Threading the Needle

Navigating difficult situations is (by definition) difficult. How do we hold our values while staying within the bounds of civil society? Do we cave in and go with the socially accepted (and expected) norms or are we true to ourselves? I think of the time when my racist uncle told jokes and I (cowardly) didn’t tell him that it wasn’t funny and just plain wrong. There are probably enough parentheses already…

William Jennings Bryan was an amazing orator. He was also a Representative, three time presidential nominee, Secretary of State, and lawyer. Most probably know him for the fictionalized movie version of Inherit the Wind where he was a lawyer in the Scopes Monkey Trial. 

So how did this guy “thread the needle” and what can we learn from that?

The formality and political importance of a State Diner in the early 1900s cannot be overstated. This one honored the Japanese Admiral Togo (who destroyed the Russian fleet in the  Russo-Japanese War of 1905 that forced Russia to withdraw from East Asia and effectively made Japan a world power) and Bryan was expected to give the toast. 

But there was a problem. Bryan was a strict Prohibitionist and refused to drink any alcohol whatsoever. With the political tensions and recent events, it was paramount that the toast be perfect. How does one thread that needle? 

When he got up to make the toast he held up his glass and said something like, “Because Admiral Togo won a great victory on the water, I will toast him with water. When he wins a victory on champagne, I will toast him with champagne. 

Well played Mr. Bryan, well played.