William Jennings Bryan was an American politician and orator who served as the 42nd United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. He was also the Democratic nominee for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908. Bryan was a proponent of agrarianism and opposed industrialization and imperialism. He was also a pacifist and opposed American intervention in World War I.
Bryan would have least favored expansion and modernization of the American navy in the late 1800s because he opposed imperialism and believed that the United States should not be involved in foreign conflicts. He also believed that the money spent on the navy could be better spent on domestic programs to help farmers and other working-class Americans.