Presidents and Populism: Robert LaFollette
Robert Marion La Follette, Sr. was politician from Wisconsin who represented his state as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as its Governor and as a U.S. Senator. He ran for President of the United States as the nominee of the Progressive Party in 1924.
La Follette was born in Primrose, Wisconsin on June 14, 1855. His great-grandfather Joseph La Follette was born in France, and emigrated to New Jersey to fight in the American Revolutionary War. Robert La Follette grew up in rural Dane County, Wisconsin. He endured a difficult childhood beginning with the death of his father in 1856 and a subsequent bad relationship with his stepfather. Following the death of his stepfather, his mother sold the family farm and moved to nearby Madison. He began teaching school for tuition money for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. La Follette was deeply influenced by University president John Bascom on issues of morality, ethics and social justice. La Follette was a gifted orator, winning a major Midwestern oratorical competition. He graduated in 1879.
La Follette met Belle Case while attending the University of Wisconsin, and they married on December 31, 1881, at her family home in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She was a leader in the feminist movement, and an advocate for women's suffrage. La Follette attended law school and passed the bar in 1880. That year he won the Republican nomination to the general election for Dane County District Attorney and went on to win the election. After two terms as District Attorney, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for three terms. He became famous for championing Native and African-American rights and for opposing patronage and supporting a protective tariff. While in the House he helped William McKinley draft the Tariff Act of 1890 (McKinley Tariff). The Act was so unpopular that he lost his seat in the 1890 Democratic landslide.
After his defeat, La Follette returned to Madison to begin a private law practice. In the early 1890s he began to believe that the Republican Party had abandoned the ideals of its anti-slavery origins and become an instrument of corporate interests. He was convinced industry and railroad interests had too much sway over the party. He attempted a grassroots populist movement within the party. In 1891, La Follette claimed that Philetus Sawyer, one of Wisconsin's Senators and a powerful Republican leader, attempted to bribe him in order to fix a case. The incident fortified his resolve to reform the party. Those who joined with him were called "Progressives".
In 1894, the Progressives began to openly challenge the party establishment for leadership of the Wisconsin Republican Party. In 1900, La Follette formed a coalition that temporarily disrupted the establishment control of the nomination process. After securing the nomination, he campaigned vigorously and won the 1900 race for governor by 100,000 votes. From 1901 until 1906, La Follette served as Governor of Wisconsin. He continued to battle the establishment wing of his party. During the 1904 elections, these other faction organized to oppose La Follette's nomination and moved to block his reform legislation. This caused La Follette to form a broad coalition with insurgent Democrats. When the legislative session concluded, La Follette traveled throughout Wisconsin reading how establishment Republicans voted to his audiences in an effort to elect Progressives. La Follette rose to become a national figure. His message against "vast corporate combinations" attracted both journalists and progressives.
As governor, La Follette pioneered many progressive reforms, including the first workers' compensation system, railroad rate reform, a minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women's suffrage, and progressive taxation. He also promoted recall legislation, referendum, and direct primaries, all aimed at giving citizens a more direct role in government.
The first item on the agenda for Wisconsin's 1905 legislature was to elect a Senator. La Follette nominated himself and was confirmed by the State Senate. He kept serving as Governor and left Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seat unfilled until January 1, 1906, when he resigned to join the U.S. Senate, stating that this was necessary to ensure that his 1904 platform was enacted in Wisconsin.
La Follette spent the remainder of his life, from January 2, 1906, until his death in 1925, serving in the U.S. Senate. While in the Senate, he strongly opposed American involvement in World War I and campaigned for child labor laws, social security, women's suffrage, and other progressive reforms. He opposed the prosecution of Eugene V. Debs and other opponents of the war and played a key role in initiating the investigation of the Teapot Dome Scandal during the Harding Administration. La Follette made many enemies over the years, particularly for his opposition to American entry into World War I and his defense of freedom of speech during wartime. Theodore Roosevelt called him a "skunk who ought to be hanged".
La Follette was viewed as the leader of the Progressives. He published his views in La Follette's Weekly Magazine, which began publishing in 1909. By 1916 he was becoming increasingly critical of the President Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy. In 1917 and 1918, La Follette became unpopular for insisting that America had no business in the war and had been led into it by "lies and trickery." He opposed taking any side in World War I and filibustered the Armed Ship bill, which would have authorized the President to arm merchant vessels. He was denounced in press editorials and political cartoons. After America joined the war, La Follette was a leader of the opposition to military conscription, the Espionage Act, and the President's measures to finance the war. At a meeting in St. Paul, he was misquoted as saying "We had no grievance against Germany" and that he argued the sinking of the Lusitania was justified. La Follette was characterized as treasonous by speakers and editors across the nation.
Many organizations sent resolutions to Congress calling for his expulsion, including the influential Minnesota Public Safety Commission presentation made to the Senate on September 29, 1917. La Follette asked for the Senate to schedule time to allow him to make an address in response to the charges of disloyalty and sedition. His address was scheduled for October 6, 1917. La Follette game an impassioned address defending free speech in wartime that was positively received. But many in the senate continued their attacks on La Follette. Throughout the rest of his time in the Senate, his opponents used procedural maneuvers to ensure he was never allowed to address charges of disloyalty again.
In 1924, the Federated Farmer-Labor Party sought to nominate La Follette as its candidate. This party wished to unite all progressive parties into a single national Labor Party. However, after a bitter convention in 1923, the Communist-controlled Workers Party gained control of the national organization's structure. Just prior to its 1924 convention in St. Paul, La Follette denounced the Communists and refused to be considered for the FF-LP endorsement. With La Follette's snub, the FF-LP disintegrated, leaving only the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party.
Instead, La Follette formed an independent Progressive Party and accepted its nomination in Cleveland with Democratic Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana as his running mate. The American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party of America, the Conference for Progressive Political Action and most of the former supporters of the FF-LP along with various former "Bull Moose" Progressives and midwestern Progressive movement activists then joined La Follette and supported the Progressive Party.
La Follette's platform called for government ownership of the railroads and electric utilities, cheap credit for farmers, the outlawing of child labor, stronger laws to help labor unions, more protection of civil liberties, an end to American imperialism in Latin America, and a referendum before any president could again lead the nation into war.
In the election, La Follette finished third behind incumbent President Calvin Coolidge and Democratic candidate John W. Davis. La Follette won 17% of the popular vote, carried Wisconsin (winning its 13 electoral votes) and polled second in 11 Western states. His base consisted of German Americans, railroad workers, the AFL labor unions, the Non-Partisan League, the Socialist Party, Western farmers, and many of the "Bull Moose" Progressives who had supported Roosevelt in 1912. LaFollette's 17% showing represents the third highest showing for a third party since the American Civil War, only surpassed by Roosevelt's 27% in 1912 and Ross Perot's 19% in 1992. Following the 1924 election, the Progressive Party disbanded.
Had La Follette won the election, he would not have lived out his term. He died in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 1925 of cardiovascular disease.
After La Follette's death, his wife, Belle Case La Follette and their sons Philip and Robert worked on the Progressive Party at the state level. Robert M. La Follette, Jr. succeeded his father as Senator and Philip La Follette, was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1935. La Follette Jr. returned to the Republican Party in 1946, where he was defeated in the primary by Republican Joe McCarthy.
La Follette was born in Primrose, Wisconsin on June 14, 1855. His great-grandfather Joseph La Follette was born in France, and emigrated to New Jersey to fight in the American Revolutionary War. Robert La Follette grew up in rural Dane County, Wisconsin. He endured a difficult childhood beginning with the death of his father in 1856 and a subsequent bad relationship with his stepfather. Following the death of his stepfather, his mother sold the family farm and moved to nearby Madison. He began teaching school for tuition money for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. La Follette was deeply influenced by University president John Bascom on issues of morality, ethics and social justice. La Follette was a gifted orator, winning a major Midwestern oratorical competition. He graduated in 1879.
La Follette met Belle Case while attending the University of Wisconsin, and they married on December 31, 1881, at her family home in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She was a leader in the feminist movement, and an advocate for women's suffrage. La Follette attended law school and passed the bar in 1880. That year he won the Republican nomination to the general election for Dane County District Attorney and went on to win the election. After two terms as District Attorney, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served for three terms. He became famous for championing Native and African-American rights and for opposing patronage and supporting a protective tariff. While in the House he helped William McKinley draft the Tariff Act of 1890 (McKinley Tariff). The Act was so unpopular that he lost his seat in the 1890 Democratic landslide.
After his defeat, La Follette returned to Madison to begin a private law practice. In the early 1890s he began to believe that the Republican Party had abandoned the ideals of its anti-slavery origins and become an instrument of corporate interests. He was convinced industry and railroad interests had too much sway over the party. He attempted a grassroots populist movement within the party. In 1891, La Follette claimed that Philetus Sawyer, one of Wisconsin's Senators and a powerful Republican leader, attempted to bribe him in order to fix a case. The incident fortified his resolve to reform the party. Those who joined with him were called "Progressives".
In 1894, the Progressives began to openly challenge the party establishment for leadership of the Wisconsin Republican Party. In 1900, La Follette formed a coalition that temporarily disrupted the establishment control of the nomination process. After securing the nomination, he campaigned vigorously and won the 1900 race for governor by 100,000 votes. From 1901 until 1906, La Follette served as Governor of Wisconsin. He continued to battle the establishment wing of his party. During the 1904 elections, these other faction organized to oppose La Follette's nomination and moved to block his reform legislation. This caused La Follette to form a broad coalition with insurgent Democrats. When the legislative session concluded, La Follette traveled throughout Wisconsin reading how establishment Republicans voted to his audiences in an effort to elect Progressives. La Follette rose to become a national figure. His message against "vast corporate combinations" attracted both journalists and progressives.
As governor, La Follette pioneered many progressive reforms, including the first workers' compensation system, railroad rate reform, a minimum wage, non-partisan elections, the open primary system, direct election of U.S. Senators, women's suffrage, and progressive taxation. He also promoted recall legislation, referendum, and direct primaries, all aimed at giving citizens a more direct role in government.
The first item on the agenda for Wisconsin's 1905 legislature was to elect a Senator. La Follette nominated himself and was confirmed by the State Senate. He kept serving as Governor and left Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seat unfilled until January 1, 1906, when he resigned to join the U.S. Senate, stating that this was necessary to ensure that his 1904 platform was enacted in Wisconsin.
La Follette spent the remainder of his life, from January 2, 1906, until his death in 1925, serving in the U.S. Senate. While in the Senate, he strongly opposed American involvement in World War I and campaigned for child labor laws, social security, women's suffrage, and other progressive reforms. He opposed the prosecution of Eugene V. Debs and other opponents of the war and played a key role in initiating the investigation of the Teapot Dome Scandal during the Harding Administration. La Follette made many enemies over the years, particularly for his opposition to American entry into World War I and his defense of freedom of speech during wartime. Theodore Roosevelt called him a "skunk who ought to be hanged".
La Follette was viewed as the leader of the Progressives. He published his views in La Follette's Weekly Magazine, which began publishing in 1909. By 1916 he was becoming increasingly critical of the President Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy. In 1917 and 1918, La Follette became unpopular for insisting that America had no business in the war and had been led into it by "lies and trickery." He opposed taking any side in World War I and filibustered the Armed Ship bill, which would have authorized the President to arm merchant vessels. He was denounced in press editorials and political cartoons. After America joined the war, La Follette was a leader of the opposition to military conscription, the Espionage Act, and the President's measures to finance the war. At a meeting in St. Paul, he was misquoted as saying "We had no grievance against Germany" and that he argued the sinking of the Lusitania was justified. La Follette was characterized as treasonous by speakers and editors across the nation.
Many organizations sent resolutions to Congress calling for his expulsion, including the influential Minnesota Public Safety Commission presentation made to the Senate on September 29, 1917. La Follette asked for the Senate to schedule time to allow him to make an address in response to the charges of disloyalty and sedition. His address was scheduled for October 6, 1917. La Follette game an impassioned address defending free speech in wartime that was positively received. But many in the senate continued their attacks on La Follette. Throughout the rest of his time in the Senate, his opponents used procedural maneuvers to ensure he was never allowed to address charges of disloyalty again.
In 1924, the Federated Farmer-Labor Party sought to nominate La Follette as its candidate. This party wished to unite all progressive parties into a single national Labor Party. However, after a bitter convention in 1923, the Communist-controlled Workers Party gained control of the national organization's structure. Just prior to its 1924 convention in St. Paul, La Follette denounced the Communists and refused to be considered for the FF-LP endorsement. With La Follette's snub, the FF-LP disintegrated, leaving only the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party.
Instead, La Follette formed an independent Progressive Party and accepted its nomination in Cleveland with Democratic Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana as his running mate. The American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party of America, the Conference for Progressive Political Action and most of the former supporters of the FF-LP along with various former "Bull Moose" Progressives and midwestern Progressive movement activists then joined La Follette and supported the Progressive Party.
La Follette's platform called for government ownership of the railroads and electric utilities, cheap credit for farmers, the outlawing of child labor, stronger laws to help labor unions, more protection of civil liberties, an end to American imperialism in Latin America, and a referendum before any president could again lead the nation into war.
In the election, La Follette finished third behind incumbent President Calvin Coolidge and Democratic candidate John W. Davis. La Follette won 17% of the popular vote, carried Wisconsin (winning its 13 electoral votes) and polled second in 11 Western states. His base consisted of German Americans, railroad workers, the AFL labor unions, the Non-Partisan League, the Socialist Party, Western farmers, and many of the "Bull Moose" Progressives who had supported Roosevelt in 1912. LaFollette's 17% showing represents the third highest showing for a third party since the American Civil War, only surpassed by Roosevelt's 27% in 1912 and Ross Perot's 19% in 1992. Following the 1924 election, the Progressive Party disbanded.
Had La Follette won the election, he would not have lived out his term. He died in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 1925 of cardiovascular disease.
After La Follette's death, his wife, Belle Case La Follette and their sons Philip and Robert worked on the Progressive Party at the state level. Robert M. La Follette, Jr. succeeded his father as Senator and Philip La Follette, was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 1935. La Follette Jr. returned to the Republican Party in 1946, where he was defeated in the primary by Republican Joe McCarthy.