William Jennings Bryan (redirected from Jennings bryan)

Bryan, William Jennings 

Born Mar. 19, 1860, in Salem, Ill.; died July 26, 1925, in Dayton, Tenn. American statesman. Lawyer by education.

In 1891, Bryan became a member of Congress from the Democratic Party. Demagogically supporting the antitrust and Populist movements, he gained popularity among the petite and middle bourgeoisie, farmers, and part of the working class. He ran unsuccessfully three times (in 1896, 1900, and 1908) for the office of president of the USA. From 1913 to 1915 he was secretary of state in W. Wilson’s cabinet. He supported the economic and political expansion of the USA in Latin America. On the eve of World War I, Bryan proposed a plan for solving world conflicts by means of arbitration. Bryan’s so-called pacifism came into conflict with the anti-German position of the USA and led to his resignation. The reactionary nature of Bryan’s views was revealed when he acted as prosecutor in the anti-Darwinian “Monkey Trial” (1925).