Month: December 2025

Fascinating Politics

Newt Gingrich, Part I: Early Career and Partisan Bomb-Throwing Backbencher

One of the most controversial figures of his day and one who from time to time can still say controversial things is Newton Leroy Gingrich (1943- ). Born Newton Leroy McPherson, his birth parents split before he was born, and his stepfather, Robert Gingrich, adopted him upon his marriage to his mother Kathleen in 1946. Robert was an army man, thus young Gingrich moved with his father to where he was stationed. He did not form many connections with his peers, as he often moved, rather concentrating his energies on personal interests, including history and animals. A visit to the site of the Battle of Verdun made a strong impression upon him about the consequences of failure of leadership. In 1965, he earned a Bachelor’s in history from Emory University in Atlanta, and would later earn an M.A. and PhD in European history. In his college days, Gingrich was involved with the Young Republicans, where he reportedly expressed a desire to “be an old-time political boss in 20 years” (Green).

During the Vietnam War, he received deferments for his status as a student and a father. Given Gingrich’s later hawkishness on the Cold War and his strong criticisms of Democrats for their dovishness, this would be used to call him a “chickenhawk”. However, it was likely a moot point against him. Gingrich’s stepfather, a veteran, said of him, “He is very nearsighted. You probably know that he can barely see across the street without his contacts. He has two of the flattest feet that there ever was”, thus he would have almost certainly not been eligible for military service on medical grounds (Thompson). Interestingly, Gingrich backed Nelson Rockefeller in the 1968 Republican primary, indicating a bit of a more moderate view on issues in his early years. After he had earned his PhD, Gingrich was a professor of history and geography at West Georgia College, although he would take leaves of absence for his political campaigns.

Haunting Congressman Flynt

In 1972, conservative Democrat John J. Flynt faced no opposition for reelection. Theoretically, the 1974 midterms should have also been baller for Flynt, but the entrance of Gingrich into the race held him down to 51.5% of the vote, and this election weighed Republicans down from the Watergate scandal. In that election, Gingrich ran on a conservative platform of cutting federal spending by at least $10 billion, revising the tax code, reducing federal bureaucracy, and against “special interest” groups (The Newnan Times Herald, 1974). He also distanced himself from Nixon and Watergate. Gingrich was a natural campaigner, and he was able to with ease walk into offices and introduce himself thusly, “Hi, I’m Newt Gingrich and with a name like that I need all the help I can get” (Jacobs). Working in Gingrich’s favor was that the district’s makeup was changing from rural to suburban, thus Flynt’s base of support in the district was deteriorating. Furthermore, the long march of Republicans to dominance in the South began in the suburbs. Flynt again had a tough race in 1976 with Gingrich trying again. He again emphasized his conservatism, with one of his ads touting that “He’s for a strong national defense, he’s opposed to gun control, and he’s an honest fiscal conservative. He’s said over and over that government is too big, too expensive, and too much in control of our daily lives” (The Newnan Times-Herald, 1976). Flynt campaigned against Gingrich as an outsider, with ads emphasizing that he was born in Pennsylvania and that he went to schools in Europe and college in New Orleans (Jacobs). Since both men were running as conservatives, Gingrich could not attack him on ideological grounds. However, he did go after him as a Washington insider, criticized the state of ethics in Congress which was relevant as Flynt was chairman of the House Ethics Committee, and went after his attendance record, stating that he missed 24% of House votes, not counting absences due to illness (Jacobs). However, Flynt was actually doing significant work as Ethics Committee chairman. This included the Ethics Committee investigating Representative Robert Sikes of Florida and refusing to cut a deal with Wayne Hays of Ohio (Lyons). Jimmy Carter easily won the state, and Flynt won with 51.7% of the vote. However, a 1978 midterm without the encumbrance of Watergate on Republicans nor the benefit of Carter at the top of the ticket spelled retirement for Flynt. With Flynt’s retirement, the way was cleared for Gingrich, and he won the seat with 54.4% of the vote against State Senator Virginia Shapard.

Congressman Gingrich

Gingrich from the beginning had a dream, and that was for a Republican majority. It was his idea for the Republicans to consult the Conservative Party of Britain on how they won the 1979 elections, and he said regarding his approach to politics, “For a great part of its minority life, the Republican Party has allowed itself to become coopted as an arm of government. Too often it has allowed itself to be cajoled into providing the necessary votes for the majority party to win…I’m personally getting tired of being told that we’re responsible when they (Democrats control the House, they control the Senate, they control the committees, and they control the rules. If we held those positions, then we should be responsible…If the majority party is content to run the House like a plantation, they can do so. But they can’t make me dress up and serve mint juleps with a smile” (Crown). Gingrich’s record started as conservative, with him siding with their positions in 1979 and 1980 92% of the time. He was notably outspoken against the Panama Canal Treaties and voted against implementation. A notable exception to his conservative record in this time, however, was his vote for the Department of Education in 1979. Gingrich also was keen on the South becoming Republican and in the process leaving behind some old legacies. Notably, he voted to extend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 1981 and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in 1983.

Gingrich was a strong supporter of President Reagan’s economic, social, and foreign policies. although he differed with him when he embraced partially rolling back the 1981 tax cuts. He in particular criticized Senator Bob Dole’s (R-Kan.) leading role, dubbing him the “tax collector of the welfare state” (Ponnuru). Back then, Georgia’s legislature was still quite Democratic, and they badly wanted to redistrict Gingrich out of a career. As The Gainesville Times (1981) reported, “The congressional reapportionment efforts will have four major goals. In descending order of priority they will be: (1) elimination of Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich, (2) insurance that a new Republican district isn’t created, (3) elimination of Democratic Congressman Larry McDonald [a John Bircher who was even more conservative than Gingrich], protection of the seats of the remaining incumbents who plan to seek reelection”. Although Republicans lost 26 seats in the 1982 midterms, Democrats did not achieve the ousters of either Gingrich or McDonald. In 1983, Gingrich formed the Conservative Opportunity Society, a group for young House Republicans. He also sought to attack the Democratic majority and became known as a rhetorical bomb-thrower, and realized a medium to do so. Only two months after Gingrich had been seated, C-SPAN began televising the proceedings of the House. I think I can write without fear of contradiction that people behave differently when they know they are on camera, and he knew how to use this to his advantage.

Gingrich vs. Speaker O’Neill

In 1984, Gingrich and his fellow younger Republicans started using a period of time called “Special Orders”, an end-of-the-day period in which few members were present, to denounce the Democrats. A most notable incident was when Gingrich used this time to speak before a mostly empty House in an end-of-the-day period known as “Special Orders”, his remarks being for the American public, accusing the Democrats of believing that “American does nothing right and communism…rushes into vacuums caused by ‘stupid’ Americans and its ‘rotten, corrupt’ allies” and called out numerous Democratic House members for their opposition to Reagan’s foreign policy (Reid). During the speech, he did something clever and sneaky. He briefly paused in his words, as if to challenge his opponents, who were not present, to respond (Stanley).

Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.), who learned of the speech two days later, was furious because none of the members named had been notified ahead of time by Gingrich that he would be making a speech that would name them in addition to his pause. In response, he ordered C-SPAN to pan the cameras around the House during “Special Orders”. Republicans had not been informed of the change ahead of time and strongly objected (O’Neill would apologize to Minority Leader Michel for a lack of notice), and Gingrich started speaking under a matter of “personal privilege” to denounce O’Neill and wouldn’t yield the floor when Democrats tried to get him to do so until O’Neill himself gruffly asked, “Will the gentleman yield?” (Reid) He proceeded to blow his stack. O’Neill shook his finger at Gingrich and boomed, “You deliberately stood in the well of this House and took on these members when you knew they would not be here” (Reid). This would have been fine under parliamentary rules. However, he continued, “You challenged their patriotism, and it is the lowest thing that I have ever seen in my 32 years in Congress!” (Stanley) The problem here was that O’Neill’s language was not parliamentary, and House Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) demanded the words be taken down. The House parliamentarian indeed ruled him out of order for using “lowest” against Gingrich and the words were taken down. The normal penalty for this was that the member was not allowed to speak for the rest of the day, but Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-Ill.) came to his rescue by asking Lott to exempt O’Neill from the penalty, which was agreed to (Stanley). Although considered to be of the party’s conservative wing, Michel had been in the House since 1957 and thus had for a long time been used to being in the minority and acted accordingly. He had reservations about Gingrich’s bomb-thrower approach and was personally on good terms with O’Neill despite them having many political differences, including being his golfing partner. Older members of the House were not keen on this new development, with veteran Congressman Barber Conable (R-N.Y.) stating on the situation, “I think many people are upset with the loss of civility around here. They found confirmation in their strategy, that Tip was willing to mix with them. It gave them a purpose” (Harbrecht).

Gingrich’s influence would continue to rise from the 1984 election, and in particular there was one election in that cycle that helped motivate more Republicans to be combative, but that will be covered in Part II.

References

Crown, J. (1979, July 12). Gingrich Fantasy. The Atlanta Journal, 5.

Retrieved from

https://www.newspapers.com/image/972880788/

Gingrich, Newton Leroy. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://voteview.com/person/14627/newton-leroy-gingrich

Green, C. (1974, July 22). 9 Georgia Congressmen Ready Defense. The Atlanta Journal, 12.

Retrieved from

https://www.newspapers.com/image/972649068/

Harbrecht, D. (1984, May 20). Rep. Newt Gingrich infuriates Democrats, inspires Republicans. The Houston Chronicle, 17.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1203709361/

Jacobs, T. (1976, October 22). Gingrich Campaign Emphasizes Ethics. The Macon Telegraph, 2.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/847272490/

Jenkins seems to be running hard. (1981, February 26). The Gainesville Times, 4.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/1203346369/

Lyons, R.D. (1976, September 6). Ethics Committee Is Finally Gaining Respect in House. The New York Times.

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Newt Gingrich Will Work For You! (Political Advertisement). (1974, October 31). The Newnan Times-Herald, 7.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/966899565/

Ponnuru, R. (2012, December 28). Republicans and Taxes. National Review.

Retrieved from

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/republicans-and-taxes-ramesh-ponnuru/

Reid, T.R. (1984, May 16). Outburst. The Washington Post.

Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/05/16/outburst/4e338c71-cecb-4315-86df-3c6a969cf257/

Stanley, A. (1984, May 28). Tip Topped! Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

https://time.com/archive/6884173/tip-topped/

Thompson, M. (2011, December 27). General Newt. Time Magazine.

Retrieved from

General Newt

When you compare the candidates for Congress, there’s really no comparison. (Political Advertisement). (1976, October 21). The Newnan Times-Herald, 5.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/966847735/

Fascinating Politics

The McKinley Tariff

Tariffs have been figuring strongly in recent politics thanks to President Trump’s repeated changes in course throughout the year on the imposition or removal of tariffs and certain decisions surrounding them that have been questionable at best. Trump’s policies on tariffs, although more erratic than Republicans of past, given his positive mention of William McKinley does make me think of the McKinley Tariff of 1890, which was at the time a crowning partisan achievement of the GOP and one that helped bring about swift political consequences.

The 1888 election was very close, but a great success for the Republican Party. For the first time since the Grant Administration, they had achieved unified government, and under the highly capable Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine, they sought to make the most of it. At the forefront of the agenda was the bread and butter of economic Republicanism of the time…protective tariffs. Leading this charge was the popular Representative William McKinley (R-Ohio), known as the “Napoleon of Protection” for his strong advocacy. The Republican Party was at the time strongly unified behind increasing tariffs while the Democratic Party was just as if not more strongly unified against.

A key concept introduced by this legislation was the reciprocal tariff or empowering the executive to raise tariffs on commodities after their addition to the free list to disincentivize other nations from raising their tariffs on these goods. Furthermore, Harrison persuaded the Senate to adopt a provision permitting the president to sign agreements opening foreign markets (U.S. House). These provisions would be upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court as a constitutionally permissible delegation of power in the 1892 decision Field v. Clark.

The initial version of the McKinley Tariff passed 164-142 on May 21st on a highly partisan vote as only three representatives defected: Republicans Hamilton Coleman of Louisiana and Oscar Gifford of South Dakota and Democrat Charles Gibson of Maryland. In the Senate, the bill was managed by Nelson Aldrich (R-R.I.), perhaps the foremost representative of industry in the Senate. On tariffs, in which 138 votes on the subject were held that covered numerous commodities from salt to sponges, the Senate passed the bill 40-29 on September 10th a completely partisan vote. However, there were differences between the House and Senate versions and thus the measure went to conference to resolve them. On September 27th, the House voted on the conference report, which was passed 151-81, with only Republicans Harrison Kelley of Kansas and again Coleman of Louisiana breaking with party. In the Senate, however, there was some more dissent among Republicans, with Senators Preston Plumb of Kansas, Algernon Paddock of Nebraska, and Richard Pettigrew of South Dakota voting against. In its’ final form, this law raised tariffs on average from 38% to 49.5%. Certain commodities were heavily focused on for protective tariffs like manufactured goods such as tin plates to appeal to factories in the East, while wool was jacked up to appeal to the sheep farmers of the rural West. Other tariffs, however, were removed, such as those on sugar, molasses, coffee, tea, and hides, but the president was authorized to raise them should other nations choose to impose on these goods for the United States.

Puck cartoon mocking McKinley.

Although quite the achievement for the Republican Congress, it went into effect on October 6th, less than a month before the 1890 election, and prices promptly rose in response to the tariffs. The Democratic newspaper skewered the bill, and since the benefits of the tariffs (increase in domestic worker wages and jobs) had little time to take effect while the negative side took effect promptly, this resulted in a surge of disapproval of the Republicans. Eleven days after the tariff took effect, The Cleveland Plain Dealer (1890) wrote, “The consumers are finding out that they are compelled to pay the tax, and that fact will grow daily more apparent. A gentleman walked into a hardware store a few days ago and asked to see some pocketknives. A number were placed upon the show case and prices were given. “Are these McKinley prices?” he inquired. “No,” said the clerk, “but we will be compelled to raise prices. We have been busy and have not made any change in our prices yet, but we shall soon do so.” This is only one of many occurrences of which one hears on the streets, and to offset it all there is nothing but prattle about imaginary tin plate factories and other McKinley air castles”. Such unpopularity contributed a great deal to the utter slaughter the Republicans faced in the 1890 midterms including McKinley himself losing his seat, although his loss was in good part due to unfavorable redistricting. Democrats won the popular vote by 8 points in the House, which produced a gain of 86 seats for them and Republicans sustained a 93 seat loss; they also lost seats to the newly formed Populist Party. The Indianapolis Journal (1890), contrary to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, wrote in defense of the tariffs after the election, attributing much of the unpopularity to “falsehoods” propounded about the McKinley Tariff by the “importers’ press”, for instance attributing a price increase in fruits and vegetables to tariffs without mentioning that there were crop failures that produced shortages. Although Republicans continued to be for higher tariffs, they sought to proceed more carefully in the future than they had in 1890, and McKinley would have an astounding comeback, being elected Ohio’s governor in 1891, be reelected in 1893, and then be elected president in 1896. Although a high tariff man, he would embrace the idea of reciprocal tariff reductions, and the Dingley Tariff Act of 1897, although it enacted the highest tariffs on average in American history, would contain a provision permitting the president to reduce duties by up to 20%. McKinley even came around to the idea of reciprocal trade treaties shortly before his assassination.

References

Gould, L.L. William McKinley: Domestic Affairs. UVA Miller Center.

Retrieved from

https://millercenter.org/president/mckinley/domestic-affairs

The McKinley Tariff of 1890. U.S. House of Representatives.

Retrieved from

https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-McKinley-Tariff-of-1890/

The Victory of Misrepresentation. (1890, November 7). The Indianapolis Journal, 4.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/321737007/

To Adopt the Report of Comm. on Conference on Bill H.R. 9416. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/h414

To Agree to the Conference Report on H.R. 9416 (26 STAT. 567, 10/1/1890), a Bill Reducing the Revenue and Equalizing Duties on Imports. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/s383

To Pass Bill H.R. 9416. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/h184

To Pass H.R. 9416. Govtrack.

Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/51-1/s364

Up Go the Prices. (1890, October 17). The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8.

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https://www.newspapers.com/image/1075890829/

Fascinating Politics

RINOs from American History #26: Millicent Fenwick

At one time there were people in the Republican Party who were considered prominent and promising who were of the party’s “Rockefeller” or “liberal” wing. One of the last who looked like she was going to go to higher places was Millicent Hammond Fenwick (1910-1992). Born Millicent Hammond, she had tragedy early in her life when her mother was among the casualties of the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. Her father was the wealthy New York financier and politician Ogden Hammond, who served as Ambassador to Spain during the Coolidge Administration. As a young society woman, she caused some scandal when she fell in love with the older and already married businessman Hugh Fenwick. Fenwick chose her and divorced his wife. He and Millicent were married from 1932 to 1945 (although they had separated in 1938) and had two children. After the separation, she sought to provide for her children by briefly modeling for Harper’s Bazaar and then writing for Vogue magazine, and in 1948 she wrote Vogue’s Book of Etiquette, which sold over a million copies. Although she had first become politically aware in the 1930s, recalling, “Hitler started me in politics; when I became aware of what he was doing to people, I fired up” (U.S. House). By the 1950s she decided that it was time to get into public service.

A strong advocate for civil rights, Fenwick was a member of the NAACP and from 1958 to 1974 she served on the New Jersey Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She also served on the Bernardsville Borough Council from 1958 to 1964. In 1969, Fenwick was elected to the New Jersey Assembly, serving until 1973. While there, she solidified her reputation as a wit when a conservative member of the Assembly spoke out against the Equal Rights Amendment, stating, “I just don’t like this amendment. I’ve always thought of women as kissable, cuddly and smelling good”, which was met with Fenwick’s retort, “That’s the way I feel about men, too. I only hope for your sake that you haven’t been disappointed as often as I have” (U.S. House). Although an advocate for marriage, she had never remarried after her divorce from Hugh Fenwick. In 1973, Governor William Cahill tapped her to head up the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. In 1974, with Congressman Peter Frelinghuysen retiring, Fenwick sought his seat in Congress. Running against her in the Republican primary was future governor Thomas Kean, but she defeated Kean by a mere 83 votes and went on to win the seat.

Congresswoman Fenwick

After her election to Congress, Fenwick diverged even more from party line than her moderate predecessor. She voted to override President Ford’s vetoes on strip mining regulations in 1975 and federal day care and public works in 1976. However, she voted to sustain his 1976 veto of a bill loosening Hatch Act regulations. Although Fenwick backed President Ford’s position to deregulate oil prices in 1975, she also supported Representative Neal Smith’s (D-Iowa) 1976 amendment that limited deregulation of oil prices to small producers. On social issues and foreign aid, Fenwick had a liberal voting record. Contrary to a majority of her party, she opposed the Hyde Amendment, the first successful pro-life reaction to Roe v. Wade. In 1980, Fenwick unsuccessfully tried to keep an endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment in the Republican Party platform. She was, however, also known as fiscally conservative, although this didn’t mean she was solidly down the line on cuts. When a reporter tried to categorize her, she stated, “Everyone asks me whether I’m a liberal, a maverick, a neoconservative or whatever. I simply try to stick to what I believe in” (Malnic). However, it was her stances on ethics that frequently attracted positive attention. Indeed, Fenwick was among the favorites of the mainstream media of the day, with anchor Walter Cronkite once calling her the “conscience of Congress” (U.S. House). She certainly got points not only from her party, but also the general public, when she took on the notoriously mean and tough chairman of the House Administration Committee Wayne Hays (D-Ohio). Fenwick wanted to keep committee meetings open to the public (Malnic). Hays was not happy with this freshman whippersnapper. As Fenwick recalled, “Hays once said ‘If that woman doesn’t sit down and keep quiet, I’m not going to sign the checks for her staff’”. (Malnic). Hays would resign in 1976 after a highly publicized scandal that he hired his mistress who had no secretarial skills as his secretary. She also sat on the committee that investigated the “Koreagate” influence peddling scandal. Fenwick was also widely regarded as the inspiration for the Doonesbury character Lacey Davenport (an ideal Republican by liberal standards), but cartoonist Garry Trudeau denied this was the case. In 1981, she denounced her colleagues for placing in tax deductions for themselves through hasty legislative maneuvering and announced that she would not choose to benefit from these deductions (Malnic). Fenwick was also known for smoking her trademark pipe, which she took up after her doctor advised her to quit smoking cigarettes.

The 1982 Senate Election

Fenwick, at the age of 72, decided to run for the Senate. In the primary, she faced Jeffrey Bell, a staunch Reaganite who had been the Republican nominee for the Senate in 1978. A nomination of Bell would have been seen as an affirmation of support for Reagan’s agenda within the New Jersey Republican Party, but Fenwick prevailed. Nonetheless, she got Reagan’s endorsement. Fenwick faced Democrat Frank Lautenberg, a wealthy executive who financed his own campaign. Although she was favored to win the race, 1982 was a bad year for the Republicans as the economy was in a recession, something that Lautenberg heavily capitalized on. He also made the point that if elected, she would strengthen the Senate Republican majority and thus keep Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as chairman of the prominent Judiciary Committee. Thurmond was a former segregationist and had only that year voted favorably on voting rights legislation. Fenwick hit back against this tactic, arguing, ”Is there a black person in this state who doesn’t know where I stand? I didn’t wait until 1982 to Join the N.A.A.C.P. When I was a working woman I was a member” (Norman).  Lautenberg was also able to significantly outspend her, and on election day she fell short by three points. Ideologically, Fenwick sided with the positions of Americans for Democratic Action 66% of the time, the conservative Americans for Constitutional Action 43% of the time, and her DW-Nominate score stands at a 0.134, a bit higher than one might think given these scores. Her case also is an example that conservatives can use that even when Republicans run a candidate that liberals claim to like they still don’t win. President Reagan did not leave her high and dry, tapping her to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, serving until she retired in March 1987. Fenwick died of heart failure on September 16, 1992 at the age of 82.

References

ADA Voting Records. Americans for Democratic Action.

Retrieved from

Voting Records

Fenwick, Millicent Hammond. U.S. House of Representatives.

Retrieved from

https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/13066

Fenwick, Millicent Hammond. Voteview.

Retrieved from

https://voteview.com/person/14221/millicent-hammond-fenwick

Malnic, E. (1992, September 17). Millicent Fenwick, 82; Congress ‘Conscience’. Los Angeles Times.

Retrieved from

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-17-mn-798-story.html

Norman, M. (1982, October 29). Rep. Fenwick Says Lautenberg Distorts Her Record. The New York Times.

Retrieved from

Fascinating Politics

The 1914 Election: The First Completely Popular Election

Speaker of the House Champ Clark (D-Mo.), who retained his majority, although considerably shrunken from what it had been at the start of the Wilson Administration.

The 1914 midterms were rather peculiar. They were one of the midterms in which the president’s party lost seats in the House but gained in the Senate. Furthermore, this was the first election in which senators were popularly elected, and as I have covered before this impacted the makeup of the Senate. The Progressive Party remained a factor in a number of crucial elections which arguably resulted in Democratic wins. This election saw a future president get elected to the Senate in Warren G. Harding in Ohio, as well as the election of the first and only Prohibitionist member of Congress as well as the election of the second Socialist member of Congress. This would also be the first election won by James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. of New York, whose career was rather unusual in that he had his national start in the Senate, and then later served in the House. He would be a consistent voice for arch-conservatism on domestic issues and his advocacy for military preparedness but would notably differ with his party in his support for FDR’s foreign policy.

Republicans ran in the 1914 election on the platform of the economic policies of the Taft Administration producing prosperity seen at the time, and this saw big gains in their traditional stronghold of New England. In the Midwest, the Republican performance was a bit spottier. They did very well in Illinois and Iowa, but were only able to regain two seats from their complete wipe-out in the 1912 election in Indiana, gained a House seat in Kansas, lost a House and a Senate seat in South Dakota, and lost a Senate seat in Wisconsin. Democrats managed to keep a number of seats or make gains in the West, where Wilson was maintaining or gaining in popularity. An interesting example was in Utah, in which the state’s second district flipped from Republican to Democrat, and this would presage Wilson’s big win there in 1916 as well as Republican Senator George Sutherland’s loss and the loss of the first district. By stark contrast, the state had been one of only two to stick with William Howard Taft in 1912. It should be noted that a significant part of why Republicans made big gains in the House was because the 1912 split in the GOP had produced major gains in the House that year, Democrats having won seats they normally would not win. In Philadelphia, at the time a Republican stronghold in part thanks to its corrupt machine, Democrats had managed to snag two of the city’s Congressional districts, which came back under Republican control in this election. Republicans overall gained 62 seats in the House, a “shellacking” but not enough to win a majority, even though they did win the popular House vote. The Progressive Party loses a net of four seats; they were but a minor contender in national politics although as noted earlier, they ate away at Republican votes in some critical places. The Progressive Party’s influence would come to an end when Theodore Roosevelt decided to back Republican Charles Evans Hughes in the 1916 presidential election.

Republican Gains, House

In Colorado’s 2nd district, Republican Charles Timberlake defeated Democrat Harry Seldomridge for reelection.

In Connecticut, Republicans had a clean sweep, with Democrats Augustine Lonergan, Bryan F. Mahan, Thomas Reilly, Jeremiah Donovan, and William Kennedy losing reelection to Republicans P. Davis Oakey, Richard Freeman, John Tilson, Ebenezer Hill, and James Glynn respectively.

In Delaware, Republican Thomas W. Miller defeated Democratic incumbent Franklin W. Brockson.

In Illinois, Republicans gained a whopping net of 11 seats. Republican Ira Copley switched to Progressive for his reelection and won. The most notable victor was former Speaker Joe Cannon regaining his seat in the 18th district over Democrat Frank O’Hair. Progressives Charles Thomson and William Hinebaugh lose reelection to George Foss and Charles Fuller in the 10th and 12th districts respectively, while Democrats Louis FitzHenry, Charles Borchers, James Graham, William Baltz, H. Robert Fowler, Robert Hill, and Lawrence Stringer lose reelection to John Sterling, William B. McKinley, Loren Wheeler, William Rodenberg, Thomas Williams, Edward Denison, and Burnett Chiperfield respectively. Republican William Wilson would win an open seat in the 3rd district.

In Indiana, Republicans Merrill Moores and William Wood defeated Democratic incumbents Charles Korbly and John Peterson in the 7th and 10th districts respectively.

In Iowa, Republicans Harry Hull, Burton Sweet, and C. William Ramseyer win in the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th districts respectively. They all win open seats.

In Maryland, Republican Sydney Mudd wins an open seat in the 5th district.

In Massachusetts, Republican George Tinkham wins an open seat in the 11th district while Republicans William H. Carter and Joseph Walsh defeat incumbents John Mitchell and Thomas Thacher in the 13th and 16th districts respectively.

In Michigan, Republicans George Loud and W. Frank James defeat Progressive incumbents Roy Woodruff and William J. MacDonald in the 10th and 12th districts respectively.

In Minnesota, Republican Franklin Ellsworth wins an open seat in Minnesota’s 2nd district.

In Nebraska, Republican C. Frank Reavis defeats Democrat John Maguire for reelection in the 1st district.

In New Hampshire, Democrat Eugene E. Reed of the 1st district loses reelection to Republican Cyrus Sulloway and Democrat Raymond B. Stevens of the 2nd district runs for the Senate (he loses) and is succeeded by Republican Edward Wason.

In New Jersey, Republicans gain five seats. At the start of the 63rd Congress, William J. Browning of the 1st district was initially the only Republican, but Dow Drukker won a special election during the Congress. Democrats J. Thompson Baker, Allan B. Walsh, William Tuttle, and Edward Townsend lost reelection to Isaac Bacharach, Elijah Hutchinson, John Capstick, and Frederick Lehlbach respectively. Republican Richard Parker wins an open seat.

In New Mexico, Republican Benigno Hernandez defeats Democrat Harvey B. Fergusson for reelection. Hernandez is the first Hispanic American in Congress.

In New York, Republicans gain eleven seats. Democratic incumbents Lathrop Brown, James O’Brien, Jacob Cantor, Benjamin Taylor, George McClellan, Peter Ten Eyck, Charles Talcott, John Clancy, and Robert Gittins lose to Frederick Hicks, Oscar Swift, Isaac Siegel, James Husted, Charles Ward, Rollin Sanford, Homer Snyder, Walter Magee, and S. Wallace Dempsey respectively.

In North Carolina, Republican James J. Britt defeats Democrat James M. Gudger Jr. for reelection in the 10th district.

In Ohio, Republicans gain ten seats. Most notably, future Speaker Nicholas Longworth regains his seat from Democrat Stanley Bowdle in the 1st district. Democrats George White, William Francis, and Elsworth Bathrick lose reelection to William Mooney in the 15th district, Roscoe McCulloch of the 16th district, and John Cooper of the 19th district respectively. Republicans Joshua Russell, Nelson Matthews, Charles Kearns, Seward Williams, David Hollingsworth, and Henry Emerson win open seats.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans gain a net of eight seats, with Democrats Michael Donohoe, J. Washington Logue, Robert E. Lee, Franklin Dershem, Andrew Brodbeck, and Wooda Carr losing reelection to Peter Costello, George Darrow, Robert Heaton, Benjamin Focht, C. William Beales, and Robert F. Hopwood. Progressives Henry Temple and Willis Hulings lose reelection to Republicans William M. Brown and Samuel H. Miller.

In Rhode Island, Republican Walter Stiness defeats Democrat Peter Gerry for reelection in the 2nd district.

Democratic Gains, House

In Iowa, Democrat Thomas Steele defeats Republican George Scott for reelection in the 11th district.

In Kansas, Republican Victor Murdock steps down to run for the Senate as a Progressive and Democrat William Ayres wins an open seat in the 8th district.

In Minnesota, Democrat Carl Van Dyke defeats Republican Frederick Stevens for reelection.

In Nebraska, Democrat Ashton Shallenberger defeats Republican Silas Barton for reelection in the 5th district.

In Oklahoma, Democrat James Davenport wins an open seat in the 1st district from retiring Republican Bird McGuire.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Michael Liebel defeats Republican Milton Shreve for reelection. It is a three-way race in which a Progressive candidate gets 23.5% of the vote.

In South Dakota, Democrat Harry Gandy wins the open seat in the 3rd district.

In Utah, Democrat James Mays wins the open seat in the 2nd district.

In West Virginia, Democrat Adam Littlepage defeats Republican Samuel B. Avis for reelection in the 3rd district.

In Washington, Democrat Clarence Dill wins in the 5th district.

Democratic Gains, Senate

In California, Democrat James Phelan wins the election to succeed retiring Republican George Perkins.

In South Dakota, Republican Coe Crawford loses renomination to Congressman Charles Burke, but Burke loses the election to Democrat Edwin Johnson.

In Wisconsin, Democrat Paul Husting narrowly wins the election to succeed retiring Republican Isaac Stephenson.

Progressive Gains:

In California’s 6th district, Republican Joseph Knowland retires and is succeeded by John A. Elston.

In Illinois’ 11th district, Ira C. Copley switches from Republican to Progressive and wins.

In Louisiana’s 3rd district, Progressive Whitmell P. Martin wins an open seat.

In Minnesota, Progressive Thomas Schall wins an open Republican seat in the 10th district.

Other Gains:

In California, Prohibitionist Charles Randall defeats Progressive Charles W. Bell for reelection in the 9th district.

In New York, Socialist Meyer London defeats Democrat Henry Goldfogle for reelection in the 14th district.

Renomination Losses:

In Alabama’s 6th district, Democrat Richmond P. Hobson lost renomination to William B. Oliver.

In Florida’s at-Large District, Claude L’Engle, who barely voted, lost to William J. Sears.

In Louisiana, Democrat James W. Elder lost renomination to Riley J. Wilson in the 5th district.

In Maryland, Democrat Frank Smith lost renomination to Richard A. Johnson in the 5th district, who loses to Republican Sydney Mudd.

In Missouri’s 12th district, Democrat Michael Gill loses renomination, and the seat is won by Republican Leonidas C. Dyer.

In New York, Democrats Frank Wilson, Jefferson Levy, and Henry George Jr. lose renomination to Joseph Flynn in the 3rd district, Michael Farley in the 14th district, and G. Murray Hulbert in the 21st district respectively, all who win the election. Democrats Herman Metz and Edwin Underhill lose renomination in the 10th and 37th districts respectively, and the victors lose the election to Republicans. Republican Samuel Wallin loses renomination to William Charles in the 30th district, who wins his election.

In Ohio, Democrat J. Henry Goeke lost renomination in the 4th district, and the victor lost the seat.

In Oklahoma, Democrat Claude Weaver loses to Joseph B. Thompson.

In Oregon, Republican Walter Lafferty of the 3rd district ran for reelection as an Independent and lost to Republican Clifton MacArthur.

In Pennsylvania, Democrat Robert Difenderfer loses renomination to Harry E. Grim in the 8th district, who loses the election. Democrat John Rothermel loses renomination to Arthur Dewalt, who wins the election in the 13th district.

In Washington, Progressive James W. Bryan loses renomination to Austin E. Griffith, who loses the election in the 1st district.

This election resulted in a Democratic House majority of 230-196 and 7 third party members, which would place Republicans in a good position in 1916, but they fell short in enough places so that a coalition of Democrats and third party members would retain a majority in the succeeding Congress. The Senate had a 56-39 Democratic majority, which was a bit of a tougher hurdle for Republicans to come back from.

References

1914 United States House of Representatives elections. Wikipedia.

Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1914_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections

1914 United States Senate elections. Wikipedia.

Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1914_United_States_Senate_elections

Fascinating Politics

That Time a President Was Nearly Killed in a Vehicular Accident

To this day, we have had no presidents who have died as a result of a vehicular collision. However, one of our presidents came close, and this was a man who would survive taking a bullet on the campaign trail…Theodore Roosevelt. The year is 1902, and Roosevelt is out on the campaign trail to support Republican candidates for the midterms. In September, he is touring New England and after visiting retired Senator Henry Dawes in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, he takes a carriage with his entourage from Pittsfield to Lenox. His entourage included his secretary George Cortelyou, Massachusetts Governor Murray Crane, driver David J. Pratt, and bodyguard William Craig. Unbeknownst to Roosevelt as orders had gone out to close the road to trolleys, the executives of the Pittstown Electric Street Company, either out of ignorance of or disregard of the order, wanted to take a trolley to meet President Roosevelt downtown. However, others wanted to board the trolley too, and this delayed scheduled departure by 15 minutes. The driver, Euclid Madden, was ordered by the executives to try to make up for lost time, thus the trolley was barreling along. After a sharp curve, Madden saw to his horror that the trolley was on a crash course for the president’s carriage, and although he rang the bell it was too late.

CRASH!

Roosevelt’s bodyguard, William Craig, was pulled under the trolley, crushing his skull and killing him instantly, one of the horses was mortally wounded while the others broke ranks and fled. The other four occupants were thrown from the carriage. Pratt was seriously wounded from his fall and had to be hospitalized, Cortelyou was knocked out and bleeding from the neck but ended up being okay, Crane only received light bruising, and President Roosevelt’s face landed in the mud. He was slightly injured, including a wound to his shin, a bloody mouth, and a swelling face. After inquiring about the well-being of others, he furiously stormed towards the driver, accusing him of negligence and shouted expletives at him, and when the driver argued that he had the right-of-way, Roosevelt shook his fist and shouted through his blood-stained teeth, “this is the most damnable outrage I ever knew!” and had to be restrained from attacking him (History Nuggets). The president was distraught over the loss of Craig, who was close with the Roosevelt family and was the first secret service agent to die protecting the president. Roosevelt’s continued participation in the 1902 campaign would be complicated as his shin wound would turn out to be more serious as it become infected weeks later while he was campaigning in the Midwest. Two operations ended up being necessary to prevent sepsis and Roosevelt used a wheelchair during his recovery. Two men were prosecuted for this incident – Madden and conductor James Kelly. Although Kelly served no jail time, Madden was hit with a heavy fine and served six months in jail. The Pittstown Electric Company, fully aware that they had urged Madden to go fast, paid the fine and compensated him throughout his time in jail, and he resumed his employment on release. Roosevelt would later tell an audience, “If you’re set on risking your life, go to Pittsfield, Mass., and take a trolley ride” (New England Historical Society).

References

President’s Landau Struck by a Car. (1902, September 4). The New York Times.

Retrieved from

The Pittsfield Streetcar Driver Who Nearly Killed Teddy Roosevelt. (2024). New England Historical Society.

Retrieved from

The Pittsfield Streetcar Driver Who Nearly Killed Teddy Roosevelt

The Trolley and the Barouche. (2015, July 14). History Nuggets.

Retrieved from

https://historynuggets.squarespace.com/nuggets/2015/7/14/the-trolley-and-the-barouche

When Theodore Roosevelt Was Hospitalized at St. Vincent’s. Hoosier State Chronicles.

Retrieved from

When Theodore Roosevelt Was Hospitalized at St. Vincent’s