"You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!" With these ringing words, William Jennings Bryan stepped on the center stage of American history. The silver-tongued orator, three times his party's candidate for President and spokesman for the common man, played a vital role in shaping the modern democratic party.

In 1896, William Jennings Bryan was 36 years old. His political experience was minor; his financial support was nil. Yet in a sweltering Chicago convention hall, his plea for the welfare of the common man won him the presidential nomination, and his marathon whistle-stop tour of the nation almost achieved a monumental political upset. Defeated in one of the most dramatic and bitter campaigns America has ever seen, Bryan continued his battle, supported by the loyalty and love of his remarkable wife.

Perhaps his finest hour came when he at last achieved high office. As Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State, he tasted the power that had eluded him so long. Yet rather than support policies he was certain would lead America into war, he resigned his post and left Washington forever.

William Jennings Bryan was to spend his last years leading a futile crusade to preserve the valued learned in his rural boyhood—teachings out of step with an increasingly technological and urbanized America. His death followed on the heels of humiliation at the hands of brilliant Clarence Darrow in the famed Scopes' "Monkey Trial." Yet his last years could not dim the memory of his eloquent leadership in the bitter struggle for progressive reform and justice for America's farmers and workingmen.

From the dust jacket