Editing William Jennings Bryan (section)

===Between presidential campaigns, 1901–1907===
{{See also|Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt|Alton B. Parker 1904 presidential campaign}}
[[File:Bryan 10 commandments PUCK 1906.jpg|thumb|William J Bryan in 1906 as Moses with new 10 commandments; Puck September 19, 1906, by [[Joseph Keppler]]. Tablet reads: '' l-Thou shalt have no other leaders before me. II—Thou shalt not make unto thyself any high Protective Tariff. Ill—Eight hours, and no more, shalt thou labor and do all thy work. IV—Thou shalt not graft. V—Thou shalt not elect thy Senators save by Popular Vote. VI—Thou shalt not grant rebates unto thy neighbor. VII—Thou shalt not make combinations in restraint of trade. VIII—Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's income, but shall make him pay a tax upon it. IX—There shall be no more government by injunction. X—Remember Election Day to vote it early. P.S.— When in doubt, ask Me.''<ref>source [[Joseph Keppler]] in [[Puck (magazine)]] September 19, 1906; reprinted in: Smylie, James H. "William Jennings Bryan and the Cartoonists: A Pictorial Lampoon, 1896—1925". ''Journal of Presbyterian History'' 53.2 (1975): 83–92 at p 88 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23327569 online].</ref> ]]

After the election, Bryan returned to journalism and oratory and frequently appeared on the [[Chautauqua]] circuits to give well-attended lectures across the country.<ref>Kazin (2006), p. 122</ref> In January 1901, Bryan published the first issue of his weekly newspaper, ''[[The Commoner]]'', which echoed his favorite political and religious themes. Bryan served as the editor and publisher of the newspaper; Charles Bryan, Mary Bryan and Richard Metcalfe also performed editorial duties when Bryan was traveling. ''The Commoner'' became one of the most widely-read newspapers of its era and boasted 145,000 subscribers approximately five years after its founding. Though the paper's subscriber base heavily overlapped with Bryan's political base in the Midwest, content from the papers was frequently reprinted by major newspapers in the Northeast. In 1902, Bryan, his wife and his three children moved into [[William Jennings Bryan House (Lincoln, Nebraska)|Fairview]], a mansion located in Lincoln; Bryan referred to the house as the "[[Monticello]] of the West", and frequently invited politicians and diplomats to visit.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 111–113</ref>

Bryan's defeat in 1900 cost him his status as the clear leader of the Democratic Party and conservatives such as [[David B. Hill]] and [[Arthur Pue Gorman]] moved to re-establish their control over the party and return it to the policies of the Cleveland era. Meanwhile, Roosevelt succeeded McKinley as president after the [[assassination of William McKinley|latter's assassination]] in September 1901 at the [[Pan-American Exposition]], in Buffalo, New York. Roosevelt prosecuted antitrust cases and implemented other [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] policies, but Bryan argued that Roosevelt did not fully embrace progressive causes. Bryan called for a package of reforms, including a federal income tax, pure food and drug laws, a ban on corporate financing of campaigns, a constitutional amendment providing for the direct election of senators, local ownership of utilities, and the state adoption of the [[Popular initiative|initiative]] and the [[referendum]],<ref name="Kazin 2006, pp. 113–114">Kazin (2006), pp. 113–114</ref> and provisions for old age.<ref>William Jennings Bryan Volume 1 By Paolo Enrico Coletta, 1964, P.441</ref> He also criticized Roosevelt's foreign policy and attacked Roosevelt's decision to invite [[Booker T. Washington]] to dine at the [[Booker T. Washington dinner at the White House|White House]] in 1901.<ref>Kazin (2006), p. 114</ref>

Before the [[1904 Democratic National Convention]], [[Alton B. Parker]], a New York and conservative ally of David Hill, was the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Conservatives feared that Bryan would join with the publisher [[William Randolph Hearst]] to block Parker's nomination. Seeking to appease Bryan and other progressives, Hill agreed to a party platform that omitted mention of the gold standard and criticized trusts.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 114–116</ref> In the event, Bryan did not support Parker or Hearst, but rather [[Francis Cockrell]], a Missouri senator whose career had been almost wholly unremarkable.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elections.harpweek.com/1904/cartoon-1904-large.asp?UniqueID=7&Year=1904|title=HarpWeek &#124; Elections &#124; 1904 Large Cartoons|website=elections.harpweek.com}}</ref> Bryan's motivation was not any belief that Cockrell could defeat Roosevelt in the election, but rather that he would lose decisively, thus paving the way for Bryan to be re-nominated in 1908. However, the possibility of Hearst getting the nomination alarmed the party's moderates enough that they moved to support Parker, who was narrowly nominated on the first ballot at the convention, with Cockrell finishing a distant third place.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Robert C.|title=Citizen Parker|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0820.html|access-date=October 8, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Bryan would nonetheless get his desired outcome when Roosevelt won by the biggest popular vote margin since [[James Monroe]] was re-elected without opposition in 1820. Afterwards, Bryan published a post-election edition of ''The Commoner'' that advised its readers: "Do not Compromise with Plutocracy".<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 119–120</ref>

Bryan traveled to Europe in 1903, meeting with figures such as [[Leo Tolstoy]], who shared some of Bryan's religious and political views.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 126–128</ref> In 1905, Bryan and his family embarked on a trip around the globe and visited eighteen countries in Asia and Europe. Bryan funded the trip with public speaking fees and a travelogue that was published on a weekly basis.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 121–122</ref> Bryan's travels abroad were documented in a study called "The Old World and its Ways", in which he shared his thoughts on different topics such as those related to progressive politics and labor legislation. Bryan was greeted by a large crowd upon his return to the United States in 1906 and was widely seen as the likely 1908 Democratic presidential nominee. Partly due to the efforts of [[muckraker|muckraking]] journalists, voters had become increasingly open to progressive ideas since 1904. President Roosevelt himself had moved to the left, favoring federal regulation of railroad rates and meatpacking plants.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 142–143</ref> However, Bryan continued to favor more far-reaching reforms, including federal regulation of banks and [[security (finance)|securities]], protections for union organizers and federal spending on highway construction and education. Bryan also briefly expressed support for the state and federal ownership of railroads in a manner similar to [[Germany]] but backed down from that policy in the face of an intra-party backlash.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 145–149</ref>