The Great Orator at the White House in 1923, two years before his death. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C., No. LC-H234-A7495.
July 03, 2026
By R.K. Sawyer
The cannonades of the 1896 spring shooting season would give way to the press static of the coming July 1896 election. Would incumbent Grover Cleveland run for a third term? He didn’t. His own party was split, the conservative Cleveland on the wrong side of both a rising populist movement and the pro-silver wing of the Democratic Party, its mantle carried by former Nebraska Congressman William Jennings Bryan.
Known as the Boy Orator for his passionate speeches delivered in a resonating baritone, 36-year-old Democratic nominee Bryan ran on a platform of free silver, an end to both the gold standard and Eastern financial dominance, regulation of railroads, and support of...
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