JCW Beckham

JCW Beckham (1915)

John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham (born August 5, 1869 in Bardstown , Kentucky , †  January 9, 1940 in Louisville , Kentucky) was an American politician and governor of Kentucky. He also represented this state in the US Senate .

Early youth and advancement

Beckham, whose grandfather Charles A. Wickliffe was governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840, received his education at Roseland Academy , Central University at Richmond and the University of Kentucky at Lexington . After his admission to the bar in 1889, he worked in Bardstown in this profession. Between 1894 and 1898 he was a Democratic MP in the Kentucky House of Representatives and at times speaker of this chamber. In the controversial gubernatorial election of 1899, he was elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky. After the political turmoil surrounding Governors William S. Taylor and William Goebel, as well as the latter's assassination, Beckham became governor of Kentucky.

Kentucky governor

Beckham's first duty as Kentucky governor was to restore order after the turmoil between his two predecessors. This was finally made possible by both political parties giving in. Extraordinary elections were held in November 1900, in which Beckham was just re-elected with 49.9% of the vote against John W. Yerkes (49.1%). His lead was just over 3700 votes. The result showed that the state was still very divided politically. In the next regular election in 1903 Beckham was able to extend his lead somewhat. This time he won with 52.1% of the vote against 46.2% which his opponent Morris B. Belknap could book for himself. During his tenure, which ran from 1900 to 1907, he succeeded in reducing the national debt and introducing uniform national school books. In addition, the construction of today's Capitol Building began.

Further career

After his tenure ended on December 10, 1907, Beckham remained politically active. Until 1920 he took part in all Democratic National Conventions . In 1908 he made a first attempt to be elected to the US Senate. From 1915 to 1921 he was still a member of the Senate. He was one of the first directly elected senators. This procedure was made possible by the 17th Amendment to the Constitution , which was only passed in 1913. He had won the Senate election against Augustus E. Willson , who had succeeded him as governor of Kentucky in 1907. When he tried to be re-elected in 1920, he narrowly failed because of Richard P. Ernst . During his tenure in the Senate, the United States entered World War I. The discussion about the League of Nations and prohibition were the dominant domestic issues of the time. In 1927, Beckham ran again for the office of governor of Kentucky. But he was defeated in the election to the Republican Flem Sampson . An attempt to be re-elected to the US Senate in 1936 was also unsuccessful. In 1936 he was still represented in various commissions in his home country, including the commission for reforming the administration of the state. John Beckham died on January 9, 1940. He was married to Jean Raphael Fuqua, with whom he had two children.

Web links

• JCW Beckham in the National Governors Association (English)
• JCW Beckham in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• JCW Beckham in the database of Find a Grave (English)