Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson's political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women's enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one . [18] He added that the investigation was "extraordinary political theater. In 1920 he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on his own American party ticket. He was indicted and impeached during his second term, forced to resign and barred from holding further Texas office.[1][2][3][4]. Almost a century later, the Ferguson impeachment presents both striking similarities and key differences to. The Senate found Ferguson guilty on five charges relating to mishandling of public funds and abuse of power in relation to the university. Mrs. Ferguson served as the first lady of Texas during the gubernatorial terms of her husband (1915-17), who was impeached during his second administration. months before, both the House and the Senate had refused to sustain charges against him, and his removal from office was far from certain when the legislature convened in special session. The House immediately turned its attention to the numerous charges against the governor and, after a lengthy investigation, prepared twenty-one articles of impeachment. The Constitution gives the House power to impeach the president, officials appointed by the president (including cabinet officers) and judges. Which Way Will Harris County Precinct 3 Turn In 2020? Ballot measures, Who represents me? Though as of this writing, three presidents have been impeached, none have ever been removed from office. An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court.. As historian Cortez Ewing pointed out, Ferguson was the voice of the people, and with his sixth-grade education, he promoted the idea that he had not suffered the damages of higher degrees. Dr. Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan who enjoys sharing these stories about people from the Lone Star state. Public policy. The controversy grew out of the refusal of the board of regents to remove certain faculty members whom the governor found objectionable. In July 1917, he was indicted for misappropriation of funds. Ferguson made bond of $13,000 and announced his candidacy for a third term as governor. Throughout his years in banking he took an active interest in county and local politics. This call was of doubtful legality, but Ferguson removed all question by calling the legislature to meet for the purpose of making appropriations for the University of Texas. On December 31, 1899, he married Miriam A. Wallace; they had two children. They then sent the charges to the State Senate for trial. He was popular for his folksy charm across. StrongJanuary 29, 202010:48 amArts & Culture, Stories From Texas, Bain News Service /Wikimedia Commons [Public domain]. James Ferguson. He later ran anyway, claiming that he had resigned before he was convicted. And she won. Impeachment is the power of a legislative body to address charges of impropriety or criminality by a government official, such as a governor or lieutenant governor. Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Bruce A. Glasrud is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, and retired dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Sul Ross State University. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. She won that and the general election,[2] saying that she intended to rely on her husband for advice. Eight federal judges have been convicted in the Senate and removed from office. It appears that neither governor was brought to trial. He was kicked out of a local prep school, Salado College, at age 12 for misbehavior. Senators will then act as jurors while the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the proceedings. He lost the 1922 Democratic Primary race for U.S. Senate by a wide margin. Gould, Lewis L. "The University Becomes Politicized: The War with Jim Ferguson." The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself. The Fergusons beat Robertson and went to the Governor's Mansion for a third time. The chair of the State Library and Historical Commission, Eugene C. Barker, heard talk about these plans and intervened in support of Winkler. The accusations, apparently true, were typical of the corruption, graft, and manipulations of American public life. The veto was retaliation against the university because of its refusal to dismiss certain faculty members whom Ferguson found objectionable, including William Harding Mayes, former Texas Lieutenant Governor and founder and dean of the University of Texas School of Journalism. Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. He was impeached in 1917 and removed from office. His father died when he was 4. He was an avowed enemy of the KKK, but to hear him talk about black people, youd have thought he had earned his hood. January 1996 in Austin, Texas), first black southern woman in the United States Congress. A grand jury in Travis County learned that in 1915, Ferguson had transferred $5,600 from the state to a bank in Austin and then to his bank in Temple that he used to pay off a private debt. The second had to do with his utilization of the Temple Bank he had controlling interest in as his personal slush fund. The founders did not invent impeachment. The impeachment process begins with the House of Representatives. Nine of the charges can be described as violations of the law, while the obtaining of $156,500 from a secret source was certainly not in keeping with good policy. Ferguson, had a stormy two-term reign and was impeached in 1917 over charges of misappropriation of funds regarding the University of Texas as well as embezzlement. One final note of incredulity. In 1917, James E. Ferguson, nicknamed "Pa Ferguson," was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas. The landholdings of the prison system were greatly increased, and because of the rising price of farm commodities, the system became self-sustaining; during the years of war prosperity, it showed a profit. He entered Salado College, a local preparatory school, at age twelve but was eventually expelled for disobedience. On July 21, 1917, in the midst of the excitement, Ferguson appeared before the Travis County grand jury, and several days later it was announced that he had been indicted on nine charges. He loaned himself so much money that he practically bankrupted his own bank. James "Pa" Ferguson was the Governor of Texas from 1915 to 1917, when he was impeached and convicted on several charges. 27 February 1917 in Floresville, Texas; d. 15 June 1993 in Houston, Texas), governor of Tex, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/ferguson-impeachment. 2-stem governor fro 1921-1924 . He had attempted to stack the board of regents with friends who would help fire these professors and staffers, and he had called for the resignation of the universitys president, Robert Vinson. The charges were then sent to the state Senate for trial. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. In 1924, his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson won election as governor as a stand-in candidate in a tightly-contested race. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. He left home at sixteen and wandered for two years through the states of the Far West, where he lived by accepting any employment offered. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he Mr. Ferguson, known as "Pa", ran his wife's campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. You can cancel at any time. Thats how she likes it. In sum, his down-home authenticity faded away to reveal a man who was mostly a fraud. Similarly, the Texas constitution gives the lower house of the legislature power to impeach judges, the governor, and statewide elected officials. Farmer Jim wasnt even much of a farmer, though he owned a few farms and was incredibly loyal to farmers. He told Vinson that he fought him on this he was in for the biggest bear fight in Texas history. That fairly summarized his attitude about his power. Impeached. [9] According to historian Dan Utley, Ferguson planned to use state appointments as part of a spoils system to reward his political supporters. The Texas Senate, many of whom had served under William Harding Mayes and with whom Mayes maintained cordial relationships,[14] removed Ferguson as governor and declared him ineligible to hold office under Texas jurisdiction. [10][11] However, a letter from University chancellor Francisco Cigarroa in February 2014 said that Hall likely requested fewer than 100,000 pages. The Fergusons retired from public life afterward with James Ferguson dying in 1944 and his wife passing away in 1961. 1917: James 'Pa' Ferguson Jr., Texas. Even his former political allies couldnt find him innocent in the face of such damning evidence and his own indefensible behavior. The colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. ." When the House is not in session, there are three ways that the House may be convened for purposes of impeachment. He was re-elected in 1916. He served 15 months as governor. Vinson asked what they had done to deserve it and he said, I dont need a reason, Im the governor.. Three new normal schools were authorized. By W.F. Dictionary of American History. If the state legislature is not in regular session during the time of impeachment, a special session can be called specifically to handle impeachments. James Ferguson Dr. Ken Bridges An argument over spending tax. In 1924, Ferguson entered his wife Miriam, known as "Ma", in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? Senators then act as jurors while the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the proceedings. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. The incumbent State Librarian was Ernest Winkler, who was a professional historian with years of experience as a librarian. ex-governor banned from holding state office. In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. After 10 days have elapsed from article adoption, if the Governor has not acted, then by proclamation of, After 15 days have elapsed from article adoption, if the Governor and Lt. Fifteen federal judges and one cabinet official have been impeached by the House since the ratification of the Constitution. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. He posted bond and wasted no time in announcing his candidacy for a third term as governor. James Edward Ferguson Collection, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Though no Texas official has been impeached and removed from office at the state level since Ferguson, Texas politics has hardly been scandal-free. At the same time, officials had begun looking into Fergusons finances. "[3] In general, impeachments are a rare occurrence. Ferguson was so enraged by the demonstrators that he got into a yelling match with one of the student protestors and had to be restrained from climbing out of his window to fight them, according to The Impeachment of Jim Ferguson, a 1983 book by Bruce Rutherford. Carillo in 1975. Though no Texas official has been impeached and removed from office at the state level since Ferguson, Texas politics has hardly been scandal-free. But the day before the conviction was certain to come down. After an unsuccessful campaign for president in 1920, Ferguson ran the gubernatorial campaign of his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson, in 1924. Ferguson was reelected by a majority of about 60,000 votes, but opposition was sufficient to show that many Texans, including a number who were not prohibitionists, were displeased with his stewardship. The United States Constitution provides that the President of the United States shall only be removed from office upon "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. The day before he was thrown out of office he resigned, saying it didn't count. Ferguson, a political novice, suffered from the lack of a viable power-base. The fight with the university touched off a massive scandal. Scandals of all sorts, from the brazen to the bizarre, have occurred for decades at all levels. With charges growing against Ferguson, the House of Representatives drew up 21 charges against him and voted to impeach. (February 23, 2023). It appears that there were no criminal proceedings in this case. She even used the word Christian in the law, implying that Christian forgiveness was appropriate here. Similarly, the Texas Constitution gives the lower house of the legislature power to impeach judges, the governor and statewide elected officials. Against a lawsuit filed to prevent the Texas Democratic Party from listing him on the primary ballot, Ferguson argued that his impeachment trial ended without a conviction or judgment because he resigned his office before the Senate decided the case. It was, in his mind, absolute. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Found in volume 15,291 (available at govinfo). The Arizona House and Senate impeached Mecham, a Republican, in 1988 after a state grand jury convicted him on six felony charges of fraud, perjury and filing false documents. And here, Ferguson made his second blunder. ." Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. Only 17 federal officers have been impeached since 1776. Gov. When they wouldnt, he started replacing them one by one and withheld state funding from the university to force UT to obey his orders. Ma placed a distant fifth. James Edward Ferguson Jr. (August 31, 1871 September 21, 1944), known as Pa Ferguson, was an American Democratic politician and the 26th Governor of Texas, in office from 1915 to 1917. Connally, John Bowden, Jr. As Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers, a core source of original meaning, the framers "borrowed" the model from the English.And, as Raskin pointed . This is simply not true. Encyclopedia.com. . 100% remote. November 2013 testimony prompted committee-member Trey Fischer to request the inquiry. During Ferguson's first term, the legislature passed several measures of major importance. [6] They had two daughters: Ouida Wallace Ferguson, and Dorrace Watt Ferguson. As a result it was impossible for the convention to eliminate him and obviously unwise to divide the vote by naming a rival candidate. His mother continued to live on the farm, and he began working in the fields as a young boy. 1914 campaign literature in which Ferguson fires back against criticisms from his 'dry' opponent, Thomas H. Ball, and others in the prohibition faction. Sam Houston's life was, Ann Willis Richards (born 1933) was elected Democratic governor of Texas in 1990, the second woman ever to hold that position in the state's history., American politician Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) gained fame in the 1920s when she was elected governor of Wyoming, becoming the first woman in the, Barbara Jordan (american Congressional Representative), Jordan, Barbara Charline Centex baseball preview: What's old, new, borrowed and blue for 2023? Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Though as of this writing, three presidents have been impeached, none have ever removed! Salado College, a local prep school, Salado College, at age twelve was. 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