A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan [Paperback]

Robert W. Cherny (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0806126671 | ISBN-13: 978-0806126678 | Publication Date: September 15, 1994

Three times the Democratic Party’s nominee for president (1896, 1900, and 1908), and Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, William Jennings Bryan voiced the concerns of many Americans left out of the post-Civil War economic growth. In this book, Robert W. Cherny traces Bryan’s major political crusades for a new currency policy, prohibition, and women’s suffrage, and against colonialism, monopolies, America’s entry into World War I, and the teaching of evolution in the public schools. Drawing on Bryan’s writings and correspondence, Cherny presents Bryan’s key role in the Democratic Party’s transformation from a proponent of minimal government to an advocate of active government.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

William Jennings Bryan is one of the most influential "failures" of American politics: a three-time Democratic nominee for president who, although he never won the office, transformed his party into an institution "pledged," in biographer Robert W. Cherny's words, "to use the power of government on behalf of those displaced and disadvantaged by the advance of industrialization and the emergence of corporate behemoths." Although he is best remembered for two events--his electrifying "cross of gold" speech at the 1896 Democratic convention and his work for the prosecution in the Scopes trial of 1925--his career was extremely rich in incident. Cherny draws amply upon Bryan's own writings and correspondence to produce a portrait of the lifelong political crusader that, while comparatively short in length, offers a substantial evaluation of his legacy.

About the Author

Robert W. Cherny is Professor of History at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Populism, Progressivism, and the Transformation of Nebraska Politics, 1885-1915 and coauthor of San Francisco, 1865-1932.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806126671
• ISBN-13: 978-0806126678
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Short and Concise review of Bryan's Life, December 7, 2004

By 

David W. Southworth (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (Paperback)

This brief, concise review of the life of William Jennings Bryan is a quick and easy way to familiarize yourself with this important American politician. While Bryan's only official politrical positions was as a two-term congressman and secretary of state for a little over two years, he was one of the most influential politicians for the thirty years he was active in Democratic politics. The three-time losing presidential candidate popularized (thought did not originate) many of the progressive issues of the period, championing many causes that eventually became law. Examples of this include the direct election of senators, the right to vote for women, and regulation of business and industry.

Through his powerful belief in Christian virtue, Bryan constantly championed the rights of the least among him. While his strict fundamentalist views eventually humiliated him at the end of his life by way of the "Scopes Monkey Trial," it was this belief in the decency of human life that drove him for so long. This book gives a brief and succinct discussion of the great politician's life.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction to the "Great Commoner"..., November 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (Library of American Biography) (Paperback)

William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) has the dubious distinction of being one of only two men in American history to run for President three times and lose each time. Yet Bryan almost certainly qualifies as one of the most influential "losers" in American history, for despite his defeats he retained a large and loyal following that allowed him to remake the Democratic Party in the early twentieth century. The son of a country judge in Salem, Illinois, Bryan was raised in a solidly middle-class family by devoutly religious parents. Bryan attended law school in Chicago and then moved to Lincoln, Nebraska and opened his own law office. From the beginning his good looks, marvelous voice, and gifts as an orator made him into a celebrity in Nebraska. Bryan used these skills to side with the "underdogs" of the Midwestern prairies - the farmers who were being driven into bankruptcy and foreclosure by a worsening economy and a lack of support from the federal government in Washington. In 1890 he was elected to Congress - a rare victory for the Democrats in a Republican state. He soon earned a reputation as a superb speaker with a magnetic voice - and as a controversial foe of the big businesses which controlled both political parties. In the 1890's a nationwide economic depression gave Bryan the chance to seize control of the Democratic Party from its' conservative leaders. At the 1896 Democratic National Convention he gave what is still regarded as one of the greatest political speeches in American history - a ringing defense of farmers and an assault on the "robber barons" of New York's Wall Street. The "Cross of Gold" speech electrified the delegates and earned Bryan, at the age of 36, the presidential nomination. Over the next four months Bryan traveled by train to all parts of the nation, spoke to huge crowds, and basically ran the first modern "liberal" presidential campaign. He pushed for unemployment insurance, social security, government credit for farmers and small businessmen, an end to child labor in factories and coal mines, women's suffrage, and better working conditions for factory workers. Although we take many of these things for granted today, the Republicans and Big Business regarded them as dangerous and a threat to the national economy. They raised record sums of money to defeat Bryan, threatened factory workers with layoffs if they voted for Bryan, and in the end defeated the "Great Commoner" (so-called because of his affinity for the "common people" of America) by a narrow margin. Yet Bryan's heroic campaign allowed him to make the Democrats into the "liberal" party that they are today. In 1900 and 1908 he was again nominated for President by the Democrats - in 1900 he spoke out against American "imperialism" overseas and even uttered warnings that America could not be the world's policeman - a warning that we still argue about today. In 1912 Bryan played THE key role in securing the Democratic nomination for Woodrow Wilson - thus making Wilson President. Bryan served as Wilson's Secretary of State from 1913-1915, during that time he worked tirelessly to keep the USA out of World War One. When Wilson threatened to go to war with Germany in 1915 following the sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania - a sinking which cost 128 American lives, Bryan resigned as Secretary rather than support a move towards war - a war which Bryan honestly felt would "waste" thousands of American lives. Over the last decade of his life Bryan became a leading spokesman for religious fundamentalism, and a strong opponent of the theory of evolution. In 1925 he made his last dramatic stand as the prosecutor in one of the most famous trials of the twentieth century. John T. Scopes, a biology teacher in the high school of Dayton, Tennessee, was arrested and put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in violation of a state law forbidding it. The defense hired Clarence Darrow, the nation's most famous trial lawyer (the Johnnie Cochran of his day) and a militant critic of traditional Christian beliefs, to defend Scopes. When Bryan agreed to "battle for the Lord" and lead the prosection, the trial became a national sensation. The trial's climax came when Darrow put Bryan on the witness stand as an "expert" on the Bible and proceeded to ridicule his beliefs, such as that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, or that Adam and Eve were really the first two humans on the Earth. Although Scopes was found guilty (he never paid the $100 fine), Bryan was so humiliated by Darrow's questioning and so exhausted by the trial that he suddenly died a few days later. Many big-city reporters and editors continued to ridicule Bryan even after his death - they regarded him as an ignorant rural hick with no redeeming qualities. Yet large numbers of people still turned out for his funeral - ordinary, "common" folk who realized how hard Bryan had fought on their behalf, and how much he had sacrificed in their cause. As this book points out, nearly all of the things Bryan fought for have since been enacted into laws, and most of the Democratic Party's great leaders of the past century - from Wilson to FDR to Huey Long to Harry Truman to Adlai Stevenson and Lyndon Johnson - owe Bryan a debt of gratitude for transforming the Democrats into a liberal party. As Truman noted "If it wasn't for Old Bill Bryan, there wouldn't be any liberalism at all in the country now". This biography, while short, is nonetheless an excellent introduction into one of the most influential - and controversial - politicians in American history.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good biography of Bryan., March 23, 2002

By 

Dennis Phillips "The Book Friar" (Bulls Gap, Tennessee USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Righteous Cause: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (Paperback)

The Democratic party William Jennings Bryan took control of in 1896 is a far cry from that same party today. The person most responsible for this change is Bryan. As the book points out Bryan was no intellectual giant; but how many of America's leaders have been? To quote Mr. Cherny, to Bryan "Expertise counted for less than a good heart and a principled outlook." The "Great Commoner" saw things in black and white, good vs. evil and when he had decided what was right he took up cause after cause with a zeal not often found among politicans.

It is often said that the proof is in the pudding, and the proof of Bryan's sweeping influence can be found during the New Deal as one after another his ideas were passed into law. He could of course be wrong as one of his pet projects prohibition and his unfortunate trip to Dayton show. On the other hand one has to wonder how much less the depression would have hurt the common people if more of Bryan's ideas had been made into law before 1929. Like him or not William Jennings Bryan has had more influence on American public policy than at least half of the men who won presidential elections.

As for this particular book. It is very well written and keeps the reader's interest. It is on the short side but provides a very good overview of Bryan's life and carear. The only reason I took away one star was because it is not well documented. No footnotes are to be found and in places they are badly needed. Otherwise this is a very good work dealing with one of America's greats.