US Foreign Policy under William Jennings Bryan

What would American foreign policy be like if WJB were elected in 1896?

If the events of the Cuban Revolution go as in OTL, with the Maine exploding and all, would there still have been a Spanish-American War? What would Bryan do with Cuba? And would Bryan also send Commodore Dewey to Manila like McKinley did?

And what other alternate developments in US foreign policy could there be in such a scenario?
 
I'm unsure Bryan would've sent the Maine to Havana in the first place. As one the few somewhat powerful units in the US navy her being sent was a fairly strong gesture/threat of US 'interests'.
I suspect the Panama canal would be delayed by at least a decade.
 

mowque

Banned
I like Bryan would be far more slaved to 'popular opinion' as he saw it. He even made noises about a referendum for WW1 (because he thought his stance, neutrality was a vote winner). Bryan was, first and foremost, a politician despite his own views. He'd do whatever he thought was popular (filtered through his lens).
 
Bryan was a Pacifist, wars or other violent interventions would not be in the cards.

If the war came to him, he'd fight it

If it didn't, he wouldn't go to find it

The Boxer Rebellion would be interesting - is the US presence an act of aggression or of peace-making?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
actually, it's not that unlikely that Bryan would go to war as president, after all he did try to volunteer for combat in the Spanish-American war.
 
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