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For membership information, see: http://nebraskahistory.org/admin/members/index.htm Article Title: Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan Full Citation: Kendrick A Clements, “Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan,” Nebraska History 77 (1996): 167-176 URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1996Bryan_SecState.pdf Date: 4/23/2013 Article Summary: Bryan’s foreign policy alternated between rash interventionism and timid isolationism. He proved to be too idealistic to serve successfully as secretary of state in a time of revolution and world war. Cataloging Information: Names: William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Edward M House, Roger Farnham Place Names: Philippines, Panama Canal, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, China, Japan Keywords: William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, tariffs, income tax, Federal Reserve, Clayton Antitrust Act, Federal Trade Commission, Edward M House, treaties, German submarine warfare, League of Nations Photographs / Images: Bryan at his desk in the State Department, 1913; President Wilson and his cabinet, 1913; Bryan confirming ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment (direct election of US senators); paperweights that Bryan had had made out of old swords By Kendrick A. Clements William Jennings Bryan looked as little like a secretary of state as anyone who has ever occupied the office. His baggy, countrified clothes were always rumpled, his hair a long, untidy fringe around his bald dome. His pockets were stuffed with official dispatches, letters and memoranda scribbled on the backs of old envelopes, and with radishes, his favorite snack. He preached economy, but sometimes signed vouchers for large sums without being sure what he was authorizing and went unprepared to tes­ tify before congressional appropriations committees. American diplomats over­ seas complained that he often ignored their dispatches. Informal and gregari­ ous, the secretary preferred farmers to foreign dignitaries. Each summer he left Washington to deliver inspirational speeches before rural audiences who gathered by thousands to hear his roIl­ Bryan at his desk in the state department, 1913. NSHS-B915-49x ing baritone voice. To urban critics, his appearances on those Chautauqua order to have him "in Washington and might well have said the same thing. stages, along with magicians, comedi­ in harmony with the administration Moreover, Wilson's adherence to re­ ans and ventriloquists, were proof that rather than outside and possibly in a forms that Bryan had long championed he was unfit to be secretary of state . critical attitude."2 and Bryan's loyal support of the When he refused to serve wine at offi­ Bryan's influence on Wilson adminis­ president's domestic policy drew them cial functions, many people derided his tration policy resulted from his personal together. Had they not disagreed in 1915 "grape juice diplomacy."l relationship with the president. Al­ over the proper response to German That Woodrow Wilson chose such a though Wilson had earlier opposed submarine warfare, Bryan might well seemingly inappropriate person to be Bryan politically, and the two had have served eight years in the cabinet secretary of state was, of course, a result hardly met before 1912, their agreement rather than a little more than two. A few of time-honored tradition. Bryan was ap­ that Christian principles ought to guide days after Bryan's resignation , Wilson pointed because he was the most foreign policy gave them common told a friend that the secretary had al­ prominent figure in the Democratic ground upon which to stand while they ways been "singularly loyal."4 Party, and Wilson asked him to serve in discovered that they liked each other. Aside from two terms in Congress in "My father ... ," Bryan recalled, "saw no the 1890s, Bryan's period as secretary of Kendrick A. Clements is professor ofhistory at necessary conflict-and I have never state was the only public office ever th e University of South Carolina. He is the author of William Jennings Bryan, Missionary been able to see any- between the held by the man who exercised a domi­ Isolationist (J 982) and The Presidency of principles of our government and the nant influence over American politics in Woodrow Wilson (J 992) principles of Christian faith ."3 Wilson the early twentieth century. Born in Sa­ 167 Nebraska History - Fall/Winter 1996 lem, Illinois, on March 19, 1860, Bryan two silverite senators, may have contrib­ ready being laid for a great international was the son of strongly religious parents uted to the narrow margin by which exposition to be held in 1914 to cel­ who taught him that God expected the treaty was approved. Renominated ebrate the opening of the Panama Canal Christians to serve Him by serving their for the presidency in 1900, Bryan tried and a century of peace in Europe. To fellow men. After completing college to combine the old and new by oppos­ the Commoner the moment seemed op­ and law school in 1883, Bryan married ing both the gold standard and imperial­ portune to bring to fruition his dreams and moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, where ism. Americans, prosperous and self­ both of domestic reform and of interna­ he set out to put his convictions into confident, found his message negative tional peace. practice by entering politics. During two and outdated, and he was defeated by Bryan's first and probably greatest terms in the House, as a senatorial aspir­ McKinley more soundly than in 1896. value to the Wilson administration was ant in 1894, and in 1896 as a presiden­ In the long run, even imperialists like in the domestic sphere. A longtime ad­ tial candidate, he defended farmers' val­ Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wil­ vocate of tariff reduction, he called the ues and expressed their conviction that son came to believe that taking the Phil­ president's speech asking for a substan­ their troubles were the result of urban ippines had been a mistake, but that tiallowering of duties "a great state pa­ influences over the tariff and the mon­ conversion was several years in the fu­ per" and also applauded the inclusion etary system. When he proclaimed to ture. Meanwhile, Bryan's influence in in the bill of a progressive income tax the Democratic convention in 1896, the national party diminished between authorized under the Sixteenth Amend­ "You shall not press down upon the 1900 and 1904, until Democrats realized ment to the Constitution. In the House a brow of labor this crown of thorns, you that they could not win the White House large Democratic majority assured easy shall not crucify mankind upon a cross with a conservative. After the defeat of passage of the Underwood tariff bill, but of gold," it was no accident that he used Alton Parker in 1904, it was clear that in the Senate Bryan's personal influence religious imagery.s He was defending a the country was in a reform mood, and with southern Democrats helped to way of life as well as advocating politi­ in 1908 the Democrats turned to Bryan maintain party discipline and assure the cal policies. for the third time. Now plumper and administration's success.s Nominated for the presidency in balder than in 1896 or 1900, he chal­ He played an even more crucial role 1896 by both the Democrats and the lenged William Howard Taft enthusiasti­ in the drafting of the Federal Reserve Populists, Bryan campaigned vigorously cally, but never found an effective cam­ Act, insisting that the government, not but was narrowly defeated by William paign issue, and the Ohioan, endorsed private bankers, must exercise ultimate McKinley. Declaring that the election by the popular Theodore Roosevelt, control and responsibility over the had been only "the first battle," the Ne­ rolled over him. banking system and the currency. His braskan vowed to renew the fight four Bryan's three electoral defeats never announcement that he supported the years later6 Before he could do so, how­ made him bitter or self-doubting. Issues, administration's bill "in all details" ever, the United States recovered from he believed, were more important than helped to arouse public demands for depression and plunged happily into a personal victories, and by 1912, when passage of the legislation and contrib­ "splendid little war" with Spain in 1898. he relinquished party leadership to uted significantly to its passage in De­ Together, prosperity and war trans­ Woodrow Wilson, he knew both parties cember 1913 9 formed the nation beyond anything had adopted ideas he had been among In regard to the third great element of Bryan had imagined in 1896 and made the first to support, and the Democrats, New Freedom reform legislation, control his old issues irrelevant. Opposed to the with majorities in both houses of Con­ of big business, Bryan played a quiet but war, Bryan nevertheless volunteered gress, had become "the party of reform." important part, supporting the passage loyally and served as a colonel in