Bryan was one of the greatest and most controversial politicians of his day. Th
Bryan was one of the greatest and most controversial politicians of his day. Three times he would be nominated by the Democratic Party to be its candidate for the presidency, and three times he would lose. He was a thoroughgoing progressive who also supported prohibition and late in his life fought against the teaching of evolution in schools. In foreign policy terms he was a strict anti-imperialist and believed the United States should neither acquire colonies nor interfere overly in the internal affairs of other states. He would later serve as Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State but eventually resigned when he believed that Wilson’s policies would get the United States involved in World War I.
