Three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan was a famed speechmaker and an influential figure in America from the 1890s through the 1920s. His father was a school superintendent and a politician. The family lived on a five-hundred-acre farm near Salem, Illinois. William Jennings Bryan was born there on March 19, 1860. The entire family worked on the farm and were very religious.

In 1872, Bryan's father ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Congress. Already a gifted speaker, William campaigned for his father. After graduating from high school, Bryan went to Whipple Academy to prepare for Illinois College. Bryan was a good student and an active debater. His powerful voice and well-researched speeches covered positions he would fight for throughout his life. After graduating in 1881, Bryan entered Chicago's Union College of Law.

In 1883, Bryan joined a law firm in Jacksonville, Illinois. In 1884, he married Mary...