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History is a curious thing. A capable historian can make or break the legacy of a leading figure or an entire nation. A determined scholar can mold names and dates into a creative narrative—which may or may not accurately reflect reality.

Few American leaders have suffered the scorn of history like William Jennings Bryan. The "Great Commoner" was controversial and frequently unsuccessful in his own day (he lost three campaigns for President as the Democratic nominee). But Bryan has fared even worse in death. The 1960 movie Inherit the Wind cemented Bryan's legacy as the blustering bigot of the 1925 Scopes evolution trial. [See Christian HistoryIssue #55: The Monkey Trial and the Rise of Fundamentalism] Few have dared to suggest his significance since.

Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: The Life of Williams Jennings Bryan (Knopf, 2006), knows that Bryan's association with fundamentalism makes him tough to sell. Publishers Weekly has already warned, "Kazin attempts a revisionist portrait of Bryan, whom scholars have long dismissed as a rabid white supremacist, bullying fundamentalist, and braying pacifist/isolationist. But Kazin errs in downplaying such popular characterizations of Bryan as a closed-minded Bible-thumper and bigot. … In sum, Kazin's heroic Bryan is simply not to be believed."

Surely Kazin, an expert on populism and the Progressive Era, expected such opposition when he stated the book's intent. "I wrote this book, in part, to gain a measure of respect for Bryan and his people," Kazin writes in his first chapter, "The Romance of Jefferson and Jesus." "I would like to help 'rescue' them from what E.P. Thompson, the great historian and activist, called 'the enormous condescension of posterity.'"

In order to achieve a more balanced portrait, Kazin sifted through letters written to Bryan by his many ardent supporters. Indeed, these fans saw in Bryan a godly hero whose passionate Christian faith motivated him to denounce industry barons and the politicians who aided them. Bryan will need more than Kazin's book to rehabilitate his image, but it's a great start. Historians, political scientists, and especially evangelicals can no longer afford to ignore this Christian leader who melded his faith and politics.

Bryan cast a long shadow on American politics for nearly 20 years, from his first presidential run in 1896 to his brief tenure as Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state until 1915. He rallied the masses against monopolies before Theodore Roosevelt took up the cause. (Bryan stated a democratic, Christian case: "There can be no good monopoly in private hands until the Almighty sends us angels to preside over the monopoly.") He advocated three of the most significant reforms of the early 20th century—direct election of senators, the federal income tax, and women's suffrage. And he argued for federal welfare before Franklin Roosevelt unveiled the New Deal. Bryan believed Christian faith compelled him to support these policies, which he argued would uplift the downtrodden.

As told by Kazin, Bryan's America seems at once distant, with some antiquated debates (free silver vs. the gold standard), yet strangely relevant with other familiar problems (divide between the haves and have-nots). "There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below," Bryan bellowed in 1896, though he could have been speaking in 2006. "The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them."

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March (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50