William Jennings Bryan, future Democratic presidential standard bearer, was born in Salem in southern Illinois the son of successful lawyer and politician Silas Bryan and his wife Marion. Educated at Illinois College, he became a lawyer and was elected to Congress in 1890. He was three times the Democratic candidate for President but lost all three elections. He died on July 26, 1925. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Michael Kazin, Godly Hero: A Life of William Jennings Bryan (New York: Random House Inc., 2007), 4-6.
