William Jennings Bryan

Coral Gables Spokesman, Politician
March 1860 – July 1925

William Jennings Bryan was Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1915, ran three times for President of the United States, and served in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. A great orator, Bryan was originally born in Salem, Illinois, and began giving public speeches at the ripe age of four-years-old. During and after his lengthy political career as a Democrat, he advocated for the eight-hour workday, a minimum wage, women’s suffrage, the right for unions to strike, and Prohibition, of which he was a staunch supporter. He was known as “the Great Commoner” due to his relatable ideas and policies. Bryan moved to Miami in the early 1910s and later took on the lucrative speaking engagement of being George Merrick’s spokesman for Coral Gables, orating from any makeshift pulpit (usually at the Venetian Pool) to crowds of potential residents and investors.

Accomplishments

Bryan is most famous for his role in the infamous Tennessee “Monkey Trial,” where he helped prosecute biology teacher John T. Scopes for teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. His efforts led to a Tennessee state statute that made it illegal to teach “any theory which denies the story of the Divine creation of man as taught in the Bible.” However, in Coral Gables, Bryan is most known for his sales tactics. He helped sell hundreds of millions of dollars in Coral Gables properties at the behest of his friend and city founder George Merrick.

What He Said

Bryan’s most famous quote, which he used to help convince potential investors to bring their money to Coral Gables, is: “In Coral Gables, you can wake up in the morning and tell the biggest lies you can think of about the future of the city – and before you go to bed at night, you will be ashamed of your modesty.”