Chase Osborn

Chase Salmon Osborn (born January 22, 1860 in Huntington County , Indiana , † April 11, 1949 in Poulan , Georgia ) was an American politician and from 1911 to 1913 the 27th governor of Michigan .

Early years

Chase Osborn attended Purdue University , which he left without a degree. Then he got into the newspaper business. In this area he achieved a remarkable career in the states of Illinois and Wisconsin in the following years . He bought various newspapers which he published himself. After relocating to Sault Saint Marie , Michigan, he established himself as a newspaper publisher in that state.

Political rise

Osborn's political ascent began in Sault Saint Marie in 1889, where he was the post office manager until 1893. Between 1895 and 1899 he was hunting and fishing overseer ( Game and Fish Warden ) of the state of Michigan, from 1899 to 1903 he was railroad commissioner . In 1900 he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for gubernatorial elections. In 1908 he was a delegate at the Republican National Convention , where William Howard Taft was nominated as a candidate for president. Between 1908 and 1911 Osborn served on the board of directors of the University of Michigan .

Michigan governor

In 1910 he was elected as the Republican Party candidate for the new governor of his country. Osborn began his two-year term on January 2, 1911. During his reign, the budget deficit was reduced and new health and safety laws were passed. During the presidential election of 1912, he left the course of his party, which William Howard Taft had re-nominated as its presidential candidate. Instead, Osborn supported former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt , who was now running as a candidate for the Progressive Party . The election was ultimately won by Democrat Woodrow Wilson . Osborn did not run for re-election in 1912, probably also because of the discussion about his position in the presidential elections.

Another résumé

Even after the end of his tenure as governor, Osborn remained politically active. He ran unsuccessfully for another term as governor in 1916. In 1918 and 1936, he also unsuccessfully applied for a seat in the US Senate . Contrary to the national trend, Osborn supported President Wilson's efforts to get America to join the League of Nations . In the 1920s and 1930s he was also an opponent of the so-called isolation policy. He was of the opinion that the United States should open up to world events. In 1928, Osborn was under discussion as a candidate for the vice-presidency alongside Herbert Hoover . However, the majority of the Republicans then voted for Charles Curtis , who was then also elected to this office. After the end of his political ambitions, Osborn turned back to the newspaper business. He died in April 1949 at his Georgia country estate at the age of 89 after marrying his 54-year-old adopted daughter, Stella Brunt, two days earlier. He had seven children with his first wife, Lillian Jones.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

Commons : Chase Osborn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Osborn in the National Governors Association (English)
• Chase Osborn in the database of Find a Grave (English)