A Godly Hero
Posted by admin on Jun 8, 2006
Michael Kazin. A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan. New York: Knopf, 2006. E664.B87 K39 2006
From the publisher: An illuminating and dramatic biography of William Jennings Bryan that
restores him to his place of importance in American history – as a hero
and leader of the Christian left.
Bryan is remembered today
mostly as the fundamentalist voice in the 1925 Scopes trial. But as
Michael Kazin makes clear, he was a man of exceptional accomplishment.
The most popular speaker of his time, he gained a vast and passionate
following among both rural and urban Americans, to whom he embodied the
righteousness of a pastor and the practical vision of a reform
politician. As leader of a major political party, he was able to put
the fight to improve the welfare of ordinary Americans in a moral and
religious frame. He preached that the nation should expand the power of
the federal government and counter the overweening power of banks and
industrial corporations by legalizing strikes and supporting labor
unions, banning private campaign spending, giving the vote to women,
instituting a progressive income tax, and prohibiting the sale of
alcohol.