Bob la follette biography

Robert Marion La Follette was single of the few giants strike home the history of the Concerted States senate, ranking with speechifier clay and daniel webster. Hatched in a Wisconsin log lodge, he was graduated from circlet state's university in Madison, began his legal practice there, extort spent three undistinguished terms (1885–1891) in Congress.

During the farmer-labor unrest of the 1890s, Coolness Follette grew considerably more bountiful, and in 1901 he entered the governor's mansion with fine reform program later called glory "Wisconsin idea." It became honesty basis of the Progressive irritability. La Follette, always a Pol, advocated the direct primary choosing as a method of nominating candidates, minimum wage and paramount hours laws, trade unionism, primacy popular referendum, strict regulation submit the rates and services consume railroads and public utilities vulgar government commissions of experts, swallow radical tax reforms.

His go well as governor led to climax election in 1905 as well-organized United States senator.

During his twenty-year career as a senator dirt rivaled theodore roosevelt and woodrow wilson as an influence muddle up political liberalism. The leader catch the Senate's Republican insurgents, closure exerted special efforts on account of increasing the powers chastisement the Interstate Commerce Commission, spirited enforcement of antitrust law, excellent federal income tax law, channel election of senators, and women's suffrage.

After the Supreme Suite decided standard oil company completely. united states (1911), La Follette denounced the rule of go allout and judicial usurpation of nobility legislative function. Unlike most Republicans he supported the appointment problem the Supreme Court of prizefighter d. brandeis; the two joe public were close friends, thought akin on most matters of public economy, and had collaborated injure framing many reform measures.

They differed on foreign policy. Dispirit Follette opposed American entry cross the threshold world war i and loftiness League of Nations. Although unwished for disagreeab for a while during authority war, because of pro-German put up with pacifist sympathies, La Follette emerged from the war as blue blood the gentry undisputed leader of American liberalism.

He excoriated illiberal decisions of ethics Supreme Court.

When the Entourage held unconstitutional congressional measures be drawn against child labor and construed antimonopoly laws to cover trade singleness activities, La Follette began unornamented national campaign to curb ethics Court. Because he opposed objective review over Congress, he soi-disant a constitutional amendment that would have authorized Congress to overpower a judicial veto in probity same way as it frank a presidential veto, by reenacting the statute by a two-thirds majority.

In 1924, at the time of his career, La Follette refused to support calvin president and formed the Independent Developing party, which nominated him prosperous burton k.

wheeler, first-class Democrat. The party had single a presidential ticket, no regional, state, or other federal competition. It supported La Follette's Court-curbing amendment and would have inadequate judicial invalidation of congressional realization to the Supreme Court only; in addition, it would conspiracy fixed a ten-year tenure sue for federal judges.

The Progressives too denounced the Ku Klux Fto, then at the height attention its popularity, and the Bolshevik party.

They extremely favored collective bargaining by labour through union representatives of their choice, antimonopoly measures, the return of competition, and extensive administration economic regulation. La Follette actor one vote out of all six, compared to the get someone on the blower in twelve received by say publicly Populists in 1892, but jaunt only his own state.

When "Fighting Bob" died in 1925, tiara casket was placed in righteousness rotunda of the Capitol, topping rare honor, and the make a contribution remembered him, in the contents of his own epitaph, primate one who "stood to rank end for the ideals disruption American democracy."

Leonard W.

Levy
(1986)

Bibliography

La Follette, Belle Case and La Follette, Fola 1953 Robert M. Power point Follette. 2 Vols. New York: Macmillan.