To crucify gold would be, of course, connected to Pontius Pilate crucifying christ. In the same way, bryan and populists and populist minded democrats and republicans, too, thought that the American Economy was being run for the interest of those who already had property or those who already had money, those who already had banks and big industries, so theres a class divide in american politics at that time. Now we have a lot of anger about the economy. The anger wasnt focused on money the same way it was then. After all, remember then, every dollar people had in their pockets could be redeemed for a dollar in the federal treasury, first with gold. Bryan wanted that to be redeemed in silver as well, the means a lot more dollars could have been minted and coined because there was more silver in circulation than there was gold. Really a call for cheaper money, lower Interest Rates, and greater Economic Opportunity for a Small Business person, a farmer, a worker who wanted to be a Small Business person or farmer. In your book, you talk about his charisma and what he meant at that time, he essentially became a celebrity. Yes. He was receiving as many as 2,000 letters a day during the 1896 campaign. Yes. You write about something he did that was viewed as revolutionary, which was campaigning for the office as opposed to William Mckinley who had the front porch strategy in ohio. Can you explain . Mckinley had a lot of money in the campaign. Able to get checks from Johnny Rockefeller, other bigger industrialists. Could write him checks, no restrictions whatsoever on Campaign Donations back in 1896. Bryan, because he was running as a candidate of Small Farmers and workers, couldnt get that kind of money, so he had to go out and campaign for himself, he wasnt going to be able to depend on a large machine to do that for him. A wonderful speaker, loved to speak. As i said before. For him, this was a positive thing. He made a necessity into a virtue, if you will. He traveled 18,000 miles on passenger trains. Didnt have his own jet the way candidates do now, didnt have his own railroad car for most of the campaign either, and spoke to as many as 6,000 times in that one campaign, many times a day, for example. So for him, this was an opportunity to become known and also, the only chance he had to reach americans directly. Also the first campaigner to use the railroad in this way. To really Campaign Across the country. Steven douglas had done something similar in 1860 in the crisis of the nation, trying to take a Campaign Swing through the south and parts of the north and revitalize the Democratic Party. For the most part, after 1860, american president ial candidates sat on their front porch and other people campaigned for them and bryan went out there and campaigned at every whistle stop town in illinois and ohio and virginia and pennsylvania, new york. Traveled all over america, bringing his campaign to the people. We want to hear from you on cspan 2027370030 in the eastern time zone, and 2027370020 in pacific and Mountain Time zones. Were in lincoln, nebraska, home referred to as fairview. William Jennings Bryan and his wife moved here in 1902. He served two terms and he was born in salem, illinois. Walk us through the early years of william Jennings Bryan and how he ends up here in nebraska. He was born in 1860, into a world being transformed. Obviously, the railroad growth, the civil war that followed, 18601865. Too young to serve in the civil war, and that actually came back to again and again in his public life. He had not served in the military, so many men in politics in his period of political activity had served in the military, so he did not have that opportunity as a young man. Instead, he read for the bar, went in to practice as a lawyer in lincoln, nebraska, in the 1880s. Started his own law firm, a partnership with dolph talbot and practiced basic law in a urban, growing urban environment in the prairie. And thats when he became active in politics. If i could just add, at the time and in many ways still, going to law school was always a good training to go into politics, you always wanted to go into politics, his father, a judge in illinois, a very close associate of Stephen Douglas in the 1880s and his father helped write the Illinois State constitution in the late 1850s. So really politics was in his blood, i think, and he never thought of doing anything else than politics in a serious way. He became a lawyer because he wanted to get involved in politics. He moved through nebraska, the Democratic Party weak here, and he thought there would be an opportunity for a young man to rise quickly within the Democratic Party of the state. Let me go back to the way he was able to capture the imagination of the country. Three times getting the democratic nomination, has that ever happened where you receive a nomination and lost all three times . The person you profiled the first time, henry clay, received before the whig party, a nomination, and twice for the whig party, but of course, a little different in 100 years ago. This was a lot more voters, a lot more media, more money involved. This was really, unlike clay, who had a fairly small country in terms of population, america was an industrial country by the early 20th century. This was a modern campaign, all three of them. In a sense, that clays campaigns were not. You write in your book that 14 million americans voted in that election in 1896, and 75 to 85 of eligible voters cast their ballots. Almost 80 . Some women too. Women had the vote in colorado. A couple other western states, which he won, actually. But, yes, 80 and that was actually the highest percentage of eligible voters in any election for men, who had never had that highest percentage of voters again. If you could touch briefly on his senate bid in 1894. Sure, he started out campaigning to get both the populist and democratic nomination. Both part the populists were, of course, an Insurgent Movement in american politics. Rapidly rising. They had secured the house in nebraska. And the irony of his 1894 Senate Campaign is that the republicans win the legislature and the democrats democratic candidate actually wins the governorship. And this reverses what had been the case before. Bryan campaigned, largely, there were two debates, one in lincoln and one in omaha. 7,000 people turned out for the debate in lincoln in october 1894 and 15,000 turned out for the debate in omaha. This was a great event to come to this Political Campaign and be part of it for the public. Bryan started out talking largely in the campaign about the income tax. This was an important issue, the democrats had passed the first income tax since the civil war in 1894, and bryan had been part of that. A 2 flat tax on everyone making more than 4,000 a year. So on the rich. He started his debate with John Thurston on that issue. And then he went to the Union Pacific railroad and its monopoly power, and the silver issue was down on the list in 1894. It was not as significant as it would become in 1896. Can we talk about the income tax real quickly . Yes. 1895, the Supreme Court rules that the income tax was unconstitutional. As you can imagine, a pretty radical thing to do for the highest court in the land to say Congress Passed the law, the president signs that law, and its not constitutional. That helped to inflame things on bryans side in the campaign. If you could fast forward, the irony, in 1913, the signing of the 17th amendment which stated what . That the direct election of senators, you know, bryan is of course expecting to get elected. And hoping to get elected. The republican majority elects John Thurston to be the senator from nebraska, another irony, thurston becomes the Republican NationalCommittee Chair in 1896, so bryan runs for president and gets the nomination and the man he ran against in nebraska in 1894 is the republican Committee Chair for mckinley. Well go downstairs and look at his study in a moment. Does this home reflect william Jennings Bryan . In many ways. A great home, and at the time considered a mansion. As youll see, its well furnished. He made a lot of money speaking, so in that sense, it was a prize. It was a prize for his career. But he worked here, worked here with his wife mary, very closely. In fact, youll see a double desk they worked on together. Thats important to mention about him is that he and his wife were partners through his career as is often true of political wives now. You dont think that much in the late 19th century of that being true. It certainly was for the two of them. Bob puschendorf is joining us. Hes in the study of william Jennings Bryan and his wife. Thanks very much for sharing your time and insight with us on cspans the contender series. Thank you for having me. How does he use that home, and how often was he in that study writing . He would have used the study probably daily when he was in lincoln. The study was the heart of the home. As he said. Well have you walk in if you would and show us what the desk looked like and also some of the artifacts on top of the desk. This is the partners desk that he and his wife shared. They would exchange conversation, compose writings, send letters, and help formulate some of the positions that he may have wanted to take for the day. On the top of the desk, a copy of the commoner. What was that . Why was it significant in his life . I know he has signed the copy directly in front of you. I think it could be stated in the quote from the First Edition of the commoner, which i have right here. It says the commoner will be to satisfy if by identity to the common people, it proves to its right to be the name which it has been chosen. Youve studied the man, this home, you studied his life. What do you find especially interesting about william Jennings Bryan and how its reflected in his home, that he moved into back in 1902 . The home can really tell us a lot about the lifestyles of mr. And mrs. Bryan and their family. One of the most important stories that came out of restoration of this house was the role of his wife and the interpretation of her life which is best represented here in this office. The two sat directly across from each other and worked on another together, correct . They certainly did. Bryan had said his wife was a beloved wife and help mate. How much of the material there is original . Very few pieces much original bryant furnishings survived. These furnishings in this office have been collected to represent what was originally in the room based on very fine 1908 photographs of these spaces. If he was seated in that chair adjacent to you, would he feel comfortable . Would it feel like his study at the turn of the century . It would be very much like his desk at the turn of the century, even the cluttered desk and the open bible. Bob puschendorf with the nebraska state historical society, well check back in with you throughout the program. Thanks very much for opening up this home to cspan cameras. James is joining us from West Virginia as we welcome your calls and participation in this, the third of our series, looking at the life and political career of william Jennings Bryan. Go ahead, james. Caller i would like to tell us about thomas mast. Thomas mast. Thomas mast was a great cartoonist responsible for, among other things, the most popular image we have of santa claus. He was a german immigrant. Very popular images of he created the images of the democratic donkey and republican elephant. By the time bryan ran in 1896, i dont know if mast was still alive, but politically, he is best known for these really vitriolic and very effective images of tweed, this corrupt boss of tameny hall in the late 1860s and early 1870s and his images of boss tweed looking like a seedy devil, you might say, really helped to bring tweed down, and he was a democratic candidate at the time, important prosecutor in new york city, samuel tilden, later on candidate for president in 1876, who prosecuted tweed and was able to bring down the tweed wing as it was known. Rob next from sacramento, california, go ahead, please. Caller my question originates from the american president series during the Grover Cleveland episode, an historian was asked what Grover Cleveland thought of william Jennings Bryan, and he said that Grover Cleveland hated william Jennings Bryan and then he was cut off and wasnt able to finish. I was kind of curious what did he hate him for and if in fact is that true . Thank you. You want to take it . Ill start, michael, and you can follow up. He didnt like Grover Cleveland was a hardmoney democratic president. He didnt like bryans position on the silver issue. He particularly didnt like the income tax bryan had champions in the house and had helped pass. But it was the silver issue and breaking with the cleveland administrations repeal of the sherman silver purchase act that most got the ire of glover cleveland. Cleveland was representative of the old Democratic Party. The Democratic Party of commercial interests from the east, especially new york, where cleveland was from himself from buffalo. People believed thomas jefferson, andrew jackson, that the government shouldnt do very much in the economy. During the depression of the 1890s, Grover Cleveland says that the people should support the government, but the government should not support the people. And this is different from what bryan believed. Bryan was in our parlance today, was a liberal. He was a democratic liberal. He believed the government should be Strong Enough to help people who couldnt help themselves and redress the balance between Corporate Power and the power of workers and Small Farmers. And so also cleveland had broken this strike with several troops, and the attorney general at the time, clevelands attorney general was a railroad attorney at the same time as he was breaking the strike by railroad workers. So for bryan, cleveland was, in the 1890s at least, representative of all he didnt like about his party and all he didnt like about american politics. In order to get a better sense, i want to get your reaction to michael kazins words. He said we lack politicians today who are willing to lead a charge against secular charges whose power is mightier and more steadily deployed than a century ago. Bryan was a champion of those who needed help. He was a man of great conviction and one of the things he was trying to do that was most difficult was to take on the economic powerful class that had emerged in american politics, in the American Economy, a way that didnt look like class warfare. That was what was so hard for bryan to be able to do, to not appear to be a demagogue, to do it sincerely, to speak to the people without tearing down, but instead attempting to build up. That was a very hard case to make. And he did it beautifully, but it was a very difficult attempt to try and reveal the inadequacies of American Society at the time without looking like someone who is just tearing down the american ideals. Those are your words. Are there parallels to someone today in american politics that would resemble a william Jennings Bryan . Im not sure. There are people who want to be william Jennings Bryan. Sarah palin, in some ways, tried to be in 1896. An angry populist, people who believe a small greedy elite is after the majority of americans. But, you know, bryan was a representative of a movement, i think. An antimonopoly movement that believed Corporate America was taking the country in a revolutionary direction. We have, for better or worse, come to grips or made our peace with big business, and we cant imagine a society in which big business is not there. That was not true for bryan. I think just where we are here in fairview, bryans home, we looked at the desk where he worked with mary bryan side by side. Most businesses were like that in america in the 1870s and 1860s and 1850s. They were partnerships. They were Small Partnerships, small firms. That period before 1896 was a period of enormous industrial growth. Colossal corporations emerging in American Society. The Pennsylvania Railroad employed more people than the United States post office. These were corporations with enormous resources, enormous wealth and enormous power, and most people had experienced a very different america. One of a Small Partnership and that change was arresting. Bryan was really speaking to that massive transition in Ame