| − | Recall from our prior lecture that William Jennings Bryan won the Democratic nomination in 1896 with a stirring, but perhaps misguided, speech entitled the "Cross of Gold" (which advocated use of silver). He united the Populist Party with the Democratic Party by opposing high tariffs, and he ran and lost for president in 1896, 1900 and 1908. Despite losing repeatedly, he was the single most influential person in the Democratic Party for two decades, and helped secure the Democratic nomination (and election) for Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Bryan then served as the Secretary of State under Wilson, until Bryan became the first and only Secretary of State to resign entirely based on principle: his moral opposition to World War I.
| + | As explained earlier in this Lecture, William Jennings Bryan won the Democratic nomination in 1896 with a stirring, but perhaps misguided, speech entitled the "Cross of Gold" (which advocated use of silver). He united the Populist Party with the Democratic Party by opposing high tariffs, and he ran and lost for president in 1896, 1900 and 1908. Despite losing repeatedly, he was the single most influential person in the Democratic Party for two decades, and helped secure the Democratic nomination (and election) for Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Bryan then served as the Secretary of State under Wilson, until Bryan became the first and only Secretary of State to resign entirely based on principle: his moral opposition to World War I. |
| | Bryan was someone who might be called a "Christian fundamentalist" today. He adhered to the teachings of the Bible, he supported Prohibition (the banning of alcohol), and he opposed teaching in public schools that humans were somehow the result of evolution. Bryan also opposed imperialism by the United States. He had many opponents in the more liberal newspapers, particularly later in life, but no one doubted that he was a man of strong principles. We will return to his career in a future lecture when we discuss the 1920s. | | Bryan was someone who might be called a "Christian fundamentalist" today. He adhered to the teachings of the Bible, he supported Prohibition (the banning of alcohol), and he opposed teaching in public schools that humans were somehow the result of evolution. Bryan also opposed imperialism by the United States. He had many opponents in the more liberal newspapers, particularly later in life, but no one doubted that he was a man of strong principles. We will return to his career in a future lecture when we discuss the 1920s. |