Ben W. Hooper

Ben W. Hooper

Ben Walter Hooper (born October 13, 1870 in Cocke County , Tennessee , † April 18, 1957 in Newport , Tennessee) was an American politician and the 35th Governor of Tennessee.

Early years

The future Governor Ben Hooper was born out of wedlock to Sarah Wade and Dr. Lemuel Washington Hooper born. He first grew up with his mother, who gave him to an orphanage in Knoxville in 1878 . A year later he was adopted by his father and raised in his home in Newport. It was only at this time that the boy was given the surname Hooper. In 1890, Ben Hooper graduated from Carson-Newman College and began studying law, like almost all later governors of Tennessee. In 1894 he was admitted to the bar.

Political rise

From 1893 to 1897 he served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives. At the same time he worked in Newport as a lawyer and in the real estate business. During the Spanish-American War that broke out in 1898 , he was captain of a volunteer company. After the war, he returned to Newport as a lawyer and businessman until 1906 when he was appointed assistant prosecutor for East Tennessee. He held this post until 1910. Then he was nominated by the Republican Party for the office of Governor of Tennessee.

Governor of Tennessee

The timing of the election was very good for him and the Republican Party because the Democrats were at odds with one another. This included a controversial prohibition law and the behavior of incumbent governor Malcolm R. Patterson . Hooper, a supporter of the Prohibition Act, managed to win many like-minded democratic voters on his side and win the elections relatively easily. Although there were tumultuous scenes in the political landscape of Tennessee even during his tenure, the governor was successful in some areas. In this way he improved the working conditions and safety regulations of the miners. The public school system was further expanded, child labor in factories and mines were subject to legal restrictions, and war widows received pensions. The administration was also modernized and some departments were newly established. Noteworthy is the introduction of the electric chair for the execution of prisoners sentenced to death. This type of execution, like the death penalty in general, is still controversial today. In 1912, Hooper was re-elected against former governor Benton McMillin . In 1914 he no longer wanted to run for health reasons. But his party persuaded him to run again. But since many democratic voters turned back to their own party, he lost the election.

End of life and death

After retiring from the governor's office, he became a lawyer again. In 1916 and 1934 he applied to no avail for a seat in the US Senate. In 1920 he became a district judge in Tennessee. President Warren G. Harding brought him to the Chicago-based US Railroad Labor Board, of which Hooper was until 1925. The task of the committee was to mediate in disputes or labor disputes in the railway industry. Upon his return to Tennessee, he was a member of the Planning Committee for Smoky Mountains Park. From 1932 he served in the newspaper industry as a director and associate editor of the Knoxville Times. He wrote daily articles for this newspaper. His last political office was in 1953 as Vice President of a convention reforming the Tennessee Constitution. He died in 1957. His autobiography, The Unwanted Boy , was published posthumously in 1963.

Hooper was married to Annabelle Jones. The couple had six children.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978 . Volume 4, Meckler Books, Westport 1978. 4 volumes
• The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 48. James T. White & Company, New York.

Web links

• Ben Hooper in the National Governor Association (English)
• The governors of Tennessee (English)
• Ben W. Hooper in the database of Find a Grave (English)