Robert Marion LaFollette, (1855-1925),
American political leader. A founder of the Progressive Movement, he was
a spearhead for political reform
in Wisconsin and the nation for 25 years. Unwilling to compromise on
principle, "Fighting Bob" LaFollette earned the deep
admiration of his supporters and the hatred of many foes. LaFollette was
born in Primrose, Wis., on June 14, 1855. A
farmer's son, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin in
1879 and practiced law in Madison. In 1880 he
defied a local political leader to win the office of district attorney.
He then served (1885-1891) as a Republican in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
The Governorship
Defeated in 1890, LaFollette
resumed his practice. In 1891 he became convinced that Sen. Philetus
Sawyer, a wealthy lumberman, had tried to bribe him in connection with a
legal case, and LaFollette's
outrage triggered 50 years of bitter political rivalry. From then on the
real division in Wisconsin was almost always between pro- and anti-LaFollette
factions rather than between Republicans and Democrats. He remained a
Republican, and was opposed by conservatives in both parties.
LaFollette's subsequent rise coincided with unrest among farmers angry
at Eastern capitalists who controlled money and credit and who dictated
railroad freight rates. Supporting
LaFollette, they were
joined by small businessmen,
professionals, and intellectuals disturbed by how wealthy businessmen
controlled access to political power.
This progressive
spirit flourished elsewhere, but nowhere better organized than under
LaFollette in Wisconsin. A brilliant orator, he campaigned across
the state for years. After twice losing the nomination for governor
under the convention system, he was elected in 1900. Reelected in 1902
and 1904, he achieved many of his goals. Wisconsin
was the first state to adopt the primary for nominations for state
offices. A new law taxed railroads on the value of their
property, ending an inequity. Taxes on corporations permitted the state
to pay its debts. A railroad commission was created to regulate rates. Funding
for education was increased. A civil-service law was adopted. This
legislation was drafted by political and social scientists and
economists, a feature of the "Wisconsin Idea."
The
Senate
Elected to the U.S. Senate in
1905, LaFollette took his seat in 1906. In
Washington, he fought the same forces of privilege he had defeated in
Wisconsin. A few progressive Republicans joined him, and they often held
the balance of power in a Senate closely divided between the two
parties. LaFollette opposed the protective Payne-Aldrich tariff
and worked to regulate the railroads and other industries. He
sought the GOP presidential nomination in 1908 and 1912. He founded
LaFollette's Weekly Magazine (1909) and the National Progressive
Republican League (1911). In one of his finest achievements, he secured
approval of a bill protecting the rights of seamen.
Representing a state with a large German
population and reflecting Midwestern isolationism, LaFollette opposed
President Wilson's support for the Allies after war broke out in Europe
in 1914. When LaFollette opposed the arming of U.S. merchant ships,
Wilson denounced the "little group of wilful men" who he said
had made the government "helpless and contemptible."
In April 1917, LaFollette
voted against declaring war. When he continued to criticize the war, an
attempt was made to expel him from the Senate for disloyalty. (In
1957 the Senate voted LaFollette one of the five most outstanding
senators of all time.) He also opposed the Treaty of Versailles.
(Editor's Note: The above is from the
below website.)
http://www.socialstudieshelp.com/Lesson_66_Handout_Robert_LaFollette.htm |
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