Albert Baird Cummins was the
18th Governor of Iowa, U.S. Senator and two-time presidential candidate. Cummins was perhaps the most influential leader in Iowa politics in the first quarter of the 20th century. However, for many years he was a polarizing figure, leading the
Iowa Republican Party'sThe Republican Party of Iowa is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is led by Chairman Matt Strawn and Co-Chairman Bill Schickel...
progressive wing to power at the expense of its "old guard" of more conservative "standpatters" who had controlled the party almost since its inception. Shortly before his death, Cummins was defeated by an even more progressive adversary within his own party.
Personal background
Cummins was born in a log house in
Carmichaels, PennsylvaniaCarmichaels is a borough in Greene County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 556 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Carmichaels is located at ....
to Thomas L. Cummins, a carpenter/farmer, and Sarah Baird (Flenniken) Cummins. He lived in Pennsylvania until about 1869. As a young man, he worked as a carpenter with his father. He attended country schools and completed a four-year course in two years at Waynesburg College, but did not graduate because of a dispute with the College's president. After leaving the College, he initially was a tutor and taught at a country school.
At age nineteen, Cummins came to Iowa, working in a county recorder's office in
Elkader, IowaElkader is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,465 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Clayton County.-History:The city is named after Algerian leader Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri...
. He then became a civil engineer and helped to build railroads in Indiana. After moving to Chicago, where he studied law, he was admitted to the bar in 1875. After practicing law in Chicago for three years, he and his brother set up a practice in Des Moines. In his most famous case as an attorney, he represented a group of farmers in an attempt to break an eastern sydicate's control of the production of barbed wire. However, historians consider his representation of farmers in the barbed wire case to be an anomaly, because more often he represented corporations or businessmen.
In 1887 Cummins was elected to a single term in the Iowa State Senate representing Des Moines. He was asked to serve as temporary chair of the 1892 State Republican Convention. He unsuccessfully pursued a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1894. In 1896 he was active in the
William McKinleyWilliam McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
campaign, and was appointed as Iowa's representative on the
Republican National CommitteeThe Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
.
1900 candidacies for U.S. Senate
In 1900, Cummins was passed over twice for the U.S. Senate. In early 1900, when the
Iowa General AssemblyThe Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Representatives respectively...
exercised its former power to choose a U.S. Senator (for the Class 2 seat, to serve from 1901 to 1909), Cummins was the opponent of incumbent Republican
John H. GearJohn Henry Gear was the 11th Governor of Iowa, United States Representative, and Senator.-Biography:Born in Ithaca, New York, he attended the common schools and moved to Galena, Illinois in 1836, to Fort Snelling, Iowa, in 1838, and to Burlington in 1843, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits...
, but withdrew when it appeared he lacked the votes to win. After Gear suffered a fatal heart attack in July 1900, Governor Leslie M. Shaw rejected numerous appeals to appoint Cummins to the vacancy, and instead appointed
Jonathan P. DolliverJonathan Prentiss Dolliver was a Republican orator, U.S. Representative, then U.S. Senator from Iowa at the turn of the 20th century...
. Cummins initially vowed to seek the seat again in the 1901 legislative session, but instead focused on winning the 1901 election for Governor of Iowa.
Governor of Iowa
Cummins served as Governor of Iowa between 1902 and 1908. He was the first Iowa governor elected to three successive terms. In the third election he won tight races for the Republican nomination against
George D. PerkinsGeorge Douglas Perkins was a longtime newspaper editor, Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 11th congressional district in northwestern Iowa, and unsuccessful candidate for his party's nomination as Governor of Iowa....
, editor of the
Sioux City JournalThe Sioux City Journal is the daily newspaper of Sioux City, Iowa. The publication covers western Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota.It is owned by Lee Enterprises Inc....
, and in the general election against Democrat
Claude R. PorterClaude R. Porter was a member of the Iowa General Assembly, United States Attorney, and perennial Democratic runner-up to Republican victors in three races for Iowa governor and six races for U.S. senator. In an era in which Republicans in Iowa won so often that Senator Jonathan P...
. While governor he led efforts to establish compulsory education, a state department of agriculture, and a system of primary elections.
Cummins became identified with an approach to tariff-setting known as "the Iowa idea." The “Iowa idea,” as stated in the Iowa Republican Party’s 1902 platform, favored “such amendments of the Interstate Commerce Act as will more fully carry out its prohibition of discrimination in ratemaking, and [such] modifications of the tariff schedules [as] may be required to prevent their affording a shelter to monopoly.” The "idea" embodied the principle that tariff rates should accurately measure the difference between the cost of production here and abroad, but not set rates higher than necessary to protect home industries.
U.S. Senator
In June 1908, Governor Cummins ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by
William B. AllisonWilliam Boyd Allison was an early leader of the Iowa Republican Party, who represented northeastern Iowa for four consecutive terms in the U.S. House before representing his state for six consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate...
, who was seeking a record seventh term. Cummins was accused of breaking an earlier promise not to challenge Allison, and lost by over 12,000 votes. However, Senator Allison died August 4, 1908, two months after the primary and before the Iowa General Assembly chose among the primary winners. In November 1908 a second Republican primary was held, which Cummins won decisively. Later that month (and again two months later, in January 1909), Cummins was appointed by the Iowa General Assembly over democratic rival
Claude R. PorterClaude R. Porter was a member of the Iowa General Assembly, United States Attorney, and perennial Democratic runner-up to Republican victors in three races for Iowa governor and six races for U.S. senator. In an era in which Republicans in Iowa won so often that Senator Jonathan P...
. He served as a United States Senator from Iowa for 18 years, from 1908 until his death in 1926. He served as
President pro temporeThe President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
of the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
between 1919 and 1925. He also chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and the U.S. Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce.
Cummins generally supported President
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
's initiatives to regulate business, and authored a clause of the
Sherman Antitrust ActThe Sherman Antitrust Act requires the United States federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act. It was the first Federal statute to limit cartels and monopolies, and today still forms the basis for most antitrust litigation by...
. Although Cummins voted in favor of the 1917 declaration of war against the
German EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
when Wilson requested it, he sided most often with his party than with Wilson on other foreign-policy issues, opposing the arming of merchant ships in early 1917 and U.S. membership in a
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
in 1919-20.
It was as Interstate Commerce Committee chair that Cummins sponsored the
Esch-Cummins ActThe Esch–Cummins Act of 1920, or Railroad Transportation Act, was a United States federal law that returned railroads to private operation after World War I, with much regulation...
of 1920, establishing the conditions for the return of the railroads to private control after their government operation during
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Labor activists complained that the bill perpetuated harsh limits on collective bargaining, including provisions making it a crime to encourage a railroad strike, in the absence of a wartime emergency. It symbolized Cummins' postwar break with the progressive movement, which would ultimately contribute to his defeat.
Pursuit of the presidency
In January 1912, Cummins announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. He was a candidate through the Republican National Convention in Chicago in June 1912. During the turmoil of the convention and the walkout of
Theodore Roosevelt'sTheodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
supporters, Cummins' name was not placed into nomination. In the general election, Cummins supported Roosevelt rather than Taft, even though he opposed Roosevelt's creation of a third party.
In 1916 Cummins again ran for the Republican nomination for president. This time, with no incumbent president of his own party, delegates were split among over a dozen candidates on the first ballot (on which Cummins finished fifth). After Cummins again finished fifth on the second ballot, he released his delegates, contributing to the third-ballot victory of Supreme Court Justice
Charles Evans HughesCharles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
.
Defeat and death
In June 1926, insurgent
Smith W. BrookhartSmith Wildman Brookhart , was twice elected as a Republican to represent Iowa in the United States Senate. He was considered an "insurgent" within the Republican Party; his criticisms of the Harding and Coolidge Administrations and of business interests alienated others within the Republican...
defeated Cummins in the Republican primary for Cummins' Senate seat. Two months earlier, Brookhart had been removed from the Iowa's other U.S. Senate seat when a majority of his colleagues in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted in favor of Democrat Dan Steck's challenge to the outcome of the 1924 Brookhart-Steck race. Cummins had refused to take a position on the election contest, knowing that if Brookhart were unseated he would likely run for Cummins' seat.
The month after his primary defeat, Cummins died in Des Moines. He is buried at the Woodland Cemetery there.
External links
- Albert B. Cummins at Find A Grave
Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
.