"In truth we are likely to miss the unsettled character of things in American political life if we focus obsessively on particular elections and parties."
From Progressivism and the New Democracy, p. 2
At the present moment, when neither major political party has managed to produce a Presidential candidate who can take a commanding lead in the polls, and neither candidate seems to present a clear and credible alternative to the utterly failed policies of the Bush-Cheney administration, it seems worthwhile to examine a different kind of political figure than either Senator McCain or Senator Obama. Consider Robert M. La Follette, a major figure in politics throughout the late 19th and early 20th century Progressive Era. La Follette provided progressive leadership for citizens not only in his own state of Wisconsin, where he served as Governor, but also for all Americans during his career in the U.S. Senate and as a the Progressive Party's candidate for President in 1924.
The Career of Robert M. La Follette (from The Wisconsin Historical Society, with emphases and annotations provided by me).
The Career of Robert M. La Follette (from The Wisconsin Historical Society, with emphases and annotations provided by me).
Robert La Follette developed his fierce opposition to corporate power and political corruption as a young man. Affiliated with the Republican Party for almost his entire career, La Follette embarked on a political path that would take him to Congress, the governorship of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Senate. His support for progressive reforms, rousing oratory, and frequent clashes with party leaders earned him the nickname "Fighting Bob."
Born in Primrose township, Dane County, in 1855, La Follette worked as a farm laborer before entering the University of Wisconsin in 1875. After graduating in 1879, La Follette launched his political career as district attorney the following year. Elected to Congress in 1884, La Follette was defeated in 1890 by Democrat Allen Bushnell. While for some people a defeat might have signaled the end of a political career, for La Follette it marked the beginning of a lifelong fight for political reform. [Annotation: shades of the young Bill Clinton, who responded to his defeat for reelection to the governorship of Arkansas with a tenacity that led him ultimately to a two-term Presidency and beyond in his work with the William J. Clinton Foundation.]
La Follette's career as a reformer began in earnest a few months later when the state Republican leader, Senator Philetus Sawyer, offered him a bribe to fix a court case against several former state officials. Furious that Sawyer would try to use money to influence the legal system, La Follette refused the bribe, angrily denouncing the use of money to shut out the voice of the people. For nearly ten years, La Follette traveled around the state speaking out against the influence of crooked politicians and the powerful lumber barons and railroad interests that dominated his own party. Elected governor in 1900, La Follette pledged to institute his own form of political reform.
Until that time, the candidates whose names appeared on ballots were selected by party leaders in private caucuses. [Annotation: caucuses - never have been, never will be good for democracy] Drawing on the ideas of other reformers to make politics more democratic, La Follette successfully pushed the legislature to pass measures instituting direct primary elections, which gave voters the right to choose their own candidates for office. [Annotation: too bad this year's DNC couldn't get behind this concept.] He supported measures that doubled the taxes on the railroads, broke up monopolies, preserved the state's forests, protected workers' rights, defended small farmers, and regulated lobbying to end patronage politics. La Follette worked closely with professors from the University of Wisconsin to help the state become "a laboratory of democracy." [Annotation: Shades of Senator Clinton's ideas about engaging leading institutions in higher education in the work of political change and American innovation and invention.] By the time he joined the U.S. Senate in 1906, La Follette had become a national figure.
In Washington, La Follette pushed for the same kind of reforms he had promoted in Wisconsin. [Annotation: Demonstrating the power of a powerful and respected Senator with a reputation of accomplishment.] He often spoke at length on the corruption of government and the abuse of industrial workers. Arguing that the entire nation's economy was dominated by fewer than one hundred corporate leaders, La Follette supported the growth of unions as a check on the power of large corporations. In 1909, La Follette and his wife, Belle, founded "La Follette's Weekly Magazine," a journal that campaigned for woman [sic] suffrage, racial equality, and other progressive causes. [Annotation: La Follette understood that opposing sexism and misogyny was entirely compatible with opposing racism and bigotry and spoke out against both.]
Born in Primrose township, Dane County, in 1855, La Follette worked as a farm laborer before entering the University of Wisconsin in 1875. After graduating in 1879, La Follette launched his political career as district attorney the following year. Elected to Congress in 1884, La Follette was defeated in 1890 by Democrat Allen Bushnell. While for some people a defeat might have signaled the end of a political career, for La Follette it marked the beginning of a lifelong fight for political reform. [Annotation: shades of the young Bill Clinton, who responded to his defeat for reelection to the governorship of Arkansas with a tenacity that led him ultimately to a two-term Presidency and beyond in his work with the William J. Clinton Foundation.]
La Follette's career as a reformer began in earnest a few months later when the state Republican leader, Senator Philetus Sawyer, offered him a bribe to fix a court case against several former state officials. Furious that Sawyer would try to use money to influence the legal system, La Follette refused the bribe, angrily denouncing the use of money to shut out the voice of the people. For nearly ten years, La Follette traveled around the state speaking out against the influence of crooked politicians and the powerful lumber barons and railroad interests that dominated his own party. Elected governor in 1900, La Follette pledged to institute his own form of political reform.
Until that time, the candidates whose names appeared on ballots were selected by party leaders in private caucuses. [Annotation: caucuses - never have been, never will be good for democracy] Drawing on the ideas of other reformers to make politics more democratic, La Follette successfully pushed the legislature to pass measures instituting direct primary elections, which gave voters the right to choose their own candidates for office. [Annotation: too bad this year's DNC couldn't get behind this concept.] He supported measures that doubled the taxes on the railroads, broke up monopolies, preserved the state's forests, protected workers' rights, defended small farmers, and regulated lobbying to end patronage politics. La Follette worked closely with professors from the University of Wisconsin to help the state become "a laboratory of democracy." [Annotation: Shades of Senator Clinton's ideas about engaging leading institutions in higher education in the work of political change and American innovation and invention.] By the time he joined the U.S. Senate in 1906, La Follette had become a national figure.
In Washington, La Follette pushed for the same kind of reforms he had promoted in Wisconsin. [Annotation: Demonstrating the power of a powerful and respected Senator with a reputation of accomplishment.] He often spoke at length on the corruption of government and the abuse of industrial workers. Arguing that the entire nation's economy was dominated by fewer than one hundred corporate leaders, La Follette supported the growth of unions as a check on the power of large corporations. In 1909, La Follette and his wife, Belle, founded "La Follette's Weekly Magazine," a journal that campaigned for woman [sic] suffrage, racial equality, and other progressive causes. [Annotation: La Follette understood that opposing sexism and misogyny was entirely compatible with opposing racism and bigotry and spoke out against both.]
Though La Follette supported Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, he adamantly opposed U.S. entry into World War I, believing that disputes should be solved peacefully. Although he was accused of being unpatriotic, La Follette believed that American's involvement in the war would end democratic reforms at home. Though critics declared that his opposition to the war was political suicide, La Follette was re-elected to the Senate in 1922. [Annotation: Hey, John Kerry! In your race against Ed O'Reilly, please stop arguing that you had no choice but to vote to support the invasion of Iraq: it would not have been political suicide for you to do so as long as you had done enough for the citizens of your state to support you on other grounds. See this endorsement of Ed O'Reilly for related observations.] In 1924, he ran for president on the Progressive ticket [La Follette could not tolerate the anti-progressive turn the party of Lincoln had taken during the early twentieth century...more about that in future posts] and received almost 5 million votes, losing to Republican Calvin Coolidge. La Follette died the following year.
Comments