William Jennings Bryan was born in this house in Salem, Illinois, on March 19, 1860.
He ran for president three times, in 1896, 1900, and 1908, losing twice to William McKinley and once to William Howard Taft. Woodrow Wilson appointed him Secretary of State in 1913, but Bryan resigned in 1915 because he opposed U.S. participation in World War I.
Bryan remained active in national matters for the rest of his life, and he helped pass the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1920. This amendment was a comprehensive prohibition of alcoholic beverages, outlawing their production, importation, transportation, and sale. The resulting period, known as Prohibition, lasted until 1933, when the 21st Amendment ended it.
Bryan also rejected the idea of evolution, arguing that it undermined the moral instruction provided by religion. He was a lawyer, and in the 1925 “Scopes Monkey Trial,” he prosecuted a substitute biology teacher. The teacher, named Scopes, was accused of teaching that mankind descended from “lower life forms.” This was a violation of a Tennessee law. Clarence Darrow defended the teacher in the trial, but Bryan won the verdict. The play and movie, Inherit the Wind, dramatized the trial.
Bryan’s support of prohibition and opposition to evolution may make him seem out of step with more modern thought, but consider some of his other positions: He advocated for an eight-hour work day, the right to strike, and a minimum wage, along with women’s right to vote. He also called for public financing of political campaigns, agricultural subsidies, ending legal gender discrimination, and a guaranteed living wage.
William Jennings Bryan was renowned as an effective speaker, and this skill kept him in the public eye from 1890, when he was elected to the House of Representatives, until his death in 1925. He made his most famous speech in 1896 to the Democratic National Convention, in which he attacked the “Cross of Gold,” decrying the gold standard and advocating for increased use of silver coins. When the Democrats responded by nominating Bryan as their candidate for president, he became the youngest person to ever receive an electoral vote for the office.
He died in his sleep on July 26, 1925, a few days after the conclusion of the Scopes trial. The trial is not considered to have caused his death.
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Photo by the author.