¨ After resigning from Wilson's cabinet, Bryan declared that the three great reforms of the 1920s were peace, prohibition, and women's suffrage. Although he spent the most time with peace, he also made time for the latter two as well. In crusading against alcohol, Bryan and many of his fellow prohibitionists considered themselves as Progressives engaged in a reform which would eventually engulf the entire world. Bryan thought that prohibition was just a continuation of the struggle against the selfish interests that put private profit above human welfare and fed upon the helplessness of the masses. To Bryan, this was the chief consideration before which all abstract discussions of liberty and all questions of political expediency paled. Bryan's early attitude toward temperance reform was because of his early training and environment. By the time he turned twelve, he signed a temperance reform pledge for school. "While he was practicing law in Illinois, he delivered a temperance speech in which he endorsed the theory of prohibition but asserted that a policy of moral suasion and education was superior to one of legislative proscription." He, then, moved to Nebraska and jeopardized his political future by adopting statewide prohibition. He not only failed to endorse the amendment, but he also voted against it as well.
¨ Bryan's frequent trips to Florida exposed him to the virus of land speculation that had recently begun to sweep the southern tip of the state, and he did not prove to be immune. He made a lot of profit when he sold his house. For the first time, Bryan used his oratorical abilities for something other than a public cause. He also loaned the Miami real estate his verbal support in exchange for a nominal fee per lecture that he gives. Even though this was the first time that Bryan had withstood an inducement, it is assumed that his sheer need for activity while keeping her sick wife company in Miami. Also another reason is that the wonders of his new state played a role. Bryan became defensive about his activities and how they made him a wealthy man. Several newspapers contrasted his professional roles the Great Commoner with his new status as a millionaire. Bryan denied that he was a millionaire, stressing that his home was only worth a mere $500,000. He stressed that he donated 10% of his annual income to charity and advocated the rights of those poor people. He told another correspondent that if it was a sin to buy a home and see its value rise because of city growth, then he had sinned. Finally after such success in Florida, he reluctantly decided to legally reside in that state since he owed Nebraska more than he could ever repay. People assumed that Bryan would enter into the political arena, but Bryan refused unless the position was offered to him.
¨ Bryan's Chautauqua lectures were speeches where he openly denounced and criticized many government plans and decisions. These lectures were attended by masses of adults and children in the surrounding area to listen to a famous orator teach the people about their government and its current problems. Bryan's most widely Chautauqua lecture attacked both parties for adopting meaningless planks on profiteering and for making the League a partisan issue. He announced his utter disappointment in the platforms and reforms each candidate adopted because the people had to vote for them. He learned though that the people informed themselves of the real issues and cast their influence on the right side. He criticized politicians in every way possible and wished he was discussing the art of religion instead. Bryan did establish his interest in religion rather than politics. He said he would still be in a church praying even after his political career is over.
¨ Bryan promoted many ideas and programs in the 1920s. These measures included the 16th through the 19th Amendments to the Constitution, public disclosure of newspaper ownership and signing of editorials, an array of proposed labor laws and reforms, public regulation of political campaign contributions, Federal Reserve Act, Federal trade Commission, Federal Farm Loan Act, government regulation of railroad and telegraph-telephone, safety devices and pure food processing, tariff reform, control of trusts, government control of currency and banking, the initiative, the referendum, establishment of departments of health and education and labor, promotion of public parks, defense of rights of minorities, anti-imperialism, settling of international differences through peaceful arbitration, support of education, strengthening of Latin America relations, voting reform, influence on the revision of state constitutions, and reforms to make the Constitution more easily amendable.
¨ Bryan's belief in religious fundamentalism involved him in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial in 1925. The case involved John Scopes, a schoolteacher who had taught the biological theory of evolution to his students. Bryan assisted the prosecution against Clarence Darrow, the famous defense attorney, who defended Scopes. Bryan won the case, and the anti-evolution statute was upheld. However, the humiliating direct examination to which Bryan was subjected by Darrow, revealing his ignorance of scientific discoveries, probably hurt the fundamentalist cause and may have been a contributing factor in Bryan's sudden death on July 26, only five days after the conclusion of the most famous and controversial case of the decade.