A Godly Hero: The Life Of William Jennings Bryan, Kazin -B

                     The man known as "The Great Commoner" believed in Jesus, and Thomas Jefferson. The Sage of Monticello was admired because of his belief in the wisdom of the people, and his advocacy of equal rights. Indeed, the only book Bryan believed to be more important than the Jefferson Cyclopedia was the Bible. "Bryan was the first leader of a major party to argue for permanently expanding the power of the federal government to serve the welfare of ordinary Americans...He preached that the national state should counter the overweening power of banks and industrial corporations by legalizing strikes, subsidizing farmers, taxing the rich, banning private campaign spending, and outlawing the liquor trust." His strict populist morality based on the scriptures has been rejected since his 1925 death.

                   He was born in 1860 in Salem, Illinois, the son of a successful lawyer. His father Silas was prominent member of the local Democratic Party. He graduated from Whipple Academy and Illinois College. He honed the oratorical skills that would later make him famous. He graduated from Union Law School in Chicago and returned home to Jacksonville, IL to practice. He married Mary Baird who was an invaluable colleague for the rest of his life. In 1887, the young couple moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. His skillful speechmaking on behalf of the Democratic ticket in 1888 attracted the approval of the party. He ran for Congress in 1890. The GOP was facing an agrarian revolt, and that propelled Bryan to victory. He quickly garnered attention and a sterling reputation for his support of tariff reform and bimetallism. In 1894, he failed to obtain Nebraska's senate seat, but rather became the populist Democrats preferred candidate for president.  As an unknown from a state that had never voted Democratic, he had a mountain to climb to achieve the nomination. He toured the country for sixteen months speaking against the gold standard. He arrived at the Chicago convention as a long shot. Bryan is considered one of the greatest orators in US history, and his convention speech was one of his best. His closing sentence brought down the house, and has endured in the history texts for well over a century. "You shall not press down upon the  brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." His speech was twenty minutes; the resulting cheers lasted forty. He was nominated on the fifth ballot. He won the nomination of the populist People's Party, but failed to generate any interest in the big cities of the north and east. He lost to McKinley, but came tantalizingly close.

                  Bryan was a moral crusader whose ideas attracted his faithful on a very personal level. His popularity was such that he made a living traveling around the country speaking to his people. Although he supported the invasion of Cuba, he vigorously opposed the annexation of the Philippines. Opposition to the imperial war of conquest in the Pacific was the only issue that seemed to have any traction as 1900 approached. The economy was strong and the silver issue had lost its impact.  Once again, the GOP outspent the Democrats by a 10:1 ratio, and McKinley won convincingly. "Bryan spent the next four years elaborating his self-image as the independent conscience of moral, insurgent white Americans." He promoted his weekly newspaper 'The Commoner.' In Washington, Roosevelt was now governing aggressively and pursued a progressive agenda that co-opted some of Bryan's signature themes. And at the convention, the conservatives nominated Alton Parker of NY. TR crushed him in November. Bryan headed back on the road and toured the country speaking to the assembled believers at Chautaquas in every state. He worked diligently to obtain the next nomination and had it locked up long before the convention. TR had renounced a third term, and recommended William Taft as his successor. He made labor reform his theme, and received the support of the AFL. The Democrats hope was that this would give him a chance in the big states of the north and midwest. Taft simply promised to continue TR's policies and won decisively.

                Retired from electoral politics, he turned to his new role as "moral scourge" of the nation. Notwithstanding the fact that Prohibition was driven by Republicans, it was also a core belief of rural Protestants, and Bryan supported it too. In 1912, he watched as Wilson won the White House because TR's insurgency tore apart the GOP. His support for Wilson led to his taking up the reins at the State Dept. However, his"tenure in the highest appointive office in the land, which presented  a great opportunity to do good in the world, instead began his political decline." He was unpopular with the eastern establishment press, which, among other things, derided his choice of grape juice and water as the preferred libations for events he hosted. His pacifist beliefs led him to criticize the war in Europe and to support a strict US neutrality. However, American businesses were selling vast amounts of goods to the Allies, Wall Street was lending them money and Wilson was appalled by Germany's conduct. Wilson condemned Germany for the sinking of the Lusitania without addressing the UK's embargo of the continent, which Bryan felt was equally to blame for the violence on the high seas. He resigned in June, 1915.

               The following year, he campaigned for Wilson's re-election and is believed to have helped to put him over the top in a very close election. After the US entry into the war, he offered his support to the president, and later spoke for the ratification of the Versailles Treaty. In the new decade, the aging and ailing orator returned to the road, preaching and traveling and was once again the focus of far-reaching press coverage. He supported women's suffrage and urged legislation to eliminate all gender discrimination. He feared the impact of Darwinism on the young would lead to immorality, and began to speak against evolution. The final act of his long career was the Scopes Trial in Dayton, TN in 1925. Local boosters drummed up the trial to support tourism, but it soon grew to be an international event, with both sides putting intellectual giants on a collision course. He was confused by Darrow, and ridiculed in the northern press. He died a few days after the trial's conclusion.

               History has not been kind to Bryan. Noted Baltimore newspaperman H. L. Mencken savaged him during the trial and after his death. Historian Richard Hofstadter echoed his distaste a generation later, and those opinions dominated the history books. They all seem to have forgotten he drew millions and millions of ordinary people to a populist cause and forever changed the way politicians campaign for higher office. I'm intrigued by his valiant efforts on behalf of the poor, and put off by his overly religious preaching. An intriguing man in a fascinating time, and a very boring book.