Francis E. McGovern

Francis E. McGovern (1910)

Francis Edward McGovern (born January 21, 1866 in Elkhart Lake , Sheboygan County , Wisconsin , †  May 16, 1946 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin) was an American politician and from 1911 to 1915 the 22nd  governor of the state of Wisconsin.

Early years and political advancement

McGovern attended the University of Wisconsin until 1890 . He then worked as a high school teacher at Brodhead and Appleton . At the same time he completed a law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1897. He then opened a law firm in Milwaukee.

Politically, McGovern belonged to the progressive wing of the Republican Party . Between 1905 and 1909 he was a district attorney in Milwaukee County . During this time, he charged some city officials with corruption. In 1908, McGovern ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the US Senate . With the help of the former incumbent Robert La Follette he was elected governor in 1910, with 50.6 percent of the vote against the democrat Adolph H. Schmitz.

Governor of wisconsin

McGovern took up his new office on January 2, 1911. Further progressive reforms were carried out in Wisconsin during his first term. At that time there were new health and safety laws as well as new regulations for child and women's labor. The governor also cracked down on corruption and reformed the income tax . A Highway Commission was also established and the first environmental laws to protect forests and water were passed.

From 1912 there was a political conflict between McGovern and his one-time mentor Robert La Follette. The reason was on the one hand a simple rivalry between two influential politicians, but also a dispute over the question of the Republican presidential candidacy in 1912. McGovern supported Theodore Roosevelt , which he resented La Follette. Despite his re-election as governor in 1912, he was barely able to govern successfully in his second term because La Follette and his supporters made life difficult for him. This also prevented a possible election of McGovern in the US Senate in 1914.

Another résumé

During the First World War McGovern served as a military lawyer. He then returned to Milwaukee as a lawyer. However, he remained interested in politics, switched to the Democratic Party in the 1930s and supported the policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In the 1930s, he also chaired a committee in Wisconsin that dealt with crime and the criminal justice system ( Committee on Crime and Criminal Justice ). In 1940 he ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic candidate for governor: behind the victorious Republican Julius P. Heil and Orland Steen Loomis of the Wisconsin Progressive Party , he only took third place. Francis McGovern died in May 1946.

Web links

• Francis E. McGovern in the database of the National Governors Association (English)
• Wisconsin Historical Society (English)
• Francis E. McGovern in the database of Find a Grave (English)