Marion Butler | |
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| United States Senator fromNorth Carolina | |
| In office March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1901 | |
| Preceded by | Matt W. Ransom |
| Succeeded by | Furnifold M. Simmons |
| Member of theNorth Carolina Senate from the 14th district | |
| In office 1891–1893 | |
| Preceded by | Edwin W. Kerr |
| Succeeded by | W. H. G. Lucas F. R. Cooper |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1863-05-20)May 20, 1863 Sampson County, North Carolina |
| Died | June 3, 1938(1938-06-03) (aged 75) Takoma Park, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Populist |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic Republican |
| Spouse | Florence Faison Butler |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina |
| Profession | Politician,Farmer,Lawyer,Editor,Publisher |
Marion Butler (May 20, 1863 – June 3, 1938) was an American politician, farmer, and lawyer. He representedNorth Carolina in theUnited States Senate for one term, serving between 1895 and 1901. At the time, he was a leader of the North CarolinaPopulist Party, and also affiliated with theDemocratic Party and theRepublican Party at different points in his career. He was the older brother ofGeorge Edwin Butler.
Born inSampson County, North Carolina, Butler took over his family's farm after graduating from theUniversity of North Carolina. He became a leader of theFarmers' Alliance and won election to theNorth Carolina Senate as a member of the Democratic Party. During the 1892 election, he led a group of North Carolina Democrats opposed toGrover Cleveland into the Populist Party. As a leader of the Populists, Butler advocated "Fusion" with the Republican Party, and the Populists and Republicans together won control of the state legislature in the1894 elections. The new legislature elected Butler to the United States Senate.
In the Senate, Butler advocated for Populist reforms like the institution ofbimetallism and the nationalization of railroads. In the1896 presidential election, Butler helped orchestrate a compromise with the national Democratic Party whereby both parties nominatedWilliam Jennings Bryan. Butler stood for re-election in 1900, but Democrats had regained control of the state legislature and he was defeated. After his defeat, Butler practiced law inWashington, D.C. He died in 1938 inTakoma Park, Maryland, a nearby suburb.
Butler was born in 1863 in ruralSampson County,North Carolina during theAmerican Civil War. His parents were yeomen farmers. It is unknown if he attended any of the new public schools established after the war, but he was a graduate of theUniversity of North Carolina. There he was a member of theDialectic Society. His planned to practice law, but his father's death required Butler to take responsibility for managing the family farm, rather than attending law school.
When the Farmers' Alliance movement spread from the Southwest into North Carolina in the late 1880s, Butler immediately joined the organization. It provided him a ladder of political opportunity that he climbed with impressive speed. As the son ofyeoman farmers, Butler grew up in a strong agrarian tradition. Possessing the formal education and experiences from his years at the University of North Carolina, Butler stood out from his fellow farmers. By the age of 25, he was elected President of the localFarmers' Alliance and in 1893 was elected President of the National Farmer's Alliance.[1]
Still a Democrat at this time, Butler was elected to theNorth Carolina Senate as an "AllianceDemocrat" in 1890. In 1891, at age 28, he was elected President of the State Farmers' Alliance. Due to a general distaste for Democratic nomineeGrover Cleveland, and the North Carolina Democratic Party's ruling that no voter could vote on a "split ticket", Butler led a mass exodus of Alliance members and followers from the Democratic party which had ruled the state since Reconstruction, to thePopulist, or "People's Party" in 1892.[2]
During his tenure with the Populists, Butler was an advocate of "Fusion", meaning outright cooperation with the North CarolinaRepublican Party as a means to achieve some of the more important goals of his party. While some Populists disliked what they saw as a compromise made on some of their core beliefs, Butler saw short-term success. Together the Populists and Republicans polled a larger vote than the Democrats in the election of 1892; theirFusion candidates swept both houses of the legislature in theElection of 1894.
In 1894, Butler was elected as United States Senator from North Carolina, serving alongside SenatorJeter C. Pritchard.[2] As a United States Senator, Butler continued to advocate for workable reforms from the Populist Party Platform, including the regulation or outright ownership by the United States Government of railroads and telegraphs, as well as for a silver-based currency system.[3]
Butler obtained national prominence in the1896 United States presidential election when he orchestrated a compromise between Democrats and Populists. Populists endorsed Democratic nomineeWilliam Jennings Bryan on a ticket with Populist vice-presidential nomineeThomas E. Watson. This was another example of "fusion" under Butler. Ironically, this national Populist-Democrat cooperation coincided with the Populist-Republican cooperation in North Carolina.[1] After Bryan's loss, Butler continued to work for reform on the national stage which would benefit farmers, but this work would soon be cut short by the "white supremacy" campaigns of the Democratic Party in North Carolina. Butler lost his bid for re-election in 1900, however he would remain the national chairman of the People's Party until 1904 when he would officially become a Republican. Butler joined the Progressive Republican Faction of the National Republican Party alongside notable individuals such asTheodore Roosevelt.[4]
During his time as Senator, Butler received his law degree from the University of North Carolina, and after his electoral defeat in 1904, practiced law inWashington, D.C.[1][3]
He married Florence Faison of Sampson County on August 31, 1893, and they had five children: Pocahontas, Marion, Edward F., Florence F., and Wiley.[1] The former Senator died inTakoma Park, Maryland in 1938, and was buried at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church inClinton, North Carolina.[5] A portrait of Marion Butler during his time in the U.S. Senate is included in the collection of theDialectic and Philanthropic Societies in their chambers on the campus of the University of North Carolina inChapel Hill, North Carolina.
Butler's legacy is surrounded by considerable debate among scholars of the era. Progressive historians, who tend to look favorably on the goals of the Populist Movement in general have often discarded Butler's fusionism, silver-backed currency and emphasis onwhite supremacy as being "un-Populist".[6] In refuting this analysis, some historians point to Butler's immense popularity among Populist adherents, and to the fact that Butler held at different times the Presidency of the National Farmers' Alliance and was Chairman of the Populist Party itself.[7]
Regardless of the classification of Butler's beliefs and actions, it is undisputed that his actions and rhetoric were extremely influential in the North Carolina and national Populist movement, especially after the death ofLeonidas L. Polk, the movement's elder statesman, in 1892.
TheMarion Butler Birthplace was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1986.[8]
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from North Carolina March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1901 Served alongside:Jeter C. Pritchard | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Most senior living U.S. senator (Sitting or former) November 18, 1934 – June 3, 1938 | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
