinage of silver coins</a>. In a repudiation of incumbent President <a title="Grover Cleveland" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland">Grover Cleveland</a> and his conservative <a class="mw-redirect" title="Bourbon Democrats" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_Democrats">Bourbon Democrats</a>, the Democratic convention nominated Bryan for president, making Bryan the youngest major party presidential nominee in U.S. history. Subsequently, Bryan was also nominated for president by the left-wing <a title="People's Party (United States)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party(United_States)">Populist Party</a>, and many Populists would eventually follow Bryan into the Democratic Party. In the intensely fought <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 1896" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,1896">1896 presidential election</a>, <a title="Republican Party (United States)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)">Republican</a> nominee <a title="William McKinley" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McKinley">William McKinley</a> emerged triumphant. Bryan gained fame as an orator as he invented the national stumping tour when he reached an audience of 5 million people in 27 states in 1896.

Bryan retained control of the Democratic Party and won the presidential nomination again in <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 1900" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,1900">1900</a>. In the aftermath of the <a title="Spanish–American War" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War">Spanish–American War</a>, Bryan became a fierce opponent of <a title="American imperialism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_imperialism">American imperialism</a>, and much of the campaign centered on that issue. In the election, McKinley again defeated Bryan, winning several Western states that Bryan had won in 1896. Bryan's influence in the party weakened after the 1900 election, and the Democrats nominated the conservative <a title="Alton B. Parker" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_B.Parker">Alton B. Parker</a> in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 1904" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,1904">1904 presidential election</a>. Bryan regained his stature in the party after Parker's resounding defeat by <a title="Theodore Roosevelt" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt">Theodore Roosevelt</a>, and voters from both parties increasingly embraced the progressive reforms that had long been championed by Bryan. Bryan won his party's nomination in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 1908" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,1908">1908 presidential election</a>, but he was defeated by Roosevelt's chosen successor, <a title="William Howard Taft" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard_Taft">William Howard Taft</a>. Along with <a title="Henry Clay" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay">Henry Clay</a>, Bryan is one of the two individuals since 1804 who received <a class="mw-redirect" title="Electoral College (United States)" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)">electoral votes</a> in three separate presidential elections but never won a presidential election. The 493 cumulative electoral votes cast for Bryan in those three elections are the most received by a presidential candidate never elected.

After the Democrats won the presidency in the <a class="mw-redirect" title="United States presidential election, 1912" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1912">1912 election</a>, Woodrow Wilson rewarded Bryan's support with the important cabinet position of Secretary of State. Bryan helped Wilson pass several progressive reforms through Congress, but he and Wilson clashed over U.S. neutrality in <a title="World War I" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I">World War I</a>. Bryan resigned from his post in 1915 after Wilson sent <a title="German Empire" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Empire">Germany</a> a note of protest in response to the sinking of the <a title="RMS Lusitania" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania">Lusitania</a> by a German <a class="mw-redirect" title="U-Boat" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Boat">U-Boat</a>. After leaving office, Bryan retained some of his influence within the Democratic Party, but he increasingly devoted himself to religious matters and anti-<a title="Evolution" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution">evolution</a> activism. He opposed <a title="Darwinism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism">Darwinism</a> on religious and humanitarian grounds, most famously in the 1925 <a title="Scopes Trial" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial">Scopes Trial</a>. Since his death in 1925, Bryan has elicited mixed reactions from various commentators, but he is widely considered to have been one of the most influential figures of the <a title="Progressive Era" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era">Progressive Era</a>.

William Jennings Bryan

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