William Jennings Bryan's 1905-06 world tour

What is it about?

A history of the 1905-6 world tour undertaken by leading US politician and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. The essay explains the political context of Bryan's travels, its relationship to his 1908 presidential campaign and subsequent career, and the implications for our understanding of populism as a topic in global as well as in US history.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The first full history of the 1905-6 world tour undertaken by leading US politician and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. In addition to describing the purpose and extent of Bryan's travels, this essay explores how commentators and historians' fixation on Bryan's parochialism--elaborated most especially in the writings of H. L. Mencken, Walter Lippmann and Richard Hofstadter--blinded them to the breadth and depth of his engagement with the world beyond the United States. It then explores the relationship between populism, travel and cosmopolitanism.