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WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: THE GREAT COMMONER, PART II

© John S. Cooper

In 1904, the gold forces took control of the convention, and the silver plank was voted down. The nominee was Alton Parker, a strong gold candidate. When Parker lost in a landslide, the stage was set for another Bryan attempt at the White House.

Bryan made such an effective race for the nomination in 1908 that he was the only major candidate at the convention. Roosevelt's progressivism, which included many of Bryan's ideas, made Bryan look less radical. Now older, Bryan seemed more acceptable, or at least more familiar, to the voters. Bryan's third race for the White House was his worst defeat, with Bryan winning a smaller percentage of the popular vote than in either of the two previous contests.

In 1912, Bryan wanted to maintain his position as party leader, and was determined to prevent a conservative from getting the nomination. The two leading candidates were Governor Wilson of New Jersey and House Speaker Champ Clark, who seemed deadlocked after many ballots. Bryan had been voting for Clark, but then switched to Wilson. Many wondered if Bryan was trying to keep the convention deadlocked until they named him as a compromise candidate. This seemed especially true since the Democratic candidate would have a very good chance with the Republican Party split between Taft and Roosevelt.

But the convention named Wilson on the 46th ballot. Wilson won the election and named Bryan Secretary of State. Bryan served for two years, negotiating peace treaties with 29 nations. When Wilson began taking a more militaristic stand towards Germany, Bryan, who by this time had become a total pacifist, felt he could no longer serve. But he and Wilson parted on friendly terms. Bryan continued to advise Wilson, and worked on Wilson's 1916 re-election campaign. His final advice to Wilson was to compromise on the League of Nations Treaty. Wilson did not follow Bryan's advice, and the Treaty failed in the Senate.

Bryan's influence in the Democratic Party declined, and he played no major part in the selection of the party candidate in 1920. The next year, Bryan moved to Florida. In 1924, Bryan wrote legislation passed by the Florida legislature that prohibited the teaching of evolution in schools. He carried his anti-evolution massage to college audiences and churches, trying to halt the trend of modernism that Bryan considered anti-religious. In 1925, Tennessee passed a similar law. A teacher named John Scopes defied the law to provoke a test case in court, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The prosecution invited Bryan to participate in the prosecution, hoping Bryan would bring national attention to the case.

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