The Second Rise of William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan, Democratic nominee for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908, having recently returned to the national spotlight as the leader of anti-evolution fundamentalist Christians wins the hard fought Scopes "Monkey" Trial, which essentially declared that the state of Tennessee did, indeed, have the right to ban evolution from schools. Following the trial Bryan falls ill, however he recovers soon thereafter. William Jennings Bryan is given a home in the Dayton Tennessee by fundamentalists there as a gift for representing them to serve as a residence during the trial. Following the trial and his recovery from his illness Jennings Bryan receives a letter of "extreme thanks" from governor Austin Peay of the state. In the letter he goes on to state that Christian fundamentalists need a leader in Washington and offers him Lawrence Tyson's Tennessee seat in the senate. The letter is cosigned by Tyson who agrees to resign should Bryan accept. William Jennings Bryan does, indeed, accept and he returns to congress on September 14, 1925.

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In the senate William Jennings Bryan has once again become one of the most powerful Democrats in the country. He quickly gains a reputation for his lack of actual presence at the senate, spending much his time, instead, going around the country, especially the South, on speaking tours supporting Democratic initiatives and opposing Republican ones. While his opposition in the contemporary party leadership hopes that this will minimize Bryan's influence over the senate, it has quite the opposite effect as he becomes very popular throughout the Midwest and South, giving him tremendous pull among his fellow senators. He focuses a powerful effort in the Indiana and Ohio elections, aiding the Democrats there, and those 2 victories for the Dems quickly led many to attribute the new Democratic 48-46 majority in the senate to Bryan. Joseph Robinson, the Arkansas senator and former Democratic leader in the Senate and close ally of Jennings Bryan, throws his support behind the 3 time former presidential nominee in his bid for Democratic senate leadership. Upon the opening of the 70th US Congress William Jennings Bryan is named Senate Majority Leader.

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Soon after becoming Senate Majority Leader, William Jennings Bryan calls in all his favors and exerts all his influence, bringing before the senate one of the most controversial bills in the history of the Untied States, the "Christ Act." Upon bringing it to the floor Bryan declared it "the most important bill we will ever pass." He went on to say that "this bill shall ensure, for future generations, the moral clarity and faith that has guided this nation for so long and shall defend the United States against the threats of atheism and agnosticism, and the clear obvious causes of these, socialism and communism." This bill held within it several extremely controversial clauses. Paramount among these were a few statements in particular. First, and perhaps most controversial of all, was "the United States, while it shall continue to operate in a system of freedom of religion and without a legal state religion, shall, all the same, recognize the correctness of the Christian faith as the only true faith." Furthermore it required all congressmen to reveal their religious beliefs to the public, and finally guaranteed that "all sessions of congress, both federally and within the congress or assembly of each state, shall open with a Christian prayer and the reciting of the pledge of allegiance, the same shall be considered true for all public schools in the United States." Finally the bill went on to declare that all schools "must teach creation science equal to evolution, with an emphasis on the natural, logical nature of creationism." Despite widespread intellectual and legal opposition, the bill was popular among the American people, especially in rural areas and throughout the South. The bill passed through the senate with a vote of 59-38, with 45 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and the sole Farmer-Labor senator backing the "Christ Act."

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However now the Christ Act would have to travel to the much more liberal, and much more Republican House. Socialist representative Victor L. Berger from Wisconsin was censored after an outburst upon the presentation of the bill in which he called those in support "Mussolinists," a reference to the Italian dictator who had risen two years prior, and Fascists, as well as labeling them "anti-American." The House debate was an extremely interesting one as the debate quickly moved outside of party labels. However the popularity of the bill among the public seemed to be enough to push some moderates towards supporting the Christ Act. Despite several attempts by the opposition to keep the bill from coming to a vote it was finally voted upon in October 1927. The bill passed narrowly 224-211, receiving a smaller majority in the House then the Senate. Berger, the socialist member, famously led a walkout in disgust which was joined by no less then 41 other members (30 Republicans and 11 Democrats), although, despite statements, they would all return to active service within 2 weeks.

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The fundamentalist movement in the United States had hit its height. The movement, which had begun as purely reactionary, opposing the way the United States was headed, had now grown to encompass most of rural America and much of the elderly and upper class as well, also having a strong influence among parents and families. Bryan had become enormously popular and populism was the name of the game in the era. Polling done by newspapers indicated that at least 2/3 of America and as much as 3/4 supported the Christ Act, and despite some vocal opposition, especially among young voters, intellectuals, and college students, it was resoundingly popular. This put an enormous amount of pressure on President Coolidge to sign the act into law. Coolidge, however, was from the Northeast, where support for the bill was much less widespread, likely closer to 50%, and was personally opposed to the bill. On October 19, 1927, 9 days after the passage of the bill, Coolidge announced that, despite the widespread popularity of the bill, he could not, "in right conciseness," sign the act and would be vetoing it. Coolidge went on to declare that, despite his statement the previous summer, he had decided he would contend the 1928 election "for the good of the future of America." A day later, on October 20, 1927, William Bryan Jennings announced, in response, that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the 4th time and for the first time in 20 years.

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The bill would return first to the senate, where it would require 66/98 votes in order to achieve the 2/3 necessary to override the veto and send it back to the house. The Senate had received in only 59 votes the first time through, however since then a vacant seat had been filled by a pro-Christ Act democrat bringing their working majority up to 60. They needed 6 more. Under the threat of Jennings Bryan removing them from any committee posts, the three Democrats who had initially opposed the bill agreed to support it. Robert B. Howell, a Republican from Nebraska became the first initial Republican opponent to switch over, citing election concerns for his primary reason. For weeks Bryan struggled to find two more Republicans to switch over and the bill was not brought to a vote before the senate adjourned for its Christmas recess. When it rejoined on February 1st Bryan was approached by two Republicans, Hiram W. Johnson and Samuel M. Shortridge from California, who had agreed together that, after witnessing pro-bill support in their state, it would be best for the GOP in California to support the act. The Christ Act was brought to a vote the next day and passed 66-32, the veto had been overridden in the senate, all the pressure rode on the House now.

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All that was left now was the United States House of Representatives. It soon became clear that pro-bill members simply could not achieve a 2/3 majority here, at least for the time being. However, with Jennings Bryan's guidance, they adopted a strategy. The bill was brought to the floor for debate every few days, however they did not vote on it. The idea was to pro-long the issue until the election drew closer. Realizing the populist popularity of the Christ Act they hoped to place pressure on the opposing members to vote for it when it did come up or else risk defeat in the election. And so the issue continued, and the Christ Act stayed alive as one of the biggest points of debate. This also served Bryan well. He believed that so long as the Christ Act remained a major issue, his popularity would be ensured and Coolidge's unpopularity guaranteed, hopefully aiding his bid for president. For the time being, though, there was no telling what the future might hold.

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I wonder what the Taft Court has to say about the so-called "Christ Act," and its obvious violation of the First Amendment. Supreme Justice W. H. Taft, himself a Unitarian, doubtless would not look kindly on Bryan's actions...
(Though it is very well-written so far. I'll be watching this.)
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
William Jennings Bryan, Democratic nominee for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908, having recently returned to the national spotlight as the leader of anti-evolution fundamentalist Christians wins the hard fought Scopes "Monkey" Trial, which essentially declared that the state of Tennessee did, indeed, have the right to ban evolution from schools.
Okay, this isn't too far out there. IOTL he actually did win the Scopes Trial, but the Supreme Court reversed the verdict on a technicality. Find some way to circumnavigate it and you're good. (And don't just have somebody not notice it; this trial was under far too much scrutiny for something like that to happen.)
Following the trial Bryan falls ill, however he recovers soon thereafter.
Here's the first issue. Bryan died IOTL from exhaustion from his speaking tours and diabetes. The exhaustion can be gotten rid of if somebody somehow manages to get him to rest on his laurels for a while (which would be extremely difficult) but you can't really butterfly away diabetes. It's sort of a cop-out to just ignore a major illness like that unless the whole point of the TL is about "WI: _____ didn't have/suffer from _____?"
William Jennings Bryan is given a home in the Dayton Tennessee by fundamentalists there as a gift for representing them to serve as a residence during the trial. Following the trial and his recovery from his illness Jennings Bryan receives a letter of "extreme thanks" from governor Austin Peay of the state. In the letter he goes on to state that Christian fundamentalists need a leader in Washington and offers him Lawrence Tyson's Tennessee seat in the senate. The letter is cosigned by Tyson who agrees to resign should Bryan accept. William Jennings Bryan does, indeed, accept and he returns to congress on September 14, 1925.
Okay, first off there was no "Fundamentalist Christian" lobby in D.C. around this time, much less a movement. The closest thing that came to that was the Prohibitionists, and Bryan was already one of their main voices, not to mention that the Prohibitionists already had a very strong backing and influence in Congress.

Lawrence Tyson is just not going to give up his Senate seat. He was nothing if not ambitious. From 1902-1908 he was the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives and unsuccessfully ran for senator in 1913. In 1920 he mounted an unsuccessful attempt to snag the Democratic vice presidential nomination despite not even holding an office, which just goes to show that this guy had brass balls. In 1924 he finally managed to win the senate seat and...what, he gives it up to a curious, three-time loser, good-natured blowhard from the Great Plains who's from the exact opposite faction within the Democratic Party? And for what, because they guy won a trial? That's not worth surrendering a hard-won Senate seat. Nor is the Governor going to offer Jennings the seat, though he may send him a letter of thanks.
In the senate William Jennings Bryan has once again become one of the most powerful Democrats in the country. He quickly gains a reputation for his lack of actual presence at the senate, spending much his time, instead, going around the country, especially the South, on speaking tours supporting Democratic initiatives and opposing Republican ones.
This will be really hard to swing since Bryan has let down his party on three separate occasions, with each disappointment being greater than the last. Again, just winning a trial is not enough to resurrect his political career in any significant way. The most he could possibly be is the liberal wing's elder statesman within the party. And Bryan is absolutely not going to be popular in the South for reasons I'll get into later.
While his opposition in the contemporary party leadership hopes that this will minimize Bryan's influence over the senate, it has quite the opposite effect as he becomes very popular throughout the Midwest and South, giving him tremendous pull among his fellow senators.
Not in this time period it won't. A senator who's away from Washington most of the time is going to have no influence whatsoever since he'll be away from all of the backroom deals that were and always have been the Senate's forte, especially back then. Besides, he only leads one wing of the party, and the most polarizing one at that. Sure, people in the Midwest may like him, but by the 1920s those are stalwart Republican strongholds, second only to those in the Northeast. And even then!

Bryan will likely be popular with Southern sharecroppers as was his track record, though some may be uncomfortable with his opposition to white supremacy and his promotion of a coalition between black and white sharecroppers. That being said, I'm sure Bryan will enjoy the majority of sharecroppers' support.

But really this won't matter. The nigh-omnipotent Democratic apparatus down South will be able to defeat him at the ballot box since his whole platform calls for the Dixiecrats' destruction. The SoDems had no qualms about sending mobs after Populists (some of who were killed), slandering them in the press, and even resorting to outright ballot stuffing.
He focuses a powerful effort in the Indiana and Ohio elections, aiding the Democrats there, and those 2 victories for the Dems quickly led many to attribute the new Democratic 48-46 majority in the senate to Bryan.
*See above about how these were staunch Republican strongholds by this point*
Joseph Robinson, the Arkansas senator and former Democratic leader in the Senate and close ally of Jennings Bryan, throws his support behind the 3 time former presidential nominee in his bid for Democratic senate leadership. Upon the opening of the 70th US Congress William Jennings Bryan is named Senate Majority Leader.
Not gonna happen. Robinson was so opposed to populism that he almost beat the hell out of Robert LaFollette, Porter McCumber, and fellow Democrats Thomas Heflin and Huey Long. Robinson punched a guard in the face at the 1920 Democratic National Convention after the guy asked him about his credentials. I'm sure he would have torn Bryan to pieces given the chance, much less give over his Senate leadership position.
Soon after becoming Senate Majority Leader, William Jennings Bryan calls in all his favors and exerts all his influence
What favors? He's spent all of his time out of D.C. and back then senators really didn't have to care about their constituents. And what influence? So he's popular with some farmers and hicks out West and down South; neither of these are strong enough lobbies to make political changes, at least not the utterly and eternally ignored Southern sharecroppers. Again, the only influence he wields is over the party's left wing, which again most people are uncomfortable with.
bringing before the senate one of the most controversial bills in the history of the Untied States, the "Christ Act." Upon bringing it to the floor Bryan declared it "the most important bill we will ever pass." He went on to say that "this bill shall ensure, for future generations, the moral clarity and faith that has guided this nation for so long and shall defend the United States against the threats of atheism and agnosticism, and the clear obvious causes of these, socialism and communism."
First of all, the very name of the "Christ Act" would offend a lot of people. Secondly, it would blatantly violate the separation of church and state, which was a very important concept in the 1920s. Thirdly, atheism and agnosticism were not important enough issues in the country to warrant a bill against them, and again this would be considered illegal or at least a gross violation of the First Amendment (as the whole bill would be). If Bryan so much as brings up being opposed to socialism or communism, everyone's going to roll their eyes and say, "Like you're one to talk." Bryan led a populist movement that was very left wing and basically agrarian socialism.
This bill held within it several extremely controversial clauses. Paramount among these were a few statements in particular. First, and perhaps most controversial of all, was "the United States, while it shall continue to operate in a system of freedom of religion and without a legal state religion, shall, all the same, recognize the correctness of the Christian faith as the only true faith."
The doublespeak here is so blatant and such an obvious attempt to get around the First Amendment that it's not going to fool anybody. Nor is the phrase "Christian" defined. Back then, "Christian" in the United States meant "Protestant." This would mean that Catholicism was not a true faith, something that will annihilate one of the Democrats' main constituencies. As a side note, some idiots in America still don't consider Catholics to be Christians, which has always just annoyed with it's ignorance...and I'm not a Christian nor don't even like religion!
Furthermore it required all congressmen to reveal their religious beliefs to the public, and finally guaranteed that "all sessions of congress, both federally and within the congress or assembly of each state, shall open with a Christian prayer and the reciting of the pledge of allegiance, the same shall be considered true for all public schools in the United States." Finally the bill went on to declare that all schools "must teach creation science equal to evolution, with an emphasis on the natural, logical nature of creationism."
Illegal. All of this is illegal. And states' rights were so major back then that even the staunchest Democratic strongholds (i.e. the South) are going to flat-out reject it.
Despite widespread intellectual and legal opposition, the bill was popular among the American people, especially in rural areas and throughout the South. The bill passed through the senate with a vote of 59-38, with 45 Democrats, 13 Republicans, and the sole Farmer-Labor senator backing the "Christ Act."
This bill has absolutely zero chance of passing. Even if you ignore how illegal it is, it would be massively unpopular. Congressman are just going to laugh at this if Bryan becomes insane enough to propose it. Hell, Bryan only believed in creationism so far as that God created Adam and Eve. Otherwise, he very much believed in natural science, considering Biblical "days" to be geological eras. He sought to reconcile religion and science, not segregate them.
However now the Christ Act would have to travel to the much more liberal, and much more Republican House. Socialist representative Victor L. Berger from Wisconsin was censored after an outburst upon the presentation of the bill in which he called those in support "Mussolinists," a reference to the Italian dictator who had risen two years prior, and Fascists, as well as labeling them "anti-American." The House debate was an extremely interesting one as the debate quickly moved outside of party labels. However the popularity of the bill among the public seemed to be enough to push some moderates towards supporting the Christ Act. Despite several attempts by the opposition to keep the bill from coming to a vote it was finally voted upon in October 1927. The bill passed narrowly 224-211, receiving a smaller majority in the House then the Senate. Berger, the socialist member, famously led a walkout in disgust which was joined by no less then 41 other members (30 Republicans and 11 Democrats), although, despite statements, they would all return to active service within 2 weeks.
Just as implausible as the Senate scenario--if not more so--for the exact same reasons.
The fundamentalist movement in the United States had hit its height. The movement, which had begun as purely reactionary, opposing the way the United States was headed, had now grown to encompass most of rural America and much of the elderly and upper class as well, also having a strong influence among parents and families. Bryan had become enormously popular and populism was the name of the game in the era.
No. Again, there was no "fundamentalist movement" and one will not be born out of some trial in rural Tennessee. Populism of the Bryanite type in America was dead by 1908 at the latest. Again, a single trial is not going to resurrect it.
Polling done by newspapers indicated that at least 2/3 of America and as much as 3/4 supported the Christ Act, and despite some vocal opposition, especially among young voters, intellectuals, and college students, it was resoundingly popular. This put an enormous amount of pressure on President Coolidge to sign the act into law.
This is ridiculous. I doubt that even a fourth of America would support this bill. College students were not a demographic to be at all considered and wouldn't be until the 1960s. Remember that at this time the "youth vote" was people 21 and older, so they probably already had pretty fixed political convictions one way or the other, and most would likely be stridently against this since this is the 1920s we're talking about here.
Coolidge, however, was from the Northeast, where support for the bill was much less widespread, likely closer to 50%
No. Just...no.
and was personally opposed to the bill. On October 19, 1927, 9 days after the passage of the bill, Coolidge announced that, despite the widespread popularity of the bill, he could not, "in right conciseness," sign the act and would be vetoing it. Coolidge went on to declare that, despite his statement the previous summer, he had decided he would contend the 1928 election "for the good of the future of America." A day later, on October 20, 1927, William Bryan Jennings announced, in response, that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the 4th time and for the first time in 20 years.
I'm not going to bother reiterating why this is all ASB. Though I will point out that, back then, people really didn't "declare" their candidacy, so to speak, at least not this early. This sort of thing was left to conventions and it would have been viewed as poor taste to declare his candidacy so early.
The bill would return first to the senate, where it would require 66/98 votes in order to achieve the 2/3 necessary to override the veto and send it back to the house.
64 out of 96 votes. Alaska wasn't a state yet.
The Senate had received in only 59 votes the first time through, however since then a vacant seat had been filled by a pro-Christ Act democrat bringing their working majority up to 60. They needed 6 more. Under the threat of Jennings Bryan removing them from any committee posts, the three Democrats who had initially opposed the bill agreed to support it.
No senator would tolerate blackmail like this. They'd immediately go out onto the Senate floor and the newspapers and show everybody what sort of person Bryan is and what sort of tactics he'll use to bully and browbeat others into submission.
Robert B. Howell, a Republican from Nebraska became the first initial Republican opponent to switch over, citing election concerns for his primary reason.
"I'm only supporting this so I can get reelected." That'll go over well with the voters :rolleyes:
For weeks Bryan struggled to find two more Republicans to switch over and the bill was not brought to a vote before the senate adjourned for its Christmas recess. When it rejoined on February 1st Bryan was approached by two Republicans, Hiram W. Johnson and Samuel M. Shortridge from California, who had agreed together that, after witnessing pro-bill support in their state, it would be best for the GOP in California to support the act.
Again, ignoring how unpopular this bill would be, both Johnson and Shortridge were opposed to Bryan's policies and had far too much integrity to just give in like this. The Senate's not about what their constituents want, that's for the House. The Senate's responsibility is to do what's best for their respective states and the country as a whole. Not officially, of course, but that's how things are.
The Christ Act was brought to a vote the next day and passed 66-32, the veto had been overridden in the senate, all the pressure rode on the House now.
Nope nope nope.
All that was left now was the United States House of Representatives. It soon became clear that pro-bill members simply could not achieve a 2/3 majority here, at least for the time being. However, with Jennings Bryan's guidance, they adopted a strategy. The bill was brought to the floor for debate every few days, however they did not vote on it. The idea was to pro-long the issue until the election drew closer.
Won't work. The first time that discussion is tabled (as it will be), it's going down and will stay down for a very, very long time.
Realizing the populist popularity of the Christ Act they hoped to place pressure on the opposing members to vote for it when it did come up or else risk defeat in the election. And so the issue continued, and the Christ Act stayed alive as one of the biggest points of debate. This also served Bryan well. He believed that so long as the Christ Act remained a major issue, his popularity would be ensured and Coolidge's unpopularity guaranteed, hopefully aiding his bid for president. For the time being, though, there was no telling what the future might hold.
With all due respect, your future holds a good amount of research if you want to make this TL at all plausible. I'd honestly suggest scrapping this whole thing and starting fresh.
 
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