William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American orator and politician from Nebraska. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, standing three times as the party's nominee for President of the United States. He also served in the United States House of Representatives and as the United States Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson. Because of his faith in the wisdom of the common people, he was often called "The Great Commoner".
L. Frank Baum satirized Bryan as the Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. Baum had been a Republican activist in 1896 and wrote on McKinley's behalf. Inherit the Wind, a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, is a highly fictionalized account of the Scopes Trial written in response to McCarthyism. A populist thrice-defeated Presidential candidate from Nebraska named Matthew Harrison Brady comes to a small town named Hillsboro in Tennessee to help prosecute a young teacher for teaching evolution to his schoolchildren. He is opposed by a famous trial lawyer, Henry Drummond (based on Darrow), and mocked by a cynical newspaperman (based on H.L. Mencken) as the trial assumes a national profile. A 1960 Hollywood film adaptation, written by the playwrights, was directed by Stanley Kramer and stars Spencer Tracy as lawyer Henry Drummond and Fredric March as his friend and rival Matthew Harrison Brady. Bryan also appears as a character in Douglas Moore's 1956 opera The Ballad of Baby Doe and is briefly mentioned in John Steinbeck's East of Eden. In addition, he is a (very) minor character in Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel. His death is referred to in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. In Robert A. Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice, Bryan's unsuccessful or successful runs for the presidency are seen as the "splitting off" events of the alternate histories through which the protagonists travel. He also has a biographical part in "The 42nd Parallel" in John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy. Vachel Lindsay's "singing poem" "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan" is a lengthy tribute to the idol of the poet's youth.

Q: What is the popular image about?
A: L. Frank Baum satirized Bryan as the Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,

Q: Why was this so important?
A: Baum had been a Republican activist in 1896 and wrote on McKinley's behalf.

Q: Was there any other plays about Byran?
A: Inherit the Wind, a 1955 play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee, is a highly fictionalized account of the Scopes Trial written in response to McCarthyism.

Q: What other popular images of bryan were there?
A: Bryan also appears as a character in Douglas Moore's 1956 opera The Ballad of Baby Doe

Q: Did bryan have a opinion of this?
A: unknown

Q: Can you tell me any other information?
A: He also has a biographical part in "The 42nd Parallel" in John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy.
What did bryan mean to Vachel?
unknown unknown unknown unknown
unknown