Chapter 10: Moralist at State, 1913-1915

Summary
Due to his support in the election, President Woodrow Wilson appointed William Jennings Bryan as his Secretary of State. Bryan proposed that the United States sign international arbitration treaties to prevent war and promote peace. Eastern newspapers criticized Bryan for hiring mostly only his Democratic followers from the South and West as well as often taking off to speak at Chautauqua assemblies. Bryan advocated the successes of the Wilson administration: the ratification of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendment, the lowering of tariff rates, the placement of bank regulation in government hands, and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission. However, Wilson increased restrictions on blacks in the South, and Bryan did not question it. Bryan contradicted his peaceful mission to guide Caribbean nations by making diplomatic mistakes and using US military intervention in Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico. When WWI began, Bryan insisted that the US stay neutral and tried to make peace between the nations. However, after the passenger ship Lusitania sank, Wilson's protest to Germany caused Bryan's decision to resign from his position as Secretary of State. Bryan felt that he could assist the United States more outside of office. His resignation led to the downfall of his political career.

Key Terms
Lusitania
Archduke Francis Ferdinand
international arbitration
Sixteenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment
Federal Trade Commission
Pancho Villa
Venustiano Carranza
William Gibbs McAdoo

Questions
Why did Bryan decide to resign instead of persisting?
How did Bryan's beliefs about the US affect his choices regarding the Caribbean and Mexico?
What was Bryan's main success as Secretary of State?
What issues did Bryan agree with Wilson on? What issues did they disagree on?
What did the press's opposition reveal about Bryan?

Cartoon of Secretary of State Bryan reading war news in 1914

News from the Front, Political Cartoon, from Wikipedia, accessed March 12, 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WJB-fromthewarfront-1914.jpg

Bryan and President Wilson

Woodrow Wilson and William Jennings Bryan standing on steps in front of a building, Photograph, from Library of Congress, accessed March 12, 2015, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004668354/


Kazin, Michael. "Moralist at State." In A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, 215-242, New York, NY: Anchor Books, 2006.