The Hero That Time Forgot ; A New Biography of William Jennings Bryan Seeks to Restore Lost Luster to His Image
Capozzola, Christopher, The Christian Science Monitor
Our image of William Jennings Bryan captures one moment in time: the summer of 1925, when he prosecuted a Dayton, Tenn., football coach named John Scopes for teaching evolution.
In photographs taken that summer, Bryan looks paunchy and sweaty, exhausted by his battle against the forces of modernity; his death followed just days after the trial's end.
Combine that with the snide disdain of journalist H.L. Mencken (who called Bryan "a peasant come home to the barnyard") and Frederic March's overacted depiction in "Inherit the Wind" (1960), and Bryan devolves from "the Great Commoner" into a hysterical buffoon. One wonders how anyone ever thought he could be …
The rest of this article is only available to active members of Questia
Sign up now for a free, 1-day trial and receive full access to:
- Questia's entire collection
- Automatic bibliography creation
- More helpful research tools like notes, citations, and highlights
- Ad-free environment
Already a member? Log in now.
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Article title: The Hero That Time Forgot ; A New Biography of William Jennings Bryan Seeks to Restore Lost Luster to His Image.
Contributors: Capozzola, Christopher - Author.
Newspaper title: The Christian Science Monitor.
Publication date: February 14, 2006.
Page number: 14.
© 2009 The Christian Science Publishing Society.
Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
One moment ...
- Georgia
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Courier/monospaced
Reset