Charles Wayland Bryan (1867 - 1945)

Born 10 Feb 1867 in Salem, Marion, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Louise (Brokaw) Bryan — married 29 Nov 1892 in Marion, Illinois, United States

Died 4 Mar 1945 at age 78 in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States

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Preceded by 19th Governor Samuel Roy McKelvie 22nd Governor Arthur J. Weaver

Charles W. Bryan 20th Governor of Nebraska 1923—1925 23rd Governor 1931—1935

Succeeded by 21st Governor Adam McMullen 24th Governor Robert Leroy Cochran

Charles Bryan is Notable.

Biography

Charles Wayland Bryan was an American politician who served as the 20th and 23rd Governor of Nebraska, and Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska, and was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1924. He was the younger brother of Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who was the Democratic nominee for President in 1896, 1900, and 1908. The Bryans are the only brothers who have been nominated for President or Vice President by a major political party.

Born in 1867 in Salem, Illinois, the son of Silas Bryan and Mariah Jennings. Charles Bryan attended both the University of Chicago and Illinois College in Jacksonville. He married Elizabeth Louise Brokaw on November 29, 1892. They had three children. Bryan worked as a tobacco broker and insurance salesman, farmed, and raised purebred livestock.

Bryan moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1889, and became business manager and political secretary for his brother, William Jennings Bryan. From 1901 to 1923, he was publisher and associate editor of his brother's newspaper, The Commoner. Elected to the Lincoln City Commission in 1915 and 1921, he also served as mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska from 1915 to 1917 (again from 1935 to 1937).

Bryan was elected the Governor of Nebraska in 1922, and served from 1923 to 1925. He was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 1924, picked largely because of his name to serve as running mate to conservative easterner John W. Davis. The ticket was overwhelmingly defeated by Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge and his running mate Charles G. Dawes.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1926 and 1928. He won in 1930 and 1932, and served from 1931 to 1935. During his tenure, the state's economy flourished, state spending was limited, and taxes were reduced. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1934, governor in 1938, the U.S. House in 1940, and governor in 1942.

Charles W. Bryan died on March 4, 1945 in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is interred there at Wyuka Cemetery.

Sources

• Find A Grave Memorial# 7267681
• Charles W. Bryan on Wikipedia