From the publisher
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 30. Chapters: People from Centralia, Illinois, William Jennings Bryan, John T. Scopes, Roland Burris, Bill Laswell, William G. Kline, Gary Gaetti, Merle Harmon, Marilyn Kaytor, David Blackwell, Kirk Rueter, James Brady, Dwight Eddleman, Robert L. Wilson, Smiley Quick, Charles W. Bryan, Tom Wargo, James Wickersham, David Patrick, Nancy Scranton, Mary Lee, Charles W. Vursell, Fred Louis Wham. Excerpt: William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States (1896, 1900 and 1908). He served in the United States Congress briefly as a Representative from Nebraska and was the 41st United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1916. Bryan was a devout Presbyterian, a supporter of popular democracy, an enemy of gold, banks and railroads, a leader of the silverite movement in the 1890s, a peace advocate, a prohibitionist, and an opponent of Darwinism on religious grounds. With his deep, commanding voice and wide travels, he was one of the best known orators and lecturers of the era. Because of his faith in the goodness and rightness of the common people, he was called "The Great Commoner." In the intensely fought 1896 and 1900 elections, he was defeated by William McKinley but retained control of the Democratic Party. With over 500 speeches in 1896, Bryan invented the national stumping tour, in an era when other presidential candidates stayed home. In his three presidential bids, he promoted Free Silver in 1896, anti-imperialism in 1900, and trust-busting in 1908, calling on Democrats to fight the trusts (big corporations) and big banks, and embrace anti-elitist ideals of republicanism. President Wilson appo...
