Hiram Johnson

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Hiram Johnson

Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 August 6, 1945) was a leading American

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
progressive

Progressivism

The term progressive has varying meanings in different countries.In some countries, the word refers to left-wing politics. For instance, in the United States, the term progressive emerged in the late 19th century into the 20th century in reference to a more general response to the vast changes brought by industrialization: an alternativ...
and later isolationist politician from California

California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
; he served as Governor

Governor of California

The Governor of California is the highest executive authority in the state government, whose responsibilities include making annual "State of the State" addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced....
from 1911 to 1917, and as a United States Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
from 1917 to 1945.

son was born in Sacramento

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
, California

California

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party . It is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP....
Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as "the House", is one of the bicameralism of the United States Congress; the other is the United States Senate....
and a member of the California State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the State legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members....
famous for his support of personal interests. His mother was Annie DeMontfredy, descendant of a family of Huguenot

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestantism Reformed Church of France of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries....
s who had left France

Early Modern France

Early Modern France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century . During this period France evolved from a feudalism regime to an increasingly centralized state organized around a powerful absolute monarchy that relied on the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings and the explic...
to escape religious persecution

Religious persecution

Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their Religion.The tendency of societies or groups within society to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history....
there.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Hiram Johnson'

Start a new discussion about 'Hiram Johnson'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 August 6, 1945) was a leading American

United States

Progressivism

California

Governor of California

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
from 1917 to 1945.

Biography

Early life

Johnson was born in Sacramento

Sacramento, California

California

Republican Party (United States)

United States House of Representatives

California State Legislature

Huguenot

The Huguenots were members of the Protestantism Reformed Church of France of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries....
s who had left France

Early Modern France

Religious persecution

Daughters of the American Revolution

The Daughters of the American Revolution is a Genealogy-based membership organization of women dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, and patriotism....
, claiming descent from a general of the Continental Army

Continental Army

The American Continental Army was an army formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 15, 1775, the army was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their struggle against the rule of Kingdom...
. Johnson had a brother and three sisters.

After attending public school

Public school

The term public school has two distinct meanings depending on the location of usage:* in the United States, Australia and Canada: A school funded from tax revenue and most commonly administered to some degree by government or local government agencies....
s, Johnson first worked as a shorthand

Shorthand

Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language....
reporter

Reporter

A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media.Reporters gather their information in a variety of ways, including tips, press releases, sources and witnessing events....
and stenographer in law offices. He eventually decided on a legal career, studying at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. He was admitted to the bar

Bar (law)

Bar in law contexts can have multiple meanings, but most originate from the bar in a courtroom. Quite simply, the bar is a wikt:railing or wikt:barrier that separates the front part of a courtroom - which includes a judge's bench and tables where attorneys or barristers conduct matters before the court - from the back part of the courtroom...
in 1888 and commenced practice in his hometown. In 1902 he moved to San Francisco

San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 799,183....
. He served as assistant district attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a district attorney is the local public official who represents the government in the Prosecutor of alleged criminals....
and became active in reform

Reform movement

A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes....
politics, taking up an anti-corruption mantle. He attracted statewide attention in 1908 when he assisted Francis J. Heney

Francis J. Heney

Francis Joseph Heney was an American lawyer who served as Arizona Attorney General of the Arizona Territory between 1893 and 1895....
in the graft prosecution of Abe Ruef

Abe Ruef

Abraham Rueff , known as Abe Ruef, was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco....
and Mayor Eugene Schmitz

Eugene Schmitz

Eugene Edward Schmitz was an USA politician and mayor of San Francisco, California notorious for his conviction by a jury on charges of Political corruption....
, his success due in large measure to the fact that after Heney had been gunned down in the courtroom, he took the lead for the prosecution and won the case. He married Minne L. McNeal; the couple had two sons.

Governor

In 1910 Johnson won the gubernatorial election as a member of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League

Lincoln-Roosevelt League

The Lincoln-Roosevelt League was founded in 1907 by California journalists Chester Harvey Rowell and Edward Dickson and Los Angeles attorneys Marshal Stimson and Russ Avery....
, a liberal Republican movement running on an anti-Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , was an United States railroad....
platform. He toured the state in an open automobile. In office, Johnson was a populist

Populism

Populism is a discourse which supports "the people" versus "the elites." Populism may involve either a philosophy urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style deployed by members of political or social movements competing for advantage within the existing party system....
who implemented many important reforms. Among them was the popular election of U.S. Senators, which stripped away the sole franchise of the California State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the State legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members....
to vote for federal Senators. Johnson's administration also pushed for women's suffrage

Women's suffrage

The term women's suffrage refers to the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage ? the right to vote ? to women. The movement's modern origins lie in France in the 18th century....
and the ability of candidates to register in more than one political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
, a reform that he believed would cripple the influence of what he viewed as a monolithic political establishment. In 1911, Johnson and the Progressives added initiative

Initiative

In political science, the initiative provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or local ordinance, or, in its minimal form, to simply oblige the executive or legislative bodies to consider the subject...
, referendum

Referendum

A referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire Constituency is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal....
, and recall

Recall election

A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office. Recall has a history dating back to the ancient Athenian democracy....
to the state government, giving California a degree of direct democracy unmatched by any other U.S. state.

Johnson supported the California Alien Land Law of 1913

California Alien Land Law of 1913

The California Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibits "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning land or property, but permits three year leases....
.

Nationally, Johnson was a founder of the Progressive Party

Progressive Party (United States, 1912)

In the United States, the Progressive Party of 1918 was a political party created by a split in the Republican Party in U.S. presidential election, 1912....
in 1912. That same year, he was the party's vice presidential

Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
candidate, sharing a ticket with former President

President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt , also known as T.R., and to the public as Teddy, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
; his selection helped Roosevelt to carry California by 0.2 percent of the votes. The Progressives finished second nationally (ahead of the incumbent Republican, President William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, the tenth Chief Justice of the United States, a leader of the progressive conservative wing of the History of the United States Republican Party in the early 20th century, a pioneer in international arbitration and staunch advocate of world pe...
) but still lost the election

United States presidential election, 1912

The United States presidential election of 1912 was fought among three major candidates, two of whom were President of the United States. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the History of United States Republican Party Party with the support of the conservatism in the United States wing of the party....
to the Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party . It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world....
and their candidate, Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. A devout Presbyterianism and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913....
.

Senator

Johnson was re-elected governor in 1914 and in 1916 ran successfully for the U.S. Senate, taking office on March 16, 1917. It was this year that he spoke the words that he is best remembered for today: "the first casualty when war comes, is truth", referring to the United States's entry into World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
.

Presidential Bid

Following Roosevelt's death in January 1919, Johnson was regarded as the natural leader of the Progressive Party. In 1920, however, he did not attempt to revive the Progressive Party, but ran for President as a Republican. He was defeated for the Republican presidential nomination by Warren Harding. He received ten votes for the nomination against Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge

John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States . A Republican Party lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state....
in 1924. As a senator, Johnson proved extremely popular. In 1934, he was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the popular vote.

During the early presidency of Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
, Johnson supported the president's economic recovery package, the New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was the name that United States President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to a sequence of central economic planning and economic stimulus programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of giving aid to the unemployed, reform of business and financial practices, and recovery of the Economy of the Unite...
, frequently crossing the floor to aid the Democrats and even backing FDR in the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections, although he never switched party affiliation. He became disenchanted with Roosevelt and the New Deal following FDR's unsuccessful attempt to increase the size of the Supreme Court. As a staunch isolationist (he was the only senator to vote against both the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919?1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members....
and the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
), Johnson was much less supportive of Roosevelt on foreign policy than domestic policy. He achieved senate seniority as Chairman of the Committee on Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
n Relations in the Sixty-sixth Congress; he was also a member of the Patents, Immigration

Immigration

While the movement of people has thought throughout history at various levels, modern immigration tourism are considered non-immigrants . Immigration that violates the immigration laws of the destination country is termed illegal immigration or undocumented immigration....
, Territories and Insular Possessions

Insular area

An insular area is a United States territory, that is neither a part of one of the fifty U.S. state nor the Washington, D.C., the federal district of the United States....
and Commerce

Commerce

Commerce is a division of trade or production, costs, and pricing which deals with the Trade of goods and service from production, costs, and pricing to final consumer....
Committees.

Death

Having served in the Senate for almost thirty years, Johnson died in the Naval Hospital Bethesda

Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1850, which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda....
, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
, on August 6, 1945. News of his death, however, was overshadowed by the nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima

Hiroshima

The Japanese city of is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japan's islands....
, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, which occurred that same day. He was interred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent"....
in Colma, California

Colma, California

Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area....
.

Johnson gained some recognition in the media and general public during the 2003 California recall election

California recall election, 2003

The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent United States Democratic Party Governor of California Gray Davis with United States Republican Party Arnold Schwarzenegger....
because he was the most important person behind the introduction of the law that allowed state officials to be recalled. Also, then-gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and Politics of the United States, currently serving as the List of Governors of California Governor of California of the state of California....
referred to Johnson's progressive legacy in his campaign speeches.

External links

of the Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the Capital of the United States U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County, California. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive California Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California.....
newspaper The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S....