A Legacy of Leadership: Governors and American History

A Legacy of Leadership

Commemorating the Centennial of the National Governors Association

Governors at the White House, May 13–15, 1908

A Legacy of Leadership

Governors and American History

EDITED BY CLAYTON MCCLURE BROOKS

Copyright © 2008 University of Pennsylvania Press

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.

Published by

University of Pennsylvania Press

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112

The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the National Governors Association or the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library.

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A legacy of leadership : governors and American history / edited by Clayton McClure Brooks.

p cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0-8122–4094–8 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. Governors—United States—History—20th century. 2. United States—Politics and government—20th century. 3. Women governors—United States. 4. Decentralization in government—United States—History—20th century. I. Brooks, Clayton McClure.

JK2447.L45 2008

973.9092’2—dc22

2008000035

Frontispiece: Governors at the White House, May 13–15, 1908. Invited by President (and former governor) Theodore Roosevelt to discuss conservation issues, governors assembled for this group photograph outside the White House. Roosevelt is seated near the middle of the first row. The president and governors are joined by cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, and other dignitaries, including Andrew Carnegie and William Jennings Bryan (seated fourth and fifth from left in first row). Reprinted with permission of the National Governors Association.

Contents

Foreword

RAYMOND C. SCHEPPACH AND ERIC J. VETTEL

Introduction

Governing the Twentieth Century: Building a History of the Modern Governorship

CLAYTON MCCLURE BROOKS

Governing the 1910s

1. Challenges of a New Century: Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era

JOHN MILTON COOPER, JR.

Governing the 1920s and 1930s

2. Huey Long and the Great Depression: Rise of a Populist Demagogue

RICHARD D. WHITE, JR.

Governing the 1940s

3. The Gangbuster as Governor: Thomas E. Dewey and the Republican New Deal

RICHARD NORTON SMITH

Governing the 1950s

4. Connecting the United States: Governors and the Building of the Interstate System

DAN MCNICHOL

Governing the 1960s

5. Governors in the Civil Rights Era: The Wallace Factor

JEFF FREDERICK

Governing the 1970s

6. Preparing for the Presidency: The Political Education of Ronald Reagan

LOU CANNON

Governing the 1980s

7. Devolution in American Federalism in the Twentieth Century

RICHARD P. NATHAN

Governing the 1990s

8. The Case of Ann Richards: Women in the Gubernatorial Office

JAN REID

Conclusion

The Evolution of the Gubernatorial Office: United States Governors over the Twentieth Century

THAD L. BEYLE

Afterword: Governing the Twenty-First Century

Timeline of Governors and States in the Twentieth Century

Notes

Further Resources

List of Contributors

Index

Acknowledgments

Illustrations

Foreword

In May 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt convened the nation’s governors at the White House to discuss conserving the country’s resources. Both the president and vice president attended, as did cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and thirty-nine state and territorial governors. They were joined by a cadre of guests known for their innovative thinking and influential actions, including populist William Jennings Bryan and industrialist Andrew Carnegie.

The meeting achieved its goal, yielding a policy declaration concerning conservation, but it also was notable for another idea—the creation of a national organization for governors. As Louisiana Governor Newton Blanchard noted, Personally, I have long thought that, if the governors of the states could themselves from time to time get together, exchanging ideas and views touching the governmental and other affairs of their states, much good would come out of it. The idea found favor among his colleagues, and in 1910 the governors met twice: in Washington, D.C., and later in Kentucky. At the Kentucky meeting, New Jersey Governor-elect Woodrow Wilson proposed the formation of a national association for governors and, in 1912, the organization was constituted.

A century after the 1908 meeting, the governors convene today as the National Governors Association, representing all fifty-five governors of the states, territories, and commonwealths. The bipartisan association assists governors on domestic policy and state management issues and provides a forum for governors to speak with a unified voice to the president and Congress.

The 2008 meeting in Philadelphia marks the centennial for the organization, and this book and a companion volume have been published as part of that commemoration. The purpose of this book is to shed greater light on the important role governors have played during critical periods of the past hundred years. The book is not merely a comprehensive treatment of visionary governors; it is a work of historical interpretation. We live, to a great extent, in a country that governors helped create. It is interesting to note that seventeen state governors in our nation’s history have become president—seven of them over the course of the National Governors Association’s hundred-year history. Perhaps more significantly, four out of the past five presidents were former governors, a testament to the importance citizens ascribe to the states’ highest office.

Early in the planning of this book, the National Governors Association partnered with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library because of both the library’s unique scholarly approach to the life and contributions of one of our most admired governors and Wilson’s role in the development of the National Governors Association. We are fortunate that some of the finest scholars in the nation wrote individual chapters, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for shining a light on these important events. We also thank Clayton Brooks for managing both the quality and the swift schedule of this book.

Introduction

Governing the Twentieth Century

Building a History of the Modern Governorship

CLAYTON MCCLURE BROOKS

In May 1908, Governor Joseph W. Folk of Missouri stood before an unprecedented assembly of governors at the White House. While every man there carefully guarded the sovereignty of his state, these governors believed that the interests of their states as well as the nation as a whole necessitated greater communication and cooperation. Standing before his peers, Folk declared that the meeting had transpired by the providence of history, a country no longer hampered by sectional strife and poor transportation. We [meet] here now as one large family, Folk mused, In looking at the map on the wall before us I have been impressed by the fact that the States in this Union are, after all, closely connected in blood and in interest…. What concerns one is the concern of all; the achievements of one are the glory of all.¹ With these words, in this place, and at this gathering, a national governors’ conference was born. This act of organization marked the beginning of the modern governorship with its expanded perspectives and broader horizons. To tell this story so central to American democracy, A Legacy of Leadership builds a new synthesis to better understand this transformative era in gubernatorial history.

That first historic meeting grew out of the concerns of a former governor of New York, President Theodore Roosevelt, about the slow progress of conservation policy within the United States. Hoping to ignite the interest of governors and increase awareness of environmental concerns, Roosevelt invited all state and territorial governors to the White House as well as members of Congress, the Supreme Court, the cabinet, and myriad special guests. Drawing from his own experience, Roosevelt believed state executives were the key to furthering conservation policy across the country. Media proclaimed the event, held May 13–15, 1908, to be one of the most august gatherings in American history. Leaders across the nation—legislators, justices, and experts—all converged on the White House. Recorded verbatim for posterity, the conference consisted primarily of lengthy speeches evaluating environmental studies and policy. However, the impressive numbers of governors in attendance proved the main source of interest. Thirty-four state governors arrived, in addition to governors from the Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, and New Mexico territories, the District of Columbia commissioner, and the governor of Puerto Rico.²

Contemporaries praised the event as significant for being the first inclusive mass meeting of state governors. In the past, governors had met occasionally in small groups to discuss regional interests, yet operated largely within their individual states, more concerned with protecting state interests than cooperating across state lines. In the early years of the twentieth century, state isolationist policies became increasingly impractical. Modern dilemmas such as dealing with cars and roadways, accelerated industrialization and urbanization, the nationalization of a consumer culture, and conservation forced state executives to pursue interstate cooperation as the country became more connected. As sectional strife abated, people across the country—Virginians, Californians, Nebraskans, and so on—began to identify themselves foremost as Americans. Recognizing this trend, Elihu Root, Roosevelt’s secretary of state, mused, [As] the population of our states increases; as the relations between the People of each State and other States grow more frequent, more complicated, more important, more intricate, what every State does becomes more important to the People of every other State.³ James Garfield, secretary of the interior, reiterated this sentiment: We act as a People together, not divided. The State lines mean much; but the State lines have been overlapped by the work of the men and women of this country.⁴ New technological and cultural demands required modern governors to become well versed in national and international policy.

When the conference concluded on May 15, Theodore Roosevelt declared the venture a success, believing the groundwork had been laid for conservation awareness. Some governors took these ideas to heart, while others probably dismissed what they heard before leaving the White House. But the legacy of the conference was precedent, not policy. Speaking on behalf of many of his colleagues, Governor Newton C. Blanchard of Louisiana reflected, Personally, I have long thought that, if the Governors of the States could themselves from time to time get together, exchanging ideas and views touching the government and other affairs of their States, much good would come of it.⁵ Blanchard proposed forming a new organization of governors. Although no official action was taken at the time, with the exceptions of 1909 and 1917, United States governors have met every year since.

A Legacy of Leadership jump-starts the process of creating a new synthesis of gubernatorial history over the past one hundred years—an effort missing from current historiography. Excellent biographies have been written about individual governors (by scholars like T. Harry Williams, Dan Carter, and Lou Cannon), and great studies have been published about the office of governor (by scholars like Thad Beyle and Joseph Schlesinger). Building on that foundation, this book combines a political science perspective with a historical one. It places governors in contrast with and in comparison to one another, as well as within the context of their times.

One of the greatest difficulties in building this narrative is the overwhelming number of individuals to encompass. Since 1908, more than one thousand men and women have served as elected or acting governors in the United States and its territories. Rather than surveying all governors and resorting to impossibly broad generalities, this book takes an eclectic approach, looking at six selected governors for detail along with studies addressing governors as a collective group within a set period of time. Each perspective tells a different part of the story. Woodrow Wilson, Huey Long, Thomas Dewey, George Wallace, Ronald Reagan, and Ann Richards were not equally successful (although several are considered among the top governors in American history). But their experiences illustrate issues unique to the eras in which they served, from Wilson’s struggles to legislate Progressive ideals to Ann Richards’s inspiration of a new generation of feminists. These five men and one woman were selected to highlight different issues and historical dilemmas. Their stories are presented not as insular biographies, but as opportunities for detailed and intimate discussions of unique concerns facing governors at specific points in American history. Personality plays a significant role in the success, failure, and scope of governorships, from what type of governor they wish to be to how they interpret the responsibilities of their office, and if they are able to convince the legislature to follow their lead. Individuals shape governorships. Agenda, will, power, and personality all go far in determining how a governor is remembered by history. In contrast to this biographical detail, three essays considering governors as a group tie together broad concerns, such as the fluctuations in the federal-state balance, facing all governors. These policy issues either unite governors and invite cooperation or tear them apart.

Central to creating this new synthesis, compiled from biographies and case studies, is the question of how the office of governor has evolved over the past one hundred years and how these changes have defined the modern governorship. When the twentieth century began, state executives had the luxury of concerning themselves primarily with affairs contained within their state borders. By 2000, that reality was long defunct. The emergence of the United States as a world superpower, unprecedented technological advances in communication, booming mass consumerism, international economic competition, and global terrorism, among other factors, revolutionized and refocused the scope of state government. Governors can no longer effectively manage state interests without a close involvement and clear understanding of national policy and foreign affairs. Modernity demands a broader perspective, greater communication, and more efficient organization. Although federalism remains alive and well, state and national governmental responsibilities are no longer neatly divided. Now, cooperation as well as competition among all levels of government (state, national, and local) have become necessary in administering the programs of an activist government and addressing the diverse needs of citizens—from health, education, welfare, and homeland security to highway construction and maintenance. In this new world, governors must not only appeal as stump speakers but also act as effective professional administrators, innovators, businessmen, representatives, advocates, and, when needed, reassuring leaders to guide their states in times of tragedy.

A Legacy of Leadership recounts the history of governors over the past one hundred years, beginning with the founding of the National Governors Association (NGA) in 1908 marking the emergence of the modern governorship. More than a celebration of NGA’s centennial, and sponsored also by the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, this work provokes new debate about the power of governors, the limits of the office, and how these men and women have truly democratized the American political system. Structured chronologically, this book presents nine essays written by some of the nation’s leading journalists and scholars. Each contributor either analyzes an individual governor or studies key topics from a particular decade. Together, the volume builds a narrative for understanding gubernatorial history—how the office has evolved, how the challenges of modernity necessitated a new era of communication among state governors, and how NGA responded to these needs and aided in the transformation of the gubernatorial office.

Following the path of most gubernatorial careers, Chapter 1 begins with the process and, at times, ordeal of campaigning and learning to govern. John Milton Cooper, Jr., explores the struggles Woodrow Wilson encountered as an idealistic Progressive campaigning against party bosses while simultaneously being promoted by a political machine. Wilson, a novice to politics, defined his political identity as governor of New Jersey by fighting to fulfill his campaign promises while maintaining his integrity. The chapter illuminates governors’ struggles with their legislatures to accomplish set agendas as well as the unique challenges Progressive governors faced in the early twentieth century as they attempted to redefine government’s responsibility and relationship to its citizens.

Turning south to Louisiana and heading into the late 1920s, Chapter 2 opens with the 1928 election of Huey Long as governor. Richard D. White, Jr., turns from the idealistic Wilson to Long, a governor also deeply concerned about his legacy but considerably less bothered by political corruption. Perhaps more than any other governor in the twentieth century, Long understood the potential power of state government and exploited the loopholes of democracy to rule Louisiana as an uncrowned king. Although genuinely caring for the little people of his state, Long thrived on the power of the office—a drive to rule that perhaps could have led him to the White House if he had not been stopped by an assassin’s bullet. Whereas Chapter 1 focuses on idealism, Chapter 2 explores the excesses of the gubernatorial office in the hands of a demagogue.

Heading north to New York, Chapter 3 enters into a new era of gubernatorial history in which performance became more important than popularity. In Thomas Dewey, the public found both. Richard Norton Smith highlights Dewey’s careful attention to administration and great pride in efficiency during his three terms as governor of New York. Far from a Long-style demagogue, Dewey redefined the gubernatorial office, adjusting to a country in flux following two world wars, the Great Depression, and a New Deal that revolutionized government. Dewey was a modern governor—a governor for a modern United States. Though powerful in his own right, he cared deeply about bringing accountability to government and preparing New York to meet the evolving needs of its citizenry, as with the building of the New York State Thruway. Smith’s analysis not only sheds new light on the remarkable career of Thomas Dewey, but also focuses on the demands governors confronted across the country as they adapted to the post–World War II world.

Cruising into the 1950s, Dan McNichol explores the topic of road building and how governors worked, quite literally, to connect America. Focusing primarily on Eisenhower’s Grand Plan of building a national interstate system, and the work of governors to make that dream come to pass, McNichol also looks back at the first efforts of governors, like Thomas Dewey, to build turnpikes and U.S. Routes. The problems governors encountered and their resolve as well as reluctance in cooperating with other governors to connect roads and regularize signs and road numbers offers a new dimension to the expanding gubernatorial role. McNichol presents governors as both individual road builders and as a collective group trying to negotiate evolving responsibilities and come to terms (sometimes awkwardly) with the national component of their office. Governors in the 1950s found it necessary to represent their citizens in national concerns, or face being excluded from modern advancements. As McNichol illustrates, NGA aided governors in this transformation.

Chapter 5 enters the turbulent and bloody 1960s as the struggle over civil rights forced governors across the nation to take a stand on the politics of race. Jeff Frederick presents the infamous George Wallace, governor of Alabama, as a dominant factor in southern (as well as national) politics, questioning how one dynamic man had such widespread influence—to some an example to emulate and to others a pariah to rail against. Loved by some, abhorred by others, Wallace was one of the best known governors of the twentieth century. Frederick reflects on how Wallace purposely chose a racist stance to further his political career, believing race baiting was the best way to get elected in the Deep South. Wallace articulated the civil rights movement, particularly in the 1960s, to be an issue of states’ rights rather than morality and an affront to his powers as governor. He became infamous for dramatic gestures like standing before the door of the University of Alabama to defy (however briefly) military-enforced integration. Across the United States, many governors felt differently, leading to fierce debate at NGA’s annual meetings in the early 1960s. Frederick depicts Wallace not as a representative governor but as a catalyst and center point for understanding the crux of gubernatorial politics in the 1960s.

The following chapter leaves the South for the West and California, believed by many to be the land of opportunity. Lou Cannon begins in the late 1960s and brings this story into the 1970s, recounting the tale of Ronald Reagan, an actor-turned-governor who eventually became president. Since the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter, four out of the last five presidents have served as governors. In this vein, Cannon considers the influence of gubernatorial experience as a training ground for the presidency. He explains how Reagan, a political novice, learned the ropes of politics by working with his legislature and negotiating with his political adversaries. Reagan eventually mastered the hands-on duties required of the governor of California, from overseeing the creation of a budget and tax increase to sitting down with Democratic leadership and hammering out a welfare compromise. Reagan’s experience in many ways reflects that of Woodrow Wilson, a political outsider working to define his style of leadership. Cannon’s essay offers insight into the making of a political giant as well as the changing scope of the gubernatorial office in the 1970s.

Chapter 7 returns to a broader collective lens with a topic of paramount interest to all governors—federalism and the transformation of the federal-state relationship in the twentieth century. Richard P. Nathan traces the evolution of the devolution movement from the early 1970s through the George W. Bush administration. He evaluates how changes in the federalism bargain have concrete consequences for state government, particularly as innovative laboratories of democracy. Nathan’s essay encapsulates the ever-present issue of federal-state balance central to this gubernatorial history, and how trends have led, over time, to the growth of state government.

Following the politics of devolution, Chapter 8 refocuses on a state—Texas—examining the issue of gender and office. Jan Reid recounts the experiences of Ann Richards taking on the good old boy network of her state. Reid places Richards within the context of the growing number of women elected governor in recent decades. Through Richards’s story and that of a handful of other female governors, Reid reveals how women, across party lines, have established themselves as strong candidates for office. As a result of these pioneering women, female candidates, at least in state politics, are now commonplace rather than political rarities.

The final essay ties together the themes of the previous chapters through an overview of the evolution of the gubernatorial office over the past one hundred years. Thad Beyle elaborates on and quantifies how the governorship has expanded, from the relative powers of governors to who becomes governor and the skyrocketing cost of campaigns. He recounts the history of the National Governors Association as one of a number of state organizations seeking a greater voice in Washington, D.C., in order to respond effectively to the national and international dimensions of the modern governorship and state government. Beyle also tells of NGA’s role in supporting and training governors to adapt to the ever-increasing responsibilities of their office.

Between chapters are textual snapshots of the twentieth century, highlighting the issues at the forefront of each decade that governors confronted, as well as providing examples of how state chief executives across the country responded to those challenges.

More than one thousand governors, elected and acting, served in the twentieth century. Some are forgotten, but others will be remembered forever. These individuals have shaped the governorship from state to state, and decade to decade. They have made the gubernatorial office into the essence of American democracy—a melting pot of personalities, religious beliefs, political ideologies, and regional interests. Although white men still constitute the majority of governors, diversity is growing, particularly in terms of gender, but also, although more slowly, in race and ethnicity. Thus, governors represent a more democratic cross-section of society than those elected to the U.S. presidency. In composition and action they reflect the values and histories of the states they serve.

A Legacy of Leadership begins to build a synthesis of the history of the modern governorship, addressing both how governors guided their states through the vicissitudes of time and how those events have altered the scope and responsibilities of the gubernatorial office. Governors must be the doers of politics who attend to the needs of their citizens. These demands force governors into action rather than abstract discussions of political theory and heated partisanship. Speaking before the 1989 annual meeting of the National Governors Association, Dan Rather, then of CBS News, neatly summed up this reality: I know that you folks, you Governors, have one of the hardest jobs in America; and I think you do have the toughest job in American politics. In contrast to members of Congress, governors live in constant contact with the citizens they serve and whose lives their policies affect. Unlike your merry pranksters in Washington, Rather continued, you cannot hide behind that well-insulated wall, that institutionalized thing we call the Congress. There’s only you, the top man or woman, up there alone, facing the voters in the front line with your back to the wall.⁶ By governing the twentieth century through national triumphs and tragedies, war and peace, depression and prosperity, stability and revolution, governors, the more than one thousand men and women who have served over the past century, have shaped the meaning of democracy and the course of American history.

Governing the 1910s

Reflecting the optimism of the Progressive Era, governors in the 1910s were excited about the opportunity for greater interstate cooperation. Reuniting in 1910, they began to lay the framework for their association. Charles Evans Hughes (1907–1910), then governor of New York and later secretary of state and chief justice of the Supreme Court, predicted, The future prosperity of the country must largely depend upon the efficiency of State governments, an efficiency possible because of an increasing intimacy of relations and facility of communication among states. Hughes proudly proclaimed, The ancient jealousies that have divided us are now forgotten. The sentiment of national unity has overcome divisive prejudices.¹ Governor Adam Pothier of Rhode Island (1909–1915, 1925–1928), an advocate of executive power who wrested control of the budget from his legislature, believed that the potential of governors working together was limitless. We come together here as an organization, Pothier reflected, imperfect as yet perhaps, but with a nucleus around which will be formed a substantial, lasting and powerful agency for the promotion of uniformity in state laws, the protection of State rights … the facilitating and expansion of inter-State rights, and the facilitating and expansion of inter-State relations.² Pothier and Hughes were perhaps overly exuberant in their pronouncements of unity, but they captured the spirit of the new organization. Governors embraced the idea of meeting annually and quickly staked their independence by moving their Governors’ Conference meetings out of Washington, D.C., to alternating locations across the country from Richmond to Boston, and even as far west as Salt Lake City.

Governors in the 1910s eagerly tested the boundaries of their new association and learned to work together. Annual gatherings became opportunities for these men to meet one another, share experiences, learn how their individual interests fit into the larger national picture, and often air grievances. They enthusiastically discussed a wide range of topics from traffic laws and public utilities to workers’ compensation. Some governors, like Augustus Willson of Kentucky (1907–1911), a prominent supporter of temperance legislation, used the meetings to express fears about expanding federal powers and, in particular, the proposed Sixteenth Amendment to institute a national income tax. He urged everyone to stand together and not enable Congress to destroy the power of the State.³ Governors were concerned with the invasive actions of the federal government and of other states. Leaders of western states, for example, argued that eastern states—whose exhaustion of their own natural resources had gone unregulated—now unfairly looked to the federal government to regulate the rich resources of the West. Governors also clashed over the interstate implications of specific laws. Tasker Oddie (1911–1915), governor when Nevada granted women the right to vote, called for more uniformity between state laws. A supporter of liberal divorce laws, Oddie argued that because women were no longer chattel and since wife slavery has gone out of fashion, that the demand has come for a new adjustment of privileges, but neighboring governor James Hawley of Idaho (1911–1913), a Roman Catholic, sternly disagreed.⁴ He denounced liberal divorce laws and rejected any attempts to impose those laws on unwilling states. No state, Hawley declared, should permit its courts to become the agency for washing the dirty linen of another commonwealth.⁵

Governors began to mold their new organization into an effective forum for addressing twentieth-century problems, particularly those resulting from accelerated urbanization and industrialization. Labor unrest led to strikes nationwide throughout the 1910s. Treacherous working conditions plagued the labor force and resulted in events such as the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911 that brutally cut short the lives of 146 garment workers. The Great Migration, witnessing more than half a million African Americans leaving the South looking to escape Jim Crow laws and seek better jobs, compounded these problems by heightening economic competition and fueling racial tensions. Trouble also brewed internationally as most of Europe became embroiled in combat. By 1917, the United States abandoned its isolationist policy and entered World War I. But the end of the war the following year brought little peace at home. Lynchings and nationwide race riots greeted returning African American soldiers daring to hope for the democracy at home that they had fought for abroad. The same year, a deadly influenza epidemic took millions of lives worldwide, including more than half a million Americans.

These challenges and tragedies encouraged many governors to advocate Progressive ideals that redefined government’s responsibilities to its citizens. These leaders promoted numerous reforms from the recall, referendum, and secret ballot to labor and anti-trust laws. Innovative initiatives were tested first at the state level. Prohibition activists and women suffragists went state by state, building momentum for national campaigns. A governor, Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin (1901–1906), was the famed leader of Progressivism. Although La Follette had entered the U.S. Senate in 1906, governors across the nation in the 1910s were still influenced by his example and some followed in his footsteps. In California, Governor Hiram Johnson (1911–1917) became nationally renowned for fighting corrupted railroad companies.

Another prominent Progressive who gained national fame was Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey (1911–1913). As governor, Wilson fought his state’s entrenched Democratic Party machine and expanded gubernatorial power vis-à-vis the state legislature. His success propelled him into the national spotlight and to two terms as president, during which he led the nation through World War I. A dedicated proponent of activist governorships, Wilson foresaw great potential in the new association of governors. Attending the November 1910 Governors’ Conference meeting as governor-elect, Wilson prophesied, If these conferences become fixed annual events … as an habitual means of working towards common ends of counsel and co-operation, this council will at least become an institution…. If it grows into a dignified and permanent institution, it will be because we have found it necessary to supply some vital means of co-operation. A wise co-cooperation, Wilson concluded, was not only desirable … but imperative in the common interest.⁶

Chapter One

Challenges of a New Century

Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era

JOHN MILTON COOPER, JR.

The early years of the twentieth century before World War I were a glorious time for America’s governors. The challenges of the industrial revolution, particularly the rise of big business and its ties to political machines, were slow to be addressed by government at the national level, particularly after conservative forces won a decisive electoral victory in 1896 under President William McKinley and his pro-business wing of the Republican Party. McKinley’s successor, Theodore Roosevelt, would be a different kind of Republican, and he would gradually begin to push a reform agenda in Washington. In the meantime, dynamic governors and state-level political movements forged ahead with new measures to regulate business and make government more responsive and accountable to the public. The pioneer in these new politics was an insurgent Republican, Robert M. La Follette, a short, dramatic man who earned the nicknames Fighting Bob and Wisconsin’s Little Giant. Starting in 1901, La Follette battled bosses, polarized state politics around himself and his following, and pushed through a program of railroad regulation and direct primaries for party nominations. His movement called itself progressive and thereby brandished a label that reformers elsewhere proudly adopted. These Wisconsin progressives made their state the center of national attention as a laboratory of democracy.

During the decade following La Follette’s debut, others went down the trail that he blazed. Republican insurgents in Iowa, led by Governor Albert Cummins, and in New York, led by Governor Charles Evans Hughes, likewise clashed with their party’s entrenched leaders and enacted laws to regulate business. Democratic governors Joseph Folk in Missouri and Hoke Smith in Georgia accomplished similar feats, while in Oregon a bipartisan reform movement without a gubernatorial leader pushed through such dramatic political reforms as the initiative, referendum, and recall. In all of this ferment, however, no one displayed as much boldness and pushed as far as La Follette, and as this decade wore on the progressive tide appeared to be ebbing at the state level, even in Wisconsin. That fallback was deceptive. In the 1910 elections, a fresh wave of progressivism broke over many states, with a new batch of reform governors emerging, most notably in Wisconsin again and in California. Yet the most impressive of these progressive triumphs came in an unlikely place—boss-ridden, politically somnolent New Jersey—and the boldest and most effective of the new reform governors was a long-jawed, bespectacled fifty-four-year-old political neophyte named Woodrow Wilson, who was a former professor of political science and president of Princeton University.

Woodrow Wilson’s success seemed even odder because in his long, distinguished career as an academic political scientist, he had seldom studied state politics and had rarely written about the office of governor. Likewise, except for speaking in the mid-1890s at one meeting for a municipal reform movement in Baltimore and another for a Democratic candidate for governor in New Jersey, he had never involved himself in local or state politics. In 1910, Wilson had lived in New Jersey for twenty years, but he had seen little of his adopted state. Speaking engagements as president of Princeton