Customer Reviews

William Jennings Bryan, Vol. 2: Progressive Politician and Moral Statesman, 1909-1915

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This volume of Coletta's magisterial biography covers Bryan's life from 1908 to his resignation as Secretary of State in June 1915. The account of the Democratic Convention in 1912 is one of the highlights of the book, and makes clear that Bryan was responsible for Wilson being chosen in that dramatic convention--the account cannot help but make one nostalgic for those bygone days when presidential nominating conventions were meaningful and full of suspense. Except for Bryan, Champ Clark would have been nominated and elected president--and it is mind-boggling to think about how the world's history would have been changed by such a result at the convention. The treatment of Bryan's time as Secreatary of State I did not think as well done as Arthur Link's account in his volumes on Wilson's presidency. see Wilson: The Struggle for Neutrality 1914-1915, by Arthur S. Link (read 4 July 1980) A minor flaw in this book is that while the footnotes are where thay are supposed to be, at the foot of each page, the bibliography does not list all the books cited in the footnotes! A good corrective for this book's treatment of Wilson's course up to 1917 is The World War and American Isolation 1914-1917, by Ernest R. May (read 1 Nov 1984).