March 19, 1860, is the birthday of American politician William Jennings Bryan. He was a dominant force in the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Partys candidate for President of the United States (1896, 1900 and 1908). He served two terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska and was the United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. Like many Democrats today, Bryan wanted his party to fight big corporations and big banks. But more like today’s Republicans, he was an opponent of Darwinism and was the prosecutor for the State of Tennessee in the notorious Scopes monkey trial of 1925 (a Tennessee law forbade teaching evolution in high school – Scopes defied the law and was arrested). The defense attorney was Clarence Darrow. (Incidentally, we have a number of books on the Scopes trial.)
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:33:15 +0000
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