Bryan’s Resignation
Dublin Core
Title
Bryan’s Resignation
Subject
TIMELINE
Description
William Jennings Bryan resigns as Secretary of State in protest of the foreign policy of President Wilson, which he feared would lead to American intervention into the European war. He later pens a lengthy explanation of his anti-war stance. Though the German-American element in Southeastern Michigan and around the country shared Bryan’s antiwar stance, they heavily resented what they saw as a pro-British stance towards war, and blamed the country’s rising militaristic atmosphere in part on his “pro-British propaganda.”
“Hey Dideldum—Bryan sidesteps.” William Jennings Bryan is depicted as a mountebank attempting to sell a phony “Freedom Elixir” to the German-American population, who turn away laughing. Books and pamphlets at his feet read “To my dear German-Americans” and “Freedom Recipes.” The idiom printed on Bryan’s tent translates roughly to “The Genuine Article.”
“Hey Dideldum—Bryan sidesteps.” William Jennings Bryan is depicted as a mountebank attempting to sell a phony “Freedom Elixir” to the German-American population, who turn away laughing. Books and pamphlets at his feet read “To my dear German-Americans” and “Freedom Recipes.” The idiom printed on Bryan’s tent translates roughly to “The Genuine Article.”
Date
1915-07-01
Citation
“Bryan’s Resignation,” The University of Michigan and the Great War, accessed December 23, 2024, https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/greatwar/items/show/23.