Joseph Little Bristow | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromKansas | |
| In office March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1915 | |
| Preceded by | Chester I. Long |
| Succeeded by | Charles Curtis |
| FourthAssistant United States Postmaster General | |
| In office March 22, 1897 – March 20, 1905 | |
| President | William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Robert A. Maxwell |
| Succeeded by | Peter Voorhees De Graw |
| Chairman of theKansas Public Utilities Commission | |
| In office April 1, 1915 – March 31, 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Charles F. Foley |
| Succeeded by | Charles H. Sessions |
| Member of theKansas Public Utilities Commission | |
| In office March 5, 1915 – March 31, 1918 | |
| Preceded by | James Cable |
| Succeeded by | Charles H. Sessions |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1861-07-22)July 22, 1861 Hazel Green, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1944(1944-07-14) (aged 82) Annandale, Virginia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Gypsum Hill Cemetery,Salina, Kansas, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Margaret Hendrix (m. 1879) |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Baker University |
| Occupation | Newspaper editor |
| Signature |  |
Joseph Little Bristow (July 22, 1861 – July 14, 1944) was aRepublican politician from the American state ofKansas. Elected in 1908, Bristow served a single term in theUnited States Senate where he gained recognition for his support of several political causes of theProgressive Era. In retirement, Bristow was a farmer inAnnandale, Virginia.
Bristow was a bit player in a legendary episode in American political folklore when his Senate speech on "what the country needs" moved a boredVice PresidentThomas R. Marshall, the presiding officer, tostage whisper "What this country really needs is a good five-cent cigar."
Joseph Little Bristow was born just outside the hamlet ofHazel Green, Kentucky on July 22, 1861, the son of William Bristow and Savannah (Little) Bristow.[1] William Bristow was the son of aMethodist minister who had become a Methodist minister, taught school, and was aUnion Army veteran of theAmerican Civil War.[2] Following the 1868 death of his mother, Bristow was raised and educated in his grandfather's devoutly religious household.[3]
William Bristow moved to Kansas in 1876, and Joseph Bristow followed.[4] After briefly working as a farmer, Bristow decided to pursue a career as a Methodist minister, and in 1882, his wife and he moved toBaldwin, Kansas so Bristow could enroll atBaker University.[3]
After deciding not to become a member of the clergy, Bristow's political career began while still a student, when he organized aBlaine andLogan club to support theRepublican nominees forpresident andvice president in the1884 United States presidential election.[5] He graduated fromBaker University in 1886, receiving aBachelor of Arts degree with honors.[6][7] He received aMaster of Arts degree from Baker in 1889.[8][9] In 1912, Baker University awarded Bristow thehonorary degree ofLL.D.[8] While in college, Bristow joined theDelta Tau Delta fraternity and was a member of the Biblical Society, the oldest of Baker's four student literary societies.[9] He also developed a close friendship withWilliam Alfred Quayle, who later became a bishop of theMethodist Episcopal Church.[9]
After graduating, Bristow served two two-year terms as clerk of the district court ofDouglas County, Kansas.[8] While serving as court clerk, Bristow also served as president of the Young Men's Republican Club ofLawrence.[10] He went on to edit or publish several Kansas newspapers, including theBaldwin Ledger, theOttawa Herald, and theDaily Republican,Republican-Journal andIrrigation Farmer, all inSalina.[8][11]
Bristow supportedBenjamin Harrison for presidentin 1888, and that same year won election as secretary of theKansas Republican Committee.[12] From 1895 to 1897, he served as private secretary to GovernorEdmund Needham Morrill.[4] As an advocate for agricultural expansion and environmental conservation, in the 1890s he was one of the founders of the Interstate Irrigation Association.[13]
Bristow campaigned for the Republican ticket ofWilliam McKinley andGarret Hobart in the1896 United States presidential election.[4] After McKinley took office as president, he appointed Bristow as Fourth Assistant United States Postmaster General.[14] This was a high level administrative post at theUnited States Post Office Department, with responsibility for divisions includingRural Free Delivery, supplies,dead letters, and topography.[14] During his postal department career, post offices were established inBristow, Missouri andBristow, Oklahoma, and both communities were named in Bristow's honor.[15][16]
After theSpanish–American War, the McKinley administration dispatched Bristow toHavana to investigate and report on corruption in the postal service of theUnited States Military Government in Cuba.[14] Bristow later investigated post office corruption during the McKinley andTheodore Roosevelt administrations, and when Republican legislators were implicated, they successfully petitioned Roosevelt to remove him.[14] In 1905, Roosevelt appointed Bristow as a special commissioner to investigate operation of thePanama Railroad, which was controlled by the U.S. government, and make recommendations on its future relationship with thePanama Canal, which was then under construction.[14]
As a Republican identified withprogressive and anticorruption policies, Bristow succeeded in creating primary elections for U.S. Senate seats, and in 1908 he won election to the senate after prevailing in a contested primary.[14] In the senate, Bristow advocated nationwide direct election of Senators, who were chosen by state legislatures.[14] Bristow was an author of theSeventeenth Amendment, which passed in 1912, and established the election of senators by statewide popular vote.[14]
During his senate career, Bristow served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office (61st and62nd Congresses) and theCommittee on Cuban Relations (63rd Congress).[17] Bristow opposed the original version of theMann–Elkins Act for regulating railroads and utilities, because he believed the proposed federal commerce court would weaken theInterstate Commerce Commission's authority, but supported the act when it was amended to place the proposed court's authority with the commission.[18] Like most progressive Republicans, Bristow also opposed thePayne–Aldrich Tariff Act, which raised duties on imported products, arguing that manufacturers did not deserve to profit at the expense of higher prices for consumers.[19]
In 1911,Dwight D. Eisenhower competed for an appointment from Bristow to theUnited States Military Academy (West Point).[20] He performed well on the examination administered by Bristow's staff, which resulted in his recommendation for the appointment.[21] Eisenhower then performed capably on the academy's entrance exam and was admitted to West Point'sClass of 1915.[21]
In 1912, Bristow supported Theodore Roosevelt for president, but did not join Roosevelt's newProgressive Party, believing that it would not attain long-term success.[19] Bristow was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914.[19]
Bristow provoked a sarcastic comment from Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall that has since become well known in American political lore.[22] According to columnistFred C. Kelly, in early 1914 Bristow delivered a lengthy Senate speech on "what this country needs."[23] An increasingly bored Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall had presided while Bristow spoke.[23] Shortly afterwards, Bristow ran into Marshall in a lobby outside the senate chamber.[23] Marshall was preparing to smoke, and as Bristow approached, the following exchange took place:[23]
In early 1915, columnist Thomas F. Logan repeated the story, though in his version some of the details had changed.[23] In Logan's version, Marshall was presiding during Bristow's speech and said to the senate's assistant secretary: “There’s some truth in what Bristow says, but he hasn’t yet hit the most important thing. What this country really needs is a good five-cent cigar.”[23]
In January 1915, Governor-electArthur Capper announced his intention to appoint Bristow to theKansas Public Utilities Commission.[24] Bristow joined the commission on March 5, 1915, the day after his senate term expired.[25] In April 1915, Bristow was appointed to serve as the commission's chairman,[26] and he served until resigning to campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in 1918.[27] His primary campaign was unsuccessful,[28] and Capper won the general election.[29]
In retirement, Bristow was a resident ofOssian Hall, an 18th-century plantation house inAnnandale, Virginia.[30] Bristow died at Ossian Hall on July 14, 1944.[31] He was buried at Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina.[32]
In November 1879, Bristow married Margaret H. Hendrix ofFlemingsburg, Kentucky.[9] They were the parents of five children, the first two of which died in infancy— William H., Bertha M., Joseph Q., Frank B., and Edwin M.[9] Edwin died in 1935, after which Bristow took on responsibility for raising Edwin's seven children.[9]
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Senator from Kansas, Class 3 1909-1915 | Succeeded by |
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| People | |
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