A. Thomas Stewart, the Attorney General of Tennessee, was the chief prosecutor in the Scopes trial. Although he was rumored to have personally accepted Darwin's teachings, Stewart saw the case in simple terms: the legislature passed the Butler Act and John Scopes violated it. There was no religious freedom issue in the case, according to Stewart, because the constitutional guarantees on that subject apply only to worship in churches.
Stewart had frequent heated confrontations with members of the defense team throughout the trial. He described Darrow as "the greatest menace present-day civilization has to deal with."
H. L. Mencken, though puzzled over Stewart's vigorous defense of the anti-evolution law, described Stewart as "a man of apparent education and sense."
After the trial, Stewart was elected United States Senator. He served one term before returning to his law practice in Nashville.