William
Jennings Bryan
 "He
Kept the Faith"
In
1896 the Democratic was bitterly divided between the Northeast
Democrats represented by incumbent President Grover Cleveland
and South and West Democrats lead by William Jennings Bryan. Polarized
by the issue of the gold standard, the convention was dominated
by the free-silver wing lead by Bryan. Delivering perhaps the
most memorable talk of his career, Bryan captured the nomination
with his famous "Cross of Gold" speech. Already well
known as a powerful orator, and a champion of the common man,
Bryan's campaign nearly won him the White House. He lost to Republican
William McKinley, gathering more votes in losing that Cleveland
did four years earlier in winning.
Bryan
was nominated again in 1900, but defeated by Theodore Roosevelt.
By 1904 Democratic Party leaders were upset with Bryan, blaming
his for two consecutive defeats to the Republicans. Addressing
the convention that year in St. Louis Bryan said, "You may
dispute over whether I have fought a good fight; you may dispute
over whether I have finished my course; but you cannot deny that
I have kept the faith."
 Born
in Illinois in 1860, Bryan attended law school in Chicago and
began practicing law there. Presently he moved to Nebraska and
ran for Congress. He won, and served from 1891 to 1895. During
this time he acquired a reputation as a powerful speaker and became
a leader of the movement for the free coinage of silver.
From
his congressional days in the early 1890's through his three presidential
races, he consistently supported the farmer and workingman against
the interest of "big business." Besides advocating the
coinage of silver in addition gold in order to increase the money
supply, Bryan opposed the power of big railroads and was an early
supporter of women's suffrage.
 In
many ways Bryan was ahead of his time in what would definitely
become liberal issues. He was a pacifist, and believed strongly
that the United States should not resort to war in its foreign
policy. He opposed American intervention in world affairs under
the McKinley administration; he was against the Spanish American
war even though he was for freeing Cuba.
By 1912 he was definitely not considered a candidate again, but
he still held such a hold over many in the Democratic Party that
Woodrow Wilson was nominated largely with his support. Wilson
appointed him Secretary of State and he negotiated 30 treaties
of arbitration with foreign countries. His strict position of
neutrality; however, increasingly put him at odds with both President
Wilson and world events. He opposed the lending of funds to the
Allies because such a policy would involve the US in World War
1, and he eventually resigned during the Lusitania crisis. However,
once The United States declared war, Bryan dutifully supported
the war and the administration.
Despite
his identification as a progressive in political matters, Bryan
had a clear public Christian testimony. "The influences of
the church, the Sunday School, the prayer meeting and the YMCA
were about me and sustained me until my feet were upon the solid
Rock and my faith built on an enduring foundation," he wrote
in his memoirs. "At the age of fourteen, I reached one of
the truing points in my life. I attended a revival that was being
conducted in a Presbyterian church and was converted."
Bryan's
last years were devoted largely to activities in behalf of the
American religious movement known as fundamentalism. He spoke
in churches and Bible conferences and taught a Sunday school that
had about six thousand in attendance.
 After
World War 1, Bryan vehemently attacked the teachings of evolution
in Public schools and colleges; he viewed (correctly) viewed evolution
as a treat to Christianity and the Bible. In 1924 he drafted legislation
to prevent the teaching of Darwinist evolutionary theory in Florida's
public schools. In 1925, at Dayton, Tennessee, he acted as an
associate prosecutor in the trial of a schoolteacher, John Thomas
Scopes, who had taught the biological theory of evolution to his
pupils in defiance of a state law prohibiting the teaching of
doctrines contrary to the Bible. The chief defense attorney was
the famous American lawyer and celebrated agnostic, Clarence Darrow,
who also had strong personal convictions about the principles
involved. The case attracted considerable attention throughout
the United States. During the trial, Darrow called Bryan to the
stand.
Though
reluctant to testify, he declared, "I want the Christian
world to know that any atheist, agnostic, unbeliever, can question
me any time as to my belief in God and I will answer him."
Unfortunately, Bryan was no Bible scholar, and the grilling cross-examination
to which Darrow subjected Bryan revealed his ignorance of scientific
discoveries as well. Though Bryan won the case, and Scopes was
found guilty and fined $100, the trial probably hurt the fundamentalist
cause and may have been a contributing factor in Bryan's sudden
death on July 26, only five days after the conclusion of the trial.
William
Jennings Bryan was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. On his
tomb is the simple yet powerful epitaph; "He Kept the Faith."
Sources:
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/aae/side/bryan.html
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761554631
Scenes from American Church History, Edited by Mark Sidwell
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