WIlliam Jennings Bryan, 1910, Wikiquote

The ACLU needed someone to be John Scopes’ lawyer. They had the perfect person as he was one of the most famous criminal defense attorneys and agnostic, Clarence Darrow. The prosecution named William Jennings Bryan, who was one of the most prominent Evangelical Christians at the time, claimed that every word in the Bible was the truth. These two big names took over the trial and turned it into, essentially, a publicity stunt. Many people considered the trial as a duel to the death between the rivals, where the winner would take all the glory.

The seventh day of the trial is often considered one of the most important days because Clarence Darrow made the unusual move of calling Bryan to the stand for questioning. This was a risky play, but it paid off as Darrow could show that Bryan, in front of a massive radio and live audience, knew very little about the book he preached and the science he opposed. He fell into almost every trap set and was publicly humiliated in front of thousands of people.  Despite the humiliation, this did nothing to disprove the accusation that Scopes taught evolution. Even though Bryan did win the trial, Darrow did bring a lot of attention to Bryan’s limited knowledge and the Theory of Evolution.

Clarence Darrow, 1913, Wikipedia