Hiram Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson,c. 1926 | |
| United States Senator fromCalifornia | |
| In office March 16, 1917 – August 6, 1945 | |
| Preceded by | John D. Works |
| Succeeded by | William Knowland |
| 23rdGovernor of California | |
| In office January 3, 1911 – March 15, 1917 | |
| Lieutenant | Albert Wallace John Morton Eshleman William Stephens |
| Preceded by | James Gillett |
| Succeeded by | William Stephens |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hiram Warren Johnson (1866-09-02)September 2, 1866 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | August 6, 1945(1945-08-06) (aged 78) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cypress Lawn Memorial Park |
| Political party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive (1912–1916) |
| Spouse | Minne McNeal (1886–1945) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
|
| Education | Heald's Business College University of California, Berkeley |
Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 – August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rdgovernor of California from 1911 to 1917 and represented California in theU.S. Senate for five terms from 1917 to 1945. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century as a leadingprogressive and ran for vice president onTheodore Roosevelt'sProgressive ticket in the1912 presidential election. As a U.S. senator, Johnson voted for American entry intoWorld War I and was later a critic of the foreign policy of bothWoodrow Wilson andFranklin D. Roosevelt. Johnson was the only governor of his state from 1856 until 1943 to serve more than one term.
Johnson was born in 1866 and worked as a stenographer and reporter before embarking on a legal career in his hometown ofSacramento. After he moved toSan Francisco, he worked as an assistantdistrict attorney and gained statewide renown for his prosecutions of public corruption. On the back of this popularity, Johnson won the1910 California gubernatorial election with the backing of the progressiveLincoln–Roosevelt League. He instituted severalprogressive reforms, establishing a railroad commission and introducing aspects ofdirect democracy, such as the power torecall state officials. Having joined with Theodore Roosevelt and other progressives to form the Progressive Party, Johnson won the party's 1912 vice-presidential nomination. In one of the bestthird-party performances in U.S. history, the ticket finished second nationally in the popular and electoral votes.
Johnson was elected to the U.S. Senate in1916, becoming a leader of the chamber's Progressive Republicans. He made his biggest mark in the Senate as an early voice forisolationism but voted for U.S. entry intoWorld War I. He opposed U.S. participation in theLeague of Nations. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in1920 and1924. Although he supportedDemocratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt in the1932 presidential election and many of theNew Deal programs, by November 1936 he had become hostile to Roosevelt, whom he viewed as a potential dictator. He remained in the Senate until his death in 1945.
Hiram Johnson was born inSacramento on September 2, 1866.[1] His father,Grove Lawrence Johnson, was an attorney andRepublicanU.S. Representative and a member of theCalifornia State Legislature whose career was marred by accusations of election fraud and graft.[2] His mother, Mabel Ann "Annie" Williamson De Montfredy, was a member of theDaughters of the American Revolution based on her descent fromPierre Van Cortlandt andPhilip Van Cortlandt.[3] Johnson had one brother and three sisters.[2]
Johnson attended thepublic schools of Sacramento and was 16 when he graduated from Sacramento High School in 1882 as the class valedictorian.[4] Too young to begin attending college, Johnson worked as ashorthand reporter andstenographer in his father's law office and attendedHeald's Business College.[4][5] He studied law at theUniversity of California, Berkeley from 1884 to 1886, where he was a member ofChi Phi fraternity.[4] After hisadmission to the bar in 1888, Johnson practiced in Sacramento with his brother Albert as the firm of Johnson & Johnson.[6] When theState Bar of California was organized in 1927,William H. Waste, theChief Justice of theCalifornia Supreme Court, was given license number one[7] and Johnson received number two. Both his son, Hiram Jr. and grandson, Hiram III, were later members of the California State Bar.[8]
In addition to practicing law, Johnson was active in politics as a Republican, including supporting his father's campaigns.[9] In 1899, Johnson backed themayoral campaign of George H. Clark.[9] Clark won, and when he took office in 1900, he named Johnson as city attorney.[9]
In 1902, Johnson moved toSan Francisco, where he quickly developed a reputation as a fearless litigator, primarily as a criminal defense lawyer, while becoming active inreform politics.[10] He attracted statewide attention in 1908 when he assistedDistrict AttorneyWilliam H. Langdon and Assistant DAFrancis J. Heney in the prosecution ofAbe Ruef and MayorEugene Schmitz for graft.[10] After Heney was shot in the courtroom during an attempted assassination, Johnson took the lead for the prosecutionand won the case.[11]
In 1910, Johnson won the gubernatorial election as a member of theLincoln–Roosevelt League, a Progressive Republican movement, running on a platform opposed to theSouthern Pacific Railroad. During his campaign, he toured the state in an open automobile, covering thousands of miles and visiting small communities throughout California that were inaccessible by rail.[12] Johnson helped establish rules that made voting and the political process easier. For example, he established rules to facilitate recalls. This measure was used to remove GovernorGray Davis from office in 2003 and to enable an unsuccessful effort to remove GovernorGavin Newsom in 2021.[13]
In office, Johnson was apopulist who promoted a number of democratic reforms: the election of U.S. Senators by direct popular vote rather than the state legislature (which was later ratified nationwide by a constitutional amendment),cross-filing,initiative,referendum, andrecall elections. Johnson's reforms gave California a degree of direct democracy unmatched by any other U.S. state at the time. When he took office, amid rampant corruption, the Southern Pacific Railroad held so much power it was known as the fourth branch of government. "While I do not by any means believe the initiative, the referendum and the recall are the panacea for all our political ills," Johnson extolled in his 1911 inaugural address, "they do give to the electorate the power of action when desired, and they do place in the hands of the people the means by which they may protect themselves."
Johnson was also instrumental in reining in the power of theSouthern Pacific Railroad through the establishment of a state railroad commission. On taking office, Johnson paroledChris Evans, convicted as the Southern Pacific train bandit, but required that he leave California.
Johnson signed theCalifornia Alien Land Law of 1913 into law. The law, which was motivated by anti-Japanese animus, prevented Asian immigrants from owning land in the state (they were already excluded fromnaturalized citizenship because of their race).[14] Johnson was initially quiet on the proposed legislation, but supported it and signed it into law to bolster his presidential ambitions.[14] With the victory of Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, it was in Johnson's interest to stand up to the Woodrow Wilson administration (which opposed the Alien Land Law), and build a base of public support in California for the 1916 presidential election.[14]
In 1912, Johnson was a founder of the nationalProgressive Party and ran as the party'svice presidential candidate, sharing a ticket with former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Johnson narrowly carried California but finished second nationally behind the Democratic ticket ofWoodrow Wilson andThomas R. Marshall. Their second-place finish, ahead of incumbent Republican PresidentWilliam Howard Taft, remains among the strongest for anythird party in American history.
Johnson wasre-elected governor of California in 1914 as the Progressive Party candidate, gaining nearly twice the votes of his Republican opponentJohn D. Fredericks.[15] In 1917, as one of his final acts as governor before ascending to the U.S. Senate, Johnson signed Senate Constitutional Amendment 26, providing health insurance for all in the Golden State. Then it was put on the ballot for ratification. A coalition of insurance companies took out an ad in The Chronicle, warning it "would spell social ruin to the United States." Every voter in the state, as recounted in a recent issue of the New Yorker, "received in the mail a pamphlet with a picture of the Kaiser and the words 'Born in Germany. Do you want it in California?'" The ballot measure failed, 27%–73%.
In1916, Johnson ran successfully for the U.S. Senate, defeating conservativeDemocratGeorge S. Patton Sr. and took office on March 16, 1917. Johnson was elected as a staunch opponent of American entry intoWorld War I, but voted in favor of war after his election. He later voted against theLeague of Nations. He allegedly said, "The first casualty when war comes is truth." However, this quote may be apocryphal.[16]
During his Senate career, Johnson served as chairman of the Committees on Cuban Relations (66th Congress), Patents (67th Congress), Immigration (68th through71st Congresses), Territories and Insular Possessions (68th Congress), and Commerce (71st and72nd Congresses).
In 1916, RepresentativeJohn I. Nolan introduced H.R. 7625, which would have established a $3 per dayminimum wage forfederal employees. It was endorsed by theAFL and theNational Federation of Federal Employees,[17] but the bill's opponents in the House kept it from coming to a vote.[18] In 1918, Senator Johnson co-sponsored the legislation,[19] and it became known as the Johnson-Nolan Minimum Wage Bill. It passed the House that September, but was stalled in the SenateCommittee on Education and Labor.[20] It was reintroduced two years later and passed in both the House and Senate,[21] but when it went to conference it wasfilibustered bySouthern Democrats[22] who opposed it because it would have paidAfrican American employees the same as white employees.[23]
In the Senate, Johnson helped push through theImmigration Act of 1924, having worked withValentine S. McClatchy and other anti-Japaneselobbyists to prohibitJapanese and otherEast Asian immigrants from entering the United States.[24]
In the early 1920s, the motion picture industry sought to establish a self-regulatory process to fend off official censorship. Senator Johnson was among three candidates identified to head a new group, alongsideHerbert Hoover andWill H. Hays. Hays, who had managed President Harding's 1920 campaign, was ultimately named to head the newMotion Picture Producers and Distributors of America in early 1922.[25]
As Senator, Johnson proved extremely popular. In1934, he was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the popular vote; he was nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties and his only opponent was SocialistGeorge Ross Kirkpatrick.[26]
Johnson was a member of theSenate Foreign Relations Committee continuously for 25 years, from the 66th Congress (1919–21) through the78th Congress (1943–44) and one of its longest-serving members. In 1943, a confidential analysis of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made by British scholarIsaiah Berlin for hisForeign Office, stated that Johnson:
In 1945, Johnson was absent when the vote took place for ratification of theUnited Nations Charter, but made it known that he would have voted against this outcome.[citation needed] SenatorsHenrik Shipstead andWilliam Langer were the only ones to cast votes opposing ratification.[28]
Following Theodore Roosevelt's death in January 1919, Johnson was the most prominent leader in the surviving progressive movement; the Progressive Party of 1912 was dead. In 1920, he ran for the Republican nomination for president but was defeated by conservative SenatorWarren Harding. Johnson did not get the support of Roosevelt's family, who instead supported Roosevelt's long-time friendLeonard Wood. At the convention, Johnson was asked to serve as Harding's running mate but he declined.[29] Johnson sought the 1924 Republican nomination against PresidentCalvin Coolidge; his campaign was derailed after he lost the California primary. Johnson declined to challengeHerbert Hoover for the 1928 presidential nomination, instead choosing to seek re-election to the Senate.[29]
In the1932 United States presidential election, Johnson broke with President Hoover. He was one of the most prominent Republicans to support DemocratFranklin D. Roosevelt.[29] During Roosevelt's first term, Johnson supported the president'sNew Deal economic recovery package and frequently "crossed the floor" to aid the Democrats. By late 1936, he was convinced that Roosevelt was a dangerous would-be dictator. Although in poor health, Johnson attacked Roosevelt and the New Deal following theJudicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, the president's "court-packing" attempt.[30]
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In January 1886, Johnson married Minne L. McNeal (1869–1947). The couple had two sons: Hiram W. "Jack" Johnson Jr. (1886–1959), and Archibald "Archie" McNeal Johnson (1890–1933). Both sons practiced law in California and served in the army. Hiram Jr. was a veteran ofWorld War I, and attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in theArmy Air Corps while stationed atFort Mason in San Francisco duringWorld War II. Archie Johnson was a major of field artillery corps and was wounded in action during the First World War.[31][32]
Having served in the Senate for almost thirty years, Johnson died of a cerebralthrombosis at theNaval Hospital inBethesda, Maryland, on August 5, 1945, the day before the U.S.-conducted atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[33] He had been in failing health for several months. He was interred in amausoleum atCypress Lawn Memorial Park inColma, California and his remains are interred with those of his wife, Minne, and two sons.
During his first termgubernatorial inaugural address on January 3, 1911, Johnson declared that his first duty was "to eliminate every private interest from the government and to make the public service of the State responsive solely to the people." Committed to "arm the people to protect themselves" against such abuses, Johnson proposed amending the state Constitution with "the initiative, the referendum and the recall." All three of these progressive reforms were enacted during his governorship, forever guaranteeing Johnson's stature as the preeminent progressive reformer of California politics. His contribution as the driving force behind the direct democratic process for removal of elected officials was revisited in the media and by the general public during the successful2003 California recall election of Democratic governorGray Davis. RepublicanArnold Schwarzenegger, the eventual winner, referred to Johnson's progressive legacy in his campaign speeches. Johnson's stature in fostering the California recall and ballot initiative direct democratic processes again surfaced in the media during the unsuccessful2021 California recall election of Democratic governorGavin Newsom.[34]
On August 25, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger and his wife,Maria Shriver, announced that Johnson would be one of 13 inducted into theCalifornia Hall of Fame that year.
Johnson held the record as California's longest-serving United States Senator for over 75 years, until it was broken by DemocratDianne Feinstein on March 28, 2021. He remains the longest-serving Republican senator and the longest-serving male senator from California.[35]
The Hiram Johnson papers, consisting primarily of hundreds of letters that Johnson wrote to his two sons over the course of decades, and that his son, Hiram Jr. donated in 1955, reside at theBancroft Library at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[36]
Hiram Johnson High School inSacramento, California is named in his honor.
Heald's Business Colleges, of California, report that the following well - known persons were former students: Hon. Hiram Johnson, former Governor of California...
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of California 1910 | Succeeded by |
| First | Progressive nominee forVice President of the United States 1912 | Party dissolved |
| Progressive nominee forGovernor of California 1914 | ||
| Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromCalifornia (Class 1) 1916,1922,1928,1934,1940 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by Minor Moore | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromCalifornia (Class 1) Endorsed 1934,1940 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of California 1911–1917 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from California 1917–1945 Served alongside:James D. Phelan,Samuel M. Shortridge,William Gibbs McAdoo,Thomas M. Storke,Sheridan Downey | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Cuban Relations Committee 1919–1921 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Patents Committee 1921–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Commerce Committee 1930–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Cover ofTime September 29, 1924 | Succeeded by |
| Under Spain (1769–1822) |  | |
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| Under Mexico (1822–1846) | ||
| Under U.S. military (1846–1850) | ||
| U.S. state (since 1850) | ||
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| Commerce and Manufactures (1816–1825) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Commerce (1825–1947) | ||
| Interstate Commerce (1887–1947) | ||
| Interstate and Foreign Commerce/Commerce (1947–1977) | ||
| Commerce, Science, and Transportation (1977–present) | ||
