By BRUCE KAUFFMANN Wednesday, July 23, 2008 William Jennings Bryan, who died this week (July 26) in 1925, has been called the biggest loser in the history of American politics. He ran for president three times, in 1896, 1900 and 1908, and each time he lost by a margin larger than the previous time. Yet if voters kept rejecting him for president, his Democratic Party started accepting his liberal reformist ideas, so much so that the Democratic Party of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and, to a great extent, the party of today, can trace its roots directly back to him. Bryan first gained national attention, and the presidential nomination, at the Democratic Convention of 1896 when he delivered his mesmerizing "Cross of Gold" speech decrying America's reliance on the gold standard and calling for a "free...
[read full story]
Your Web Site
