Editing William Jennings Bryan (section)

===U. S. Representative and Senate campaign===
[[File:Bryan, Hon. Wm. J. Trim.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[C. M. Bell]] {{circa}} 1891–1894]]
Bryan established a successful legal practice in Lincoln with partner Adolphus Talbot, a Republican whom Bryan had known in law school.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 17–19</ref> Bryan also entered local politics by campaigning for Democrats like [[Julius Sterling Morton]] and [[Grover Cleveland]].<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 22–24</ref> After earning notoriety for his effective speeches in 1888, Bryan ran for Congress in the [[1890 United States House of Representatives elections|1890 election]].<ref>Kazin (2006), p. 25</ref> Bryan called for a reduction in [[tariffs in United States history|tariff]] rates, the coinage of silver at a ratio equal to that of gold and action to stem the power of [[trust law|trusts]]. In part because of a series of strong debate performances, Bryan defeated incumbent Republican [[William James Connell]], who had campaigned on the orthodox Republican platform, centered around the [[protective tariff]].<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 25–27</ref> Bryan's victory made him only the second Democrat who ever represented Nebraska in Congress.<ref>Colletta (1964), p. 48.</ref> Nationwide, Democrats picked up 76 seats in the House and so obtained a majority in that chamber. The Populist Party, a [[third party (United States)|third party]] that drew support from agrarian voters in the West, also won several seats in Congress.<ref>Kazin (2006), p. 27</ref>

With the help of Representative [[William McKendree Springer]], Bryan secured a coveted spot on the [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|House Ways and Means Committee]]. He quickly earned a reputation as a talented orator and set out to gain a strong understanding of the key economic issues of the day.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 31–34</ref> During the [[Gilded Age]], the Democratic Party had begun to separate into two groups. The conservative northern "[[Bourbon Democrats]]", along with some allies in the South, sought to limit the size and power of the federal government. Another group of Democrats, drawing its membership largely from the agrarian movements of the South and West, favored greater federal intervention to help farmers, regulate railroads, and limit the power of large corporations.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 20–22</ref> Bryan became affiliated with the latter group and advocated for the free coinage of silver ("[[free silver]]") and the establishment of a [[Progressive tax|progressive]] federal [[Income tax in the United States|income tax]]. That endeared him to many reformers, but Bryan's call for free silver cost him the support of Morton and some other conservative Nebraska Democrats.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 33–36</ref> Free silver advocates were opposed by banks and bondholders who feared the effects of inflation.<ref>Hibben (1929), p. 175.</ref>

Bryan sought re-election in 1892 to his house seat with the support of many Populists and backed the Populist presidential candidate [[James B. Weaver]] over the Democratic presidential candidate, Grover Cleveland. Bryan won re-election by just 140 votes, and Cleveland defeated Weaver and incumbent Republican President [[Benjamin Harrison]] in the [[1892 United States presidential election|1892 presidential election]]. Cleveland appointed a cabinet consisting largely of conservative Democrats like Morton, who became Cleveland's [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|secretary of agriculture]]. Shortly after Cleveland had taken office, a series of bank closures brought on the [[Panic of 1893]], a major economic crisis. In response, Cleveland called a [[special session]] of Congress to call for the repeal of the 1890 [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]], which required the federal government to purchase several million ounces of silver every month. Bryan mounted a campaign to save the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, but a coalition of Republicans and Democrats successfully repealed it.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 35–38</ref> Bryan, however, was successful in passing an amendment that provided for the establishment of the first peacetime federal income tax.<ref name="kazin51">Kazin (2006), p. 51</ref>{{efn|The tax would be struck down by the Supreme Court in the 1895 case of ''[[Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.]]''.<ref name="kazin51"/>}}

As the economy declined after 1893, the reforms favored by Bryan and the Populists became more popular among many voters. Rather than running for re-election in 1894, Bryan sought election to the [[United States Senate]]. He also became the editor-in-chief of the ''[[Omaha World-Herald]]'' although most editorial duties were performed by [[Richard Lee Metcalfe]] and [[Gilbert Hitchcock]]. Nationwide, the Republican Party won a huge victory in the [[1894 United States elections|elections of 1894]] by gaining over 120 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Nebraska, despite Bryan's popularity, the Republicans elected a majority of the state legislators, and Bryan lost the Senate election to Republican [[John Mellen Thurston]].{{efn|U.S. senators were elected by state legislatures before to the ratification of the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Seventeenth Amendment]] in 1913.}} Bryan, nonetheless, was pleased with the result of the 1894 election, as the Cleveland wing of the Democratic Party had been discredited, and Bryan's preferred gubernatorial candidate, [[Silas A. Holcomb]], had been elected by a coalition of Democrats and Populists.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 40–43</ref>

After the 1894 elections, Bryan embarked on a nationwide speaking tour designed to boost free silver, move his party away from the conservative policies of the Cleveland administration, lure Populists and free silver Republicans into the Democratic Party, and raise Bryan's public profile before the next election. Speaking fees allowed Bryan to give up his legal practice and devote himself full-time to oratory.<ref>Kazin (2006), pp. 46–48</ref>