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William Jennings Bryan Jr.

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Not to be confused with his father, William Jennings Bryan.
William Jennings Bryan Jr.
Bryan in 1938
Collector of the Port of Los Angeles
In office
March 16, 1938 – June 22, 1953
Appointed byFranklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Preceded byAlfred A. Cohn
Succeeded byCarl F. White
Assistant United States Attorney
for the District of Arizona
In office
1915–1919
Appointed byThomas Watt Gregory
U.S. AttorneyThomas A. Flynn
Preceded byWiley E. Jones
Personal details
Born(1889-06-24)June 24, 1889
Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
DiedMarch 27, 1978(1978-03-27) (aged 88)
Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Helen Berger
​
​
(m. 1909; div. 1927)​

Ella Bent
​
​
(m. 1929; died 1973)​
Children3
Parent(s)William Jennings Bryan
Mary Baird Bryan
RelativesRuth Bryan Owen (sister)
EducationUniversity of Nebraska
University of Arizona (A.B.)
Georgetown School of Law
OccupationLawyer, politician

William Jennings Bryan Jr. (June 24, 1889 – March 27, 1978) was an American lawyer and politician who served as collector of the Port of Los Angeles from 1938[1] to 1953.[2] He was the only son of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.[3]

Biography

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William Jennings Bryan Jr. was born on June 24, 1889 in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of attorneys William Jennings Bryan and Mary Baird Bryan. Following in their footsteps, he graduated from the University of Arizona in 1912 with an A.B., studied further at the University of Nebraska and the Georgetown School of Law, and became a practicing attorney in Tucson in 1914.[4]

Bryan was appointed a member of the Arizona Board of Regents by governor George W. P. Hunt in 1914,[5] and the next year was appointed an assistant United States attorney for the district of Arizona by attorney general Thomas Watt Gregory.[6] He resigned both positions in 1919 and moved to Southern California the following year.[7][8]

Bryan speaking at an Armistice Day observance at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 1934

Bryan was an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor of California in 1934, losing the Democratic primary to EPIC candidate Sheridan Downey.[9] In the same election, socialist muckraker Upton Sinclair won the Democratic nomination for governor. Refusing to endorse Sinclair and denouncing him as a "socialist interloper," Bryan joined "Democrats for Merriam" and attacked the charges that his father would have endorsed EPIC. After Sinclair lost the election, Bryan celebrated that "[the] most menacing peril to the New Deal has been removed."[10] In his I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked, Sinclair claimed Bryan had opposed him to protect his inheritance and receive a judgeship from Merriam.[11]

In 1938, Bryan was appointed collector of the Port of Los Angeles by president Franklin D. Roosevelt,[12] on the recommendation of senator William Gibbs McAdoo.[13] In a profile by Lemuel F. Parton published shortly after, Bryan was contrasted with his famously-unkempt father as "fussy about his dress, severely and fastidiously groomed with a jaunty little mustache and a nice collection of malacca sticks, sports clothes and varied haberdashery." While he shared his father's convictions for anti-evolutionism and free silver, Bryan was described as speaking with "calm, legalistic precision" as opposed to his father's fiery oratory.[14] He was reappointed by president Harry S. Truman[15] and served until his resignation in 1953.[16]

Bryan moved from California to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1975. He died there on March 27, 1978. He was survived by his three daughters, a stepson, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "W. J. Bryan, Jr., welcomed as new customs collector". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. 17 March 1938. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Newsman Sworn In As New US Customs Chief". Visalia Times-Delta. Visalia. 23 June 1953. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "William Jennings Bryan Jr., Only Son of the Famed Orator". The New York Times. New York. 28 March 1978. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  4. ^ Fletcher, Russell Holmes (1943). Who's Who in California. Los Angeles: Who's Who Publications Company. p. 126. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  5. ^ "Bryan to be regent". Graham Guardian. Safford. 11 December 1914. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Bryan, Junior, to be assistant attorney". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix. 24 January 1915. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Bryan resigns as university regent". Tucson Citizen. Tucson. 24 October 1919. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  8. ^ "W. J. Bryan, Jr. may locate in S. B." The Morning Press. Santa Barbara. 30 July 1920. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  9. ^ Jordan, Frank C. (1934). Statement of Vote. Sacramento: California Secretary of State. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Greg (1992). The Campaign of the Century. New York: Random House. pp. 214, 447–448, 533. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  11. ^ Sinclair, Upton (1935). I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. pp. 162–163. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  12. ^ Thurman, V. E. (1940). Who's Who in the New Deal (California edition). Los Angeles: New Deal Historical Society. p. 18. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Senator McAdoo Choice Accepted By President". Pasadena Star-News. Pasadena. 26 February 1938. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  14. ^ Parton, Lemuel F. (4 March 1938). "W. J. Bryan, Jr., Lacks Fervor of His Father". The Washington Star. Washington D.C. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  15. ^ "Bryan reappointed". Daily Breeze. Torrance. 24 January 1951. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Federal Worker Criticism Hit". Vallejo Times-Herald. Vallejo. 10 April 1953. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
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