John W. Kern
Kern, 1905–17
Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1917
Deputy	J. Hamilton Lewis
Preceded by	Thomas S. Martin
Succeeded by	Thomas S. Martin
United States Senator fromIndiana
In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917
Preceded by	Albert J. Beveridge
Succeeded by	Harry New
Member of theIndiana Senate fromMarion County
In office 1893–1897 Serving with Romeo F. Stuart, James McHugh
Preceded by	Henry C. Thompson, Henry T. Hudson
Succeeded by	Martin M. Hugg, Harry New
Personal details
Born	(1849-12-20)December 20, 1849 Alto, Indiana, U.S.
Died	August 17, 1917(1917-08-17) (aged 67) Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (LLB)

John Worth Kern (December 20, 1849 – August 17, 1917) was aDemocraticUnited States Senator fromIndiana. While the title was not official, he is considered to be the firstSenate majority leader (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic Leader), while serving concurrently as chairman of theSenate Democratic Caucus. He was also the Democratic vice presidential nominee in the1908 presidential election.

Born inAlto, Indiana, Kern practiced law inKokomo, Indiana, after graduating from theUniversity of Michigan Law School. He won election to theIndiana Senate before serving as the city solicitor ofIndianapolis. After running unsuccessfully for the position ofGovernor of Indiana, Kern was selected as the vice presidential nominee at the1908 Democratic National Convention. The Democratic ticket ofWilliam Jennings Bryan and Kern was defeated by theRepublican ticket ofWilliam Howard Taft andJames S. Sherman.

Kern won election to the United States Senate in 1910, becoming aprogressive ally of PresidentWoodrow Wilson. He was elected Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus and helped pass several major pieces of legislation, including theClayton Antitrust Act, theRevenue Act of 1913, and theFederal Reserve Act. He also introduced theKern Resolution, which led to the investigation of conditions in coal mines, and supported passage of theSeventeenth Amendment. He was defeated for re-election in 1916, losing to RepublicanHarry Stewart New, and Kern died the following year.

Born inAlto, Indiana, Kern was the eldest of eight boys.^[1] He studied at theUniversity of Michigan Law School, and began the practice of law inKokomo, Indiana.

He served as Kokomo's city attorney from 1871 to 1884. Kern was elected to theIndiana Senate in 1893, serving for four years, serving at the same time as assistantU.S. Attorney for Indiana. In that body, he established a reputation as a "pro-union progressive defender of the poor." He helped pass legislation to protect employees who attempted to form a union, an employer liability law, and a child labor law.

In 1895 he went toEurope to rest from his health problems. When inLondon, he metAlton B. Parker, with whom he established a lasting friendship. In 1896, he initially was not a fan of the idea of free silver, but when the Democrats adopted it in their 1896 party platform, he stuck with the platform. He also met the Democratic nominee for president that year,William Jennings Bryan, and they became close friends as well.

From 1897 to 1901 he was city solicitor ofIndianapolis. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate forGovernor of Indiana in1900 and1904. In 1904, he was asked to run by Parker, who by that time was on his way to becoming the Democratic nominee for president that year, to run for governor to try and boost the party in Indiana. However, it did not work, with both Parker and Kern losing the state in a landslide. After these defeats, he returned to his law practice, traveled to Europe, and spent six months at a sanatorium inAsheville, North Carolina, for reasons of health.

Inthe 1908 election, he was the Democratic candidate forVice President, the running mate to Bryan on his third try to the presidency. His friendship with Bryan, as well as the fact that he was from the electorally important region of theMidwest, helped secure his place on the ticket, even over his objection.Thomas R. Marshall was the one who nominated Kern for the second spot on the ticket.^[2] In the end, the Bryan/Kern ticket was defeated byWilliam Howard Taft. Kern then sought election to theUnited States Senate from Indiana (the legislature then being Democratic-controlled), but was outmaneuvered by fellow DemocratBenjamin F. Shively.

Indiana's other Senate seat came up for election in 1910, and this time, the legislature elected Kern. He entered the Senate in 1911, one of ten new Democrats, most of themprogressives. Joining Shively, Kern became a progressive Democrat and an opponent of monopolistic corporate power. He quickly became involved in an effort to shake up his party's conservative leadership. In 1912, he helped write the Democratic platform, which had progressive planks in favor of banking andtariff reform and direct popular election of senators.

Inthe election of 1912,Woodrow Wilson was elected president, Democrats gained a majority in theHouse, and eleven more progressive Democrats entered the Senate. Kern's national stature as a progressive, his skill at conciliation, and his personal popularity resulted in his unanimous election asChairman of the Democratic Caucus andde facto majority leader. He worked closely with Wilson and often met with him privately. He kept the peace and promoted unity that helped propel Wilson's initiatives through the Senate. They included tariff reform, the nation's first income tax (as permitted by theSixteenth Amendment), theFederal Reserve Act, antitrust laws, and theFederal Trade Commission.

In 1913, Kern was contacted by the labor activistMary Harris Jones ("Mother Jones"), who had been imprisoned by a military court inWest Virginia during thePaint Creek–Cabin Creek strike of 1912. In response, Kern introduced theKern Resolution, adopted by the Senate on May 27. The resolution led to the Senate Committee on Education and Labor investigation into conditions in West Virginiacoal mines. Congress almost immediately authorized two similar investigations: into conditions incopper mining inMichigan and coal mining inColorado.^[3]

Kern advocated direct popular election of senators and helped enact theSeventeenth Amendment to establish it in 1913. However, when Kern sought re-election in 1916 under the new system, he was defeated by theRepublicanHarry S. New and narrowly lost the popular vote (47.8% to 46.1%).^[4]

At Bryan's urging, Wilson considered Kern for appointment to various offices, but Kern was in poor health and unable to serve. He died on August 17, 1917, in Asheville, five months after leaving the Senate. He was originally interred at his summer home nearHollins, Virginia, and re-interred inCrown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis twelve years later. He was survived by his wife Araminta C. Kern, who died at age 85 in 1951, and his sonJohn W. Kern Jr., a future judge and mayor ofIndianapolis.^[5]

• Oleszek, Walter J. (1991). "John Worth Kern: Portrait of a Floor Leader". In Baker, Richard A.; Davidson, Roger H. (eds.).First Among Equals: Outstanding Senate Leaders of the Twentieth Century.CQ Press. pp. 7–37.
• Bowers, Claude G. (1918).The life of John Worth Kern. Indianapolis: Hollenbeck.OCLC 1543404.

• United States Congress."John W. Kern (id: k000132)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• 1849 births
• 1917 deaths
• American prosecutors
• Burials at Crown Hill Cemetery
• Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
• Democratic Party United States senators from Indiana
• Democratic Party Indiana state senators
• People from Kokomo, Indiana
• 1908 United States vice-presidential candidates
• University of Michigan Law School alumni
• 20th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2024