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Twenty-Five Greatest Champions of America: Part Three

© Brian Tubbs

While there have been thousands of Americans that have selflessly given of themselves to make the world a better place, the twenty-five profiled in this series have most effectively and passionately championed those principles responsible for the founding of America itself.

Ten Americans have thus far been profiled: Bob Hope (#25), Robert E. Lee (#24), Walt Disney (#23), Billy Graham (#22), Rosa Parks (#21), Mark Twain (#20), Dorothea Dix (#19), John Quincy Adams (#18), Eleanor Roosevelt (#17) and Helen Keller (#16). Now, our list continues with five more...

Number Fifteen: William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan is probably best remembered as the ignorant fundamentalist caricature from "Inherit the Wind," the popular play (and later movie) that ridiculed his participation in the highly sensationalized Scopes "Monkey" Trial of 1925. In reality, Bryan was a dynamic statesman, whose influence can be seen in many areas of society today that are rarely attributed to him and that many of us take for granted.

William Jennings Bryan came to the 1896 Democratic National Convention as a 36-year old underdog for the presidential nomination. With a spellbinding declaration that the established powers will not use a strict gold standard to "press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns...and...shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold," the newspaper editor and former U.S. congressman touched off a truly spontaneous 30-minute demonstration and captured the entire Democratic convention. He was nominated by both the Democratic and Populist parties for President that year, but was ultimately overtaken in the general election by a ruthless political campaign orchestrated by legendary boss Mark Hanna. Hanna's machine, which successfully supported Republican William McKinley, controlled banks and newspapers across the country, and it handed Bryan his first of three presidential losses.

Despite these three losses (1896, 1900, and 1908), the "Silver-Tongued Orator" was the Democratic Party's dominant force for two decades. Known as "the Great Commoner," Bryan argued for a number of social and economic causes that he believed would protect the common citizen. Among his signature issues were opposition to both high tariffs and a strict gold standard for U.S. currency. Believing that too much power was being concentrated in corporate board rooms and political back rooms, Bryan also supported federal anti-trust laws and championed the direct election of U.S. senators.

Committed to peace, Bryan opposed what he saw as U.S. imperialism in the wake of the Spanish-American War. While serving as Woodrow Wilson's first Secretary of State (a post he earned after sitting out the 1912 presidential election and helping Wilson obtain the Democratic nomination instead), he helped negotiate over 30 international agreements.

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