bryan. what better way to introduce you to the man by hearing directly from him. this is commonly referred to as the "cross of gold" speech. >> we do not come as aggressors. our goal is not a goal of conquest. we are fighting in defense of our families and prosperity. we have traditions and our traditions have been scorned. our in treaties have been disregarded. we have begged and they have bought an hour, amit-- we have balked. we brought forth confidence that we shall win. >> the words of william jennings bryan.

we are coming to you from his home and office in the state capital of nebraska. and hisjennings bryan wife moved here in 1902. we are coming to you from the first floor. he did much of his riding an entertaining here in this house. we welcome our guest, a professor of history at georgetown university. chairalso joined by the of the department of history at the university of nebraska here in lincoln. to set up this speech, the man that delivered it and the impact that it had bought democratic delegates. >> the country was very divided. there was a great depression. the democrats were split down

the middle. the incumbent president was very unpopular. bryan comes into this convention as a dark horse candidate. he is defending the cause of free silver. this is to help people in trouble economically. he gives this speech and people go wild when they hear it. this was actually recorded later. the speech was from 1896. he was robust, vigorous. he had an amazing voice. he has really stepped this up so he could give a speech at the

time when he knew that the majority of delegates were for him but at the same time, no living speech had been given at that time. he had found his moment and he used it to great affect. >> as you indicated, his words recorded in 1923 but here is a race in which he was challenging william mckinley. he served only two terms in the house of representatives. he won the popular vote but lost because a republican legislator gave it to the republican candidate. >> it was a tumultuous time in an american politics. there was a major strike that tore the country apart and revealed to americans just how unstable the economy was and how deep this depression might become.

william jennings bryant ran as a democrat and a populist for the u.s. senate and ran against a railroad attorney. he gained a lot of national attention with this senate campaign in 1984. he had a series of debates and this gave him great visibility across the nation. he emerged as a national figure at that time. the country was desperate for leadership. all of the parties were divided. the republicans had won the presidential contest in nebraska in 1982. the second place vote-getter was the populist. cleveland was far behind. the democratic party was in deep trouble in this part of the midwest. >> he is one of 14 presidential

candidates who lost the election of a change to politics. from nebraska, more of the words from william jennings bryan. >> the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. the rest upon our broad and fertile prairies'. your cities will spring up again if -- as though by magic. destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country. england has a gold standard.

if they dared to come out and defend the gold standard, we will fight them to the uttermost. supported by the interest and the labor is everywhere, we will answer the demand for the gold standard. you shall not pushed down against labor. you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. >> how long was this speech in 1986 -- 1896? >> it was about 45 minutes long. this was a powerful metaphor for most people. william jennings bryan was a christian. he wanted to keep the country on

the gold standard. they wanted to restrict the supply of money. for many people that supported him, this was a way to keeping the americans who were in debt deeper in debt. it was a way of keeping the british economy the supreme economy in the world. it sounds like a technical issue but this is a half against the have nots. to crucify mankind on a cross of gold was connected to pontus pilot crucifying christ. in the same way, they thought that the american economy was run for the interest of those who already had property or money or banks.

there was a real class divide at that time. now, we have a lot of anger about the economy but this is not focused the same way as it was then. every dollar that people had in their pockets could be redeemed for some old. this was really a call for cheaper money, lower interest rates, and greater economic opportunity. >> you talk about his charisma and what he meant at that time. he essentially became a celebrity. he was receiving as many as 2000 letters a day. you also write about something that he did which was viewed as

revolutionary which was campaigning for the office as opposed to the strategy in ohio. >> they had a lot of money. he was able to get checks from john a. rockefeller. there was no restrictions on campaign donations. ryan could not get that kind of money. he had to go out and campaign for himself. he could not campaign on a large machine. he was a wonderful person and he loved to speak. he made necessity as a virtue. he had to go on passenger trains. he spoke as many as 6000 times and that campaign.