William J. Fields | |
|---|---|
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| 41st Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office December 11, 1923 – December 13, 1927 | |
| Lieutenant | Henry Denhardt |
| Preceded by | Edwin P. Morrow |
| Succeeded by | Flem D. Sampson |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's9th district | |
| In office March 4, 1911 – December 11, 1923 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph B. Bennett |
| Succeeded by | Fred M. Vinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 29, 1874 Willard, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | October 21, 1954(1954-10-21) (aged 79) Grayson, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Dora McDavid |
| Alma mater | University of Kentucky |
| Profession | Farmer,Realtor,Lawyer |
William Jason Fields (December 29, 1874 – October 21, 1954) was an American politician from theU.S. state ofKentucky. Known as "Honest Bill fromOlive Hill", he representedKentucky's Ninth District in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1923, resigning to become the state's 41stgovernor.
Discouraged by an early defeat for a seat in thestate legislature, Fields took a job at a grocery store inAshland, Kentucky that allowed him to travel the state and meet many people in his congressional district. In 1911, he became the firstDemocrat elected toCongress from the Ninth District in two decades. Elected to seven consecutive terms, he rose to become the ranking member of theHouse Committee on Military Affairs duringWorld War I. When Democratic gubernatorial nomineeJ. Campbell Cantrill died unexpectedly two months before the general election, the Democratic Central Committee chose Fields to replace Cantrill as the nominee. In a campaign that featured more name-calling than substantial debate, Fields secured the backing of the powerful Jockey Club political alliance and won a landslide victory overRepublicanAttorney GeneralCharles I. Dawson.
The first legislative session of Fields' term was marked by infighting within his own party. His agenda was opposed by a Democratic faction led by former governorJ. C. W. Beckham,Louisville Courier-Journal publisherRobert Worth Bingham, andpolitical boss Percy Haly. Fields' signature issue, a $75 million bond issue to construct a state highway system, passed the legislature in 1924, but the electorate refused to approve it in November of that year. Among Fields' accomplishments as governor were an increase in thegasoline tax to help fund his highway program, a reorganization of the state's government bureaucracy, and the preservation ofCumberland Falls from industrial development. He never united the factions of his party, however. His political enemies charged him withnepotism and abusing hispardon power, and the Democrats lost the governorship in 1927 to RepublicanFlem D. Sampson. Following his service as governor, Fields failed in an attempt to return to his former congressional seat. He was appointed to the State Workman's Compensation Board by GovernorA. B. "Happy" Chandler, and after his retirement from public service, he practiced law and worked as a real estate agent until his death on October 21, 1954.
William J. Fields was born December 29, 1874, inWillard, Kentucky.[1] He was the fourth of twelve children born to Christopher C. and Alice (Rucker) Fields.[2][3] He was educated in the local public schools, then matriculated to theUniversity of Kentucky.[1] After graduation, he started a real estate business inOlive Hill, Kentucky and engaged in farming.[2] He also studied law on his own.[4]
On October 10, 1893, Fields married Dora McDaniel; the couple had six children.[2] At age 21, he was electedconstable of Carter County, but three years later, he fell short in his bid to capture a seat instate legislature.[3] Following the loss, he took a job at a grocery store inAshland, Kentucky that would allow him to travel the state more freely, make acquaintances, and better position himself for a run for higher office.[3]
Campaigning under the moniker "Honest Bill from Olive Hill", Fields won a narrow victory as aDemocrat to representKentucky's Ninth District in theU.S. House of Representatives in 1910.[2] The first Democrat to hold the seat in twenty years, he was re-elected for another six consecutive terms.[5] A member of theCommittee on Military Affairs, he eventually became the ranking Democrat on the committee and the ranking member of the subcommittee that controlled appropriations for U.S. operations duringWorld War I.[5]
In September 1923, Democratic gubernatorial nomineeJ. Campbell Cantrill died, leaving the party without a candidate.[2]Alben Barkley, who Cantrill had defeated for the nomination, refused to be the Democratic candidate, perhaps because he had already decided to run for theU.S. Senate in 1926.[5] The Democratic Central Committee chose Fields as a replacement for Cantrill.[2]
The general election campaign generated little interest and quickly degenerated into name calling.[6] Fields' opponent,RepublicanAttorney GeneralCharles I. Dawson, mocked Fields' traditional election slogan, calling him "Dodging Bill from Olive Hill, who answers no questions and never will".[7] Fields countered by referring to Dawson as "Changing Charlie", a reference to Dawson's one-time affiliation with the Democratic Party prior to becoming a Republican.[7] Fields secured the backing of a group of powerful political bosses, includingLouisville banker James B. Brown, U.S. SenatorAugustus Owsley Stanley, andLexington power broker Billy Klair.[8] These three were the leaders of the Jockey Club, a group dedicated to the preservation ofparimutuel betting in the state, especially at racetracks.[7] Discontent with incumbent Republican GovernorEdwin P. Morrow further aided Fields' campaign, and he defeated Dawson by a vote of 356,035 (53%) to 306,277 (46%).[8] It was one of the largest Democratic gubernatorial landslides in state history.[8] He resigned from the House to accept the governorship.[2]
Already lightly regarded because he was selected by the Democratic Central Committee instead of a party primary, Fields further weakened his position due to some of his personal preferences.[7] A devoutMethodist andprohibitionist, Fields prohibited both dancing and drinking at theExecutive Mansion.[8] He moved the inaugural ball from the mansion to the capitol rotunda, where dancing would be allowed, but he and his wife did not attend.[9] Fields' frugality also led him to keep dairy cows on the mansion's lawn, drawing derision from urban citizens.[7]
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Fields' 1924 address to the General Assembly included several ambitious proposals, including the founding of atrade school forblacks atPaducah, planning and developingnormal schools atMurray andMorehead, raising thegasoline tax to three cents per gallon, and the issuance of $75 million in state bonds to finance a state highway system.[8] A dissenting faction of the Democratic party, led by former governorJ. C. W. Beckham, political boss Percy Haly, andLouisville Courier-Journal publisherRobert Worth Bingham, voiced strong opposition to Fields' proposals, especially the bond issue.[8] They charged that Fields had the support of a dangerous "bipartisan combine", with the Republican element of the combine led by Maurice Galvin.[7][8]
Tensions between the factions were inflamed almost as soon as the 1924 legislature convened.[7] A bill to outlaw parimutuel betting in the state passed theHouse of Representatives, but failed in theSenate.[7] The next legislative battle centered on removing the head of the Board of Charities and Corrections and give the governor greater control over the board's makeup; this attempt also narrowly failed.[10] When Senator Stanley, an opponent of prohibition, sought re-election to the Senate in 1924, Fields and his allies did not support him, leading to the election of RepublicanFrederick M. Sackett and giving the Republicans both of the state's senate seats for the first time in history.[11]
The signature issue of the session, however, was Fields' request for the bond issue. He engaged in a debate with opponents of the issue that was published in Bingham'sCourier-Journal as well as theLouisville Herald andLouisville Post, two papers owned by James B. Brown.[8] Ultimately, the issue was approved by the General Assembly, which was considered a major victory for Fields.[8] Still, the bond issue had to be approved by the state's electorate.[12] TheCourier-Journal continued the fight against the issue, whileDesha Breckinridge'sLexington Herald came out in favor of it.[12] Fields spent ten weeks criss-crossing the state speaking in favor of the bond issue, but on election day, it was rejected by a margin of 90,000 votes.[12]
Undaunted by the failure of the bond issue, Fields returned to the 1926 General Assembly with more proposals, including another increase in the gasoline tax to provide the funds needed to construct the state highway system.[12] The 1926 Assembly passed more legislation than any previous legislature, including the increased gas tax and several bills to reorganize state government.[12] The state purchasing commission and the Department of Bus Transportation were among the entities created in the reorganization.[12] Under Fields, the state implemented the first phase ofdesegregation busing.[4]
Fields opposed a plan to develophydroelectric power generation capabilities on theCumberland Falls.[4] In order to prevent development, he accepted an offer fromT. Coleman du Pont to purchase the property around the falls and donate it to the state.[3] He also suggested the creation ofCarter Caves State Resort Park in his home county.[3]
Fields' political enemies charged him with corruption and chastised him for issuing too manypardons.[2] He also drew criticism for appointing his eldest son as state examiner, political supporter James Brown as tax commissioner, and other relatives and political supporters to low-ranking positions in the state government.[2][8] Although the party strongly supported Alben Barkley's senatorial bid in 1926, Fields and his allies refused to support 1927 gubernatorial candidate J. C. W. Beckham, and the governorship went to RepublicanFlem D. Sampson.[12]
Following his service as governor, Fields returned to Olive Hill and was admitted to thebar in 1927.[1] Sensing an opportunity for a political comeback in 1930, Fields launched a bid to regain his former seat in the U.S. House, which was now occupied by RepublicanElva R. Kendall. Kendall had beaten Fields's successor,Fred M. Vinson in the 1928 Hoover landslide, which saw nine out of eleven (all but the two ancestrally Democratic western Kentucky) U.S. House seats go to the Republicans.
Vinson instead chose not to stand aside for his former ally and decisively beat Fields in the August Democraticprimary by a margin of 63% to 21% (with a third candidate,W.C. Hamilton taking the remaining 16%).[13] Vinson successfully reclaimed his seat in the general election from Kendall.
In 1932, Fields was electedCommonwealth's Attorney for Kentucky's thirty-seventh judicial district; he served until 1935.[1] In 1934, Fields again challenged Congressman Vinson in the Democratic primary in the renumbered 8th district, but he lost again by a decisive margin of 68% to 32%.[13] In 1936, GovernorA. B. "Happy" Chandler appointed him to the State Workmen's Compensation Board.[2] He served in this capacity until the election of RepublicanSimeon S. Willis.[2]
Fields retired from public service on August 8, 1944.[1] From 1940 to 1945, he co-owned an insurance agency.[1] He briefly moved toFlorida before returning to Olive Hill, where he continued practicing law, and farming.[2] He died inGrayson, Kentucky on October 21, 1954, and was buried in Olive Hill Cemetery in Olive Hill.[1]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1923 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 9th congressional district 1911-1923 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Kentucky 1923–1927 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
