Wi: Bryan in '96

Wolfpaw

Banned
All on the tin, really. What if William Jennings Bryan had been elected over McKinley in the election of 1896? What would his administration look like?

His economic reforms are going to be...interesting. Prohibition and other Blue Laws will probably be pushed. On the plus side, women's suffrage will get a boost with him in the WH.

It'll also be interesting to see how he handles the Spanish-American War if/when it breaks out.

Thoughts?
 
All on the tin, really. What if William Jennings Bryan had been elected over McKinley in the election of 1896? What would his administration look like?

His economic reforms are going to be...interesting.
Thoughts?

Bimetallism, while not proving a panacea, is probably going to prove a pretty safe bet in the long run. In point of fact, though few like to acknowledge it these days, the gold bugs were not merely wrong, they were disasterously wrong, though they kept getting lucky gold finds that let them stave off the day of judgement for the next few decades.
 
His economic reforms are going to be...interesting. Prohibition and other Blue Laws will probably be pushed. On the plus side, women's suffrage will get a boost with him in the WH.

Interesting...? They'd be more than just interesting.

A politician like William Jennings Bryan is difficult to discuss in modern political terminology. In his days, he was as left-wing as you could become without entering into obscurity, an unabashed populist who'd blast bankers, businessmen and intellectuals in his speeches, promoting radical economic policies to help "the People". There were significant leaders in the Democratic Party who considered him an extremist and could stand neither the man nor his opinions. When he ran in 96, most leading Democratic newspapers rejected his candidacy on the grounds of it being too left-wing! At the same time, he was more than just a staunch conservative: attacking Darwinism fervently and insisting on banning alcohol.

Add in his anti-interventionism, his anti-imperialism and his support for women's vote, and you basically have a candidate who's half Cleon Skousen and half Howard Zinn. He'd make Michele Bachmann look liberal and Dennis Kucinich look conservative at the same time.

So yeah, considering how worked out his plans for economic reforms were when he was still campaigning, I'd expect him to get straight to business when it concerns promoting bimetalism and do his best to introduce Prohibition already.
 
At the same time, he was more than just a staunch conservative: attacking Darwinism fervently and insisting on banning alcohol.

Actually, at this point in time, he'd said nothing on Darwinism, which he really didn't consider a major issue. And banning alcohol was a progressive issue at this time. I think people tend to forget that the evangelical Christianity of this era was largely on the left side of the spectrum.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Any ideas who Bryan would put in the Cabinet? If he puts a dove in the War Department (maybe he renames it the Department of Defense?), that might have some serious effects on America's performance in the war with Spain.
 
At the same time, he was more than just a staunch conservative: attacking Darwinism fervently and insisting on banning alcohol.

Prohibitionism was essentially a progressive cause in Bryan's time (and, I might point out, one which he didn't come to until after 1908) and his attitude to Darwinism was, to say the least, complex and in any case he never made a political issue out of it. Bryan was emphatically of the left for his day; there wasn't anything particularly notable or complex about his politics other than its radicalism.
 
Last edited:
Who says the war even breaks out? IOTL the casus belli of the war was the USS Maine; but it seems unlikely that Bryan would send the Maine to Havana to protect American interests there during the Cuban Revolution the same way McKinley did.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Who says the war even breaks out? IOTL the casus belli of the war was the USS Maine; but it seems unlikely that Bryan would send the Maine to Havana to protect American interests there during the Cuban Revolution the same way McKinley did.
While the cassus belli may not be the exact same, it's hard to see the US just sitting on the sidelines. Furor over the events in Cuba had been building up for a while and most Americans were howling for war, even Bryan.
 
I am assuming that a President Bryan would act differntly to the people of the Phillipines and Cuba than happened in OTL assuming the war still happened
 

mowque

Banned
You might get a real push to government owned railroads. Eugenics will also be weakened, as he was against it.

I have my Cabinets on my other computer...
 

mowque

Banned
Prohibitionism was essentially a progressive cause in Bryan's time (and, I might point out, one which he didn't come to until after 1908) and his attitude to Darwinism was, to say the least, complex and in any case he never made a political issue out of it. Bryan was emphatically of the left for his day; there wasn't anything particularly notable or complex about his politics other than its radicalism.

I think we have safely say that Bryan hardened as he aged and kept looking for vote winners.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
I am assuming that a President Bryan would act differntly to the people of the Phillipines and Cuba than happened in OTL assuming the war still happened
Certainly. While Cuba may turn out more or less the same as per OTL, a Bryan Administration is going to follow a very different policy elsewhere. The Philippines, for example, will be independent, though I'm not sure what will happen with Guam or Puerto Rico.
 
Query to the OP: what does Byran's Congress look like? Is he elected as a fluke or part of a (Democratic) populist wave?
 
Query to the OP: what does Byran's Congress look like? Is he elected as a fluke or part of a (Democratic) populist wave?

Does it really matter at the end of the day? Even if the GOP is in power leading up to 1896, and even if Congress goes Democratic, you are still going to have Bourbon wreckers in Congress, and you're still going to have the Supreme Court striking a lot of stuff down. I'm not actually sure how much Bryan will be able to get done domestically, certainly in his first term. For Bryan to really have a substantive policy impact you would need at least two terms, and preferably a third, (very unlikely) or a Bryanite Democratic successor after two terms. (less so, but still unlikely)
 
Does it really matter at the end of the day? [...]

ಠ_ಠ

The OP specifically asks about Byran in 1896 and his policies. Its impossible to discuss his policies without knowing what the Congress is like as well; i.e. can he pull together enough votes to get what he wants.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Query to the OP: what does Byran's Congress look like? Is he elected as a fluke or part of a (Democratic) populist wave?
Good question, and admittedly one I hadn't put enough thought into :eek:

Since it would only take 18,602 votes to get Bryan the WH, let's say he gets it on more or less of a fluke with Congressional results remaining the same.
 
Top