Claude Bowers
Encyclopedia
Claude Gernade Bowers was an American writer, Democratic politician, and ambassador to Spain
and Chile
.
and, while residing there, became the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives at the request of powerful Democratic leader John Edward Lamb. Though he lost, the experience polished his abundant speaking skills. Bowers' enormously popular books Party Battles of the Jackson Period (1922) and Jefferson and Hamilton: The Struggle for Democracy in America (1925) were political manifestos that denounced the Federalist/Whig/Republican parties as bastions of aristocracy, and hailed the Democrats as true heroes. He was an editorial writer for the New York World from 1923 to 1931, and a political columnist for the New York Journal from 1931 to 1933.
In his very popular histories Bowers promoted the idea that Thomas Jefferson
had founded the Democratic Party
. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
, an avid reader of Bowers, built the Jefferson Memorial
. Bowers' The Tragic Era (1929) attracted wide attention for its attack on the Republican Party, which Bowers believed humiliated the South and corrupted the North during Reconstruction. His research was based on the Dunning School
. He was the temporary chairman of the 1928 Democratic National Convention
where he gave a keynote speech (text in New York Times June 27, 1928. p. 8). Roosevelt appointed him ambassador to Spain and later Chile.
Although disillusioned when the New Deal
veered away from pristine low-budget Jeffersonian principles, Bowers held his tongue and never criticized his patron. His biography of Senator Albert J. Beveridge
, Beveridge and the Progressive Era (1932) was non-polemical and of high quality. He continued writing late into his life, completing My Mission to Spain in 1954, which chronicled his time in Spain as ambassador, covering both his travels throughout the country, and the hectic politics that foreshadowed the Spanish Civil War
. Bowers was highly critical of what he saw as fascist agitation and strongly defended the regime of the Spanish Second Republic.
He died of leukemia in 1958 and is buried at Highland Lawn Cemetery
in Terre Haute, Indiana
.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Biography
Bowers began his career as a journalist with a newspaper in Terre Haute, IndianaTerre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
and, while residing there, became the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives at the request of powerful Democratic leader John Edward Lamb. Though he lost, the experience polished his abundant speaking skills. Bowers' enormously popular books Party Battles of the Jackson Period (1922) and Jefferson and Hamilton: The Struggle for Democracy in America (1925) were political manifestos that denounced the Federalist/Whig/Republican parties as bastions of aristocracy, and hailed the Democrats as true heroes. He was an editorial writer for the New York World from 1923 to 1931, and a political columnist for the New York Journal from 1931 to 1933.
In his very popular histories Bowers promoted the idea that Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
had founded the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, an avid reader of Bowers, built the Jefferson Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third President of the United States....
. Bowers' The Tragic Era (1929) attracted wide attention for its attack on the Republican Party, which Bowers believed humiliated the South and corrupted the North during Reconstruction. His research was based on the Dunning School
Dunning School
The Dunning School refers to a group of historians who shared a historiographical school of thought regarding the Reconstruction period of American history .-About:...
. He was the temporary chairman of the 1928 Democratic National Convention
1928 Democratic National Convention
The 1928 Democratic National Convention was held at Sam Houston Hall in Houston, Texas from June 26 – June 28, 1928. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for President and Senator Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas for Vice-President.The convention was...
where he gave a keynote speech (text in New York Times June 27, 1928. p. 8). Roosevelt appointed him ambassador to Spain and later Chile.
Although disillusioned when the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
veered away from pristine low-budget Jeffersonian principles, Bowers held his tongue and never criticized his patron. His biography of Senator Albert J. Beveridge
Albert J. Beveridge
Albert Jeremiah Beveridge was an American historian and United States Senator from Indiana.-Early years:Albert J. Beveridge was born October 6, 1862 in Highland County, Ohio and his parents moved to Indiana soon after his birth, and his boyhood was one of hard work...
, Beveridge and the Progressive Era (1932) was non-polemical and of high quality. He continued writing late into his life, completing My Mission to Spain in 1954, which chronicled his time in Spain as ambassador, covering both his travels throughout the country, and the hectic politics that foreshadowed the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Bowers was highly critical of what he saw as fascist agitation and strongly defended the regime of the Spanish Second Republic.
He died of leukemia in 1958 and is buried at Highland Lawn Cemetery
Highland Lawn Cemetery
Highland Lawn Cemetery is a city-owned cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. Opened in 1884, the cemetery includes .The cemetery features a Richardsonian Romanesque chapel built by architect Jesse A. Vrydaugh in 1893 for a cost of $10,000. In the 1980s, the chapel underwent renovation which was...
in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
.
Books by Bowers
- The Irish Orators: A History of Ireland's Fight for Freedom (PDF) (1916)
- The Life of John Worth Kern (PDF) (1918)
- The Party Battles of the Jackson Period (1922)
- Jefferson and Hamilton: The Struggle for Democracy in America (1925)
- The Tragic Era: The Revolution after Lincoln (1929).
- Beveridge and the Progressive Era (1932)
- Jefferson in Power: The Death Struggle of the Federalists (1936)
- The Spanish Adventures of Washington Irving (1940)
- The Young Jefferson, 1743-1789 (1945)
- Pierre Vergniaud: Voice of the French Revolution (1950)
- My Mission to Spain: Watching the Rehearsal for World War II (1954) Simon and Schuster New York at Internet Archives
- Chile through embassy windows, 1939-1953 (1958)
- My Life: The Memoirs of Claude Bowers (1962).
- Indianapolis in the 'Gay Nineties': High School Diaries of Claude G. Bowers edited by Holman Hamilton and Gayle Thornbrough, (1964)
Scholarly studies
- Merrill D. Peterson. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind (1998). partly online
- Peter J. Sehlinger and Holman Hamilton. Spokesman for Democracy: Claude G. Bowers, 1878-1958 (2000).
- Spencer, Thomas T. "'Old' Democrats and New Deal Politics: Claude G. Bowers, James A. Farley, and the Changing Democratic Party, 1933-1940" Indiana Magazine of History 1996 92(1): 26-45. ISSN 0019-6673
- Taylor, F. JayF. Jay TaylorFoster Jay Taylor, known as F. Jay Taylor , was a historian who served from 1962 to 1987 as the president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston in Lincoln Parish in north Louisiana...
. The United States and the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939. 1956, 1971, Introduction by Bowers.