Ma placed a distant fifth. He was impeached in 1917 and removed from office. Early in his second term the governor became involved in a serious quarrel with the University of Texas. Ma placed a distant fifth. In 1920 he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on his own American party ticket. The chairman of the investigating committee, William H. Bledsoe of Lubbock, called for impeachment. Low 54F. He believed that "a Negro has no business whatever taking a part in the political affairs of the Democratic party, the white man's party." 2] THE IMPEACHMENT OF JAMES E. FERGUSON I85 there, was immediately converted to the legal profession. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. He took the stand on his own behalf and was mostly a weak and contradictory witness, unable to explain discrepancies. He left home at 16, traveling and taking odd jobs until he returned to farm in Bell County. Three others dealt with the veto of university funding as an abuse of power and official oppression. He moved to Temple and in 1907 joined with others in establishing the Temple State Bank. You have permission to edit this article. All Rights Reserved.Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | site credit, on Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson, Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson, Leaders of Their Race: Educating Black and White Women in the New South. . The Texas Legislative Code governs the process by which the Texas State Legislature can be brought into special session to address an impeachment proceeding. He was a popular figure, singing laws protecting sharecroppers and providing state funding for rural schools. [11] Another leading Ferguson critic on the UT campus was the historian Eugene C. Barker. Double your gift when you give by 6 p.m. Thursday. Elections in 2023 | Needed buildings were provided at other eleemosynary institutions. James Edward Ferguson: James E. Ferguson Born Bell County, Texas August 31, 1871 Died Austin, Texas September 21, 1944 Governor of the State of Texas . Ferguson was born to the Reverend James E. Ferguson, and Fannie Ferguson near Salado in south Bell County, Texas. Ferguson declared that the Legislature was nothing more than a kangaroo court," resigned a day before the official conviction, and was steadfast in his beliefs that the judgment didnt apply to him, according to Rutherford. [1] Impeachments in Texas begin in the Texas House of Representatives which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. Amplify your impact and donate now. After he was appointed in 2011, Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout scandals within the University of Texas system. In the wake of the controversy, issues from Fergusons past campaign for governor in 1916 came back into the spotlight. He loaned himself so much money that he practically bankrupted his own bank. KVUE is looking back at the history of some past Texas governors. And once again, there is talk of impeachment in the Legislature. Some legislators justified the impeachment on the grounds that Hall did not disclose several lawsuits that he was involved in when he originally completed his Regent background check. The convention did not endorse Ferguson, but the other anti-prohibition candidates withdrew from the race. Of course, her husband was the only one the amnesty applied to. In 1940 Mrs. Ferguson again sought the governorship, and for the last time "Farmer Jim" appealed to the voters of Texas. Even his former political allies couldn't find him innocent in the face of such damning evidence - and his own indefensible behavior. He was kicked out of a local prep school, Salado College, at age 12 for misbehavior. He liked to say he was no city slicker and no college dude. A government doesnt require educated fools to run properly. Jim Ferguson got in trouble for throwing his weight around, and for using the publics money as a personal slush fund. Ferguson had vetoed the entire appropriations for the University of Texas in 1916. Ferguson would often call into question the value of a college diploma, saying it was book learning gone to seed. He said some professors took three years to learn that you couldnt grow wool on an armadillo. His constituency, he claimed, resided where the creeks forked and he felt they were getting short-changed by not getting enough basic education, while the kids at UT were getting too much of it., He said those kids go up to Austin for four years and return home with nothing but a mandolin and liver damage. As my brother Redneck Dave would say, That right there is funny. The incumbent State Librarian was Ernest Winkler, who was a professional historian with years of experience as a librarian. Vinson asked what they had done to deserve it and he said, I dont need a reason, Im the governor.. The accusations against Mayes were that he used his ownership of newspapers, including the Brownwood Bulletin, to spread negative information about Ferguson. At the same time, officials had begun looking into Fergusons finances. 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. As a result it was impossible for the convention to eliminate him and obviously unwise to divide the vote by naming a rival candidate. Before the process could be completed, Ferguson resigned from office, contending that the legislative action against him was a kangaroo court. James Ferguson is the only governor to be impeached and convicted. During the events that led up to the final quarrel, the University of Texas Board of Regents had repeatedly refused to remove certain faculty members whom Ferguson found objectionable. Dictionary of American History. Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. Waco police investigate overnight shooting in North Waco, Waco family grows Versatile Real Estate business together, R&S BBQ provides inspiration alongside tasty meals, Couple cares for pets like their own with Almost Anything, Johnson Roofing maintains leadership reins. He posted bond and wasted no time in announcing his candidacy for a third term as governor. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. There is no regularly scheduled session until 2015. ." These included misappropriation of state funds, falsification of records, unwarranted interference with the control of the University of Texashe directed the board of regents to fire a leading educator and prominent Democrat, A. Carswell Ellisand refusal to divulge the source of a personal loan of $156,500, a huge sum at the time. She was reelected in 1932 and served January 17, 1933 January 15, 1935. Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. 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. In 1903, Ferguson was elected as city attorney in Belton, Texas. The State Senate reduced the charges to ten, half of which dealt with the transfer of the $5,600. State executives | [12], [13] In addition, Cigarroa wrote: "During testimony before the Select Committee, some early witnesses implied that the U.T. In 1917, James E. Ferguson, nicknamed "Pa Ferguson," was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Fergusons impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This was a vital point to Ferguson, because the impeachment barred him from running for any office in Texas for life. He resigned his office the day before the judgment was announced and contended that it did not apply to him. He was re-elected in 1916. Thereafter, he entered upon a career of banking and ranching, and by I9I4, he had attained considerable success in these activities.' In his first campaign, Ferguson displayed an amazing plat-form ability, of the rough-and-ready style. He lost the 1922 Democratic Primary race for U. S. Senate by a wide margin. The account said Ferguson accused the student protesters of committing treason against him. 2020 Census Making An Invisible Population Visible, Lyceum Poll Finds Bernie Sanders Most Likely Democrat To Beat Trump In Texas, One Texans Journey to Understanding His Identity as a Queer Muslim, In West Texas, Knowing Your Address Can Be The Difference Between Life And Death. 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. Its our 10th year participating in Amplify, and to celebrate, weve got $15,000 in matching funds from four generous Tribune supporters. In 1924, Ferguson entered his wife Miriam, known as "Ma", in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The most discussed plank in his platform, which appealed especially to tenant farmers, proposed a law that would limit the rent charged by landlords and prevent the collection of bonuses. Instead, the House immediately turned its attention to 21 articles of impeachment. The Senate, sitting as a High Court of Impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and finally convicted the governor on ten of them. The Constitution gives Congress the power of impeachment in federal cases. Carrillospent three years in a federal penitentiary. But in the midst of this personal war he had sparked with the flagship university in Austin, Ferguson appeared before a Travis County grand jury and was indicted on nine charges. [10][11] However, a letter from University chancellor Francisco Cigarroa in February 2014 said that Hall likely requested fewer than 100,000 pages. ex-governor banned from holding state office. Three others dealt with the veto of university funding as an abuse of power and official oppression. The Texas House of Representatives prepared 21 charges against Ferguson, and, in his impeachment trial, the Texas Senate convicted him on 10 of those charges, including misapplication of public funds and receiving $156,000 from an unnamed source.[12][13]. Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson (Texas A&M University Press, 2017) Hardcover. Ferguson cleverly resigned, claiming then that the Senate couldnt uphold an impeachment for someone who wasnt actually in office. In 1917, Gov. She would serve one more term as governor from 1933 to 1935. Centex baseball preview: What's old, new, borrowed and blue for 2023? A part of his appeal as a candidate for governor was his support for white supremacy in the political process. [17] Governor of Texas Rick Perry's spokesperson said the investigations send a "chilling message" to gubernatorial appointees. The policy of state aid to rural schools was begun, and a rather timid law requiring compulsory school attendance was passed. [5], On December 31, 1899, he married Miriam A. Wallace at her family home. She even used the word Christian in the law, implying that Christian forgiveness was appropriate here. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone, Elementary school music teacher leaves $6M to Baylor, Former NFL star Chad Johnson says he saved money by living inside Cincinnati Bengals stadium for 2 years, Mike Copeland: Steak and Ale comeback; Paper plant progress; Bagby apartments; Gaines Booked Up, Lake on Waco Creek floated for park next to Floyd Casey development, Whizzbang's owner buys Health Camp with eye to preserving burger joint legacy, Waco Charter School to close after summer classes, Sheriff names man found dead of apparent gunshot in Golinda, La Vega, Fairfield girls know the way to San Antone, clinching state trips, Brothers continue dad's clear legacy at Freddy's Glass, Brice Cherry: Collen pushes all the right buttons in her best coaching performance yet, Olympic-winning pole vaulter, pastor Bob Richards dies at 97, The GOAT of tennis families lives in Groesbeck. This is not a current story but a faint echo of a notorious event in Texas history, the impeachment of Gov. Ross Phares, The Governors of Texas (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1976). By W.F. [10], After being re-elected in 1916, Ferguson vetoed the appropriations for the University of Texas. James Ferguson. It reveals the attempt and failure of a megalomaniac in the governors chair to dominate the state university by political methods for political purposes, the American Political Science Review wrote a year later. 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. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Winds light and variable. James E. Ferguson", Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature 18462006, "Governor Ferguson Is Impeached By The Senate Saturday, By 27 to 4: 10 of 21 Charges Sustained By High Impeachment Court", "Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 18462010", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_E._Ferguson&oldid=1136223529, Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election, Impeached state and territorial governors of the United States removed from office, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from March 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 January 2023, at 09:22. In order for an official to be impeached, articles of impeachment must be brought by the Texas House of Representatives. He gave a speech in his own defense and blamed the charges on that N-word loving senator from the north, Senator Johnson. Not Lyndon. Prohibition was a major issue in the campaign of 1914, with several aspirants for the governorship on both sides of the question. He said the governor served the people, but he used the power of the office to reward his friends and crush not just his political enemies, but good servants of the state whose only offense was not voting for him. He maintained his. Hall updated Governor Rick Perry's office in April 2013 with the full list. The colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. His law practice did not require all of his time, so Ferguson expanded his interests to include real estate and insurance and later turned his attention to banking. Other high-profile librarians voiced their support of Winkler, as did the son of an ex-governor, and a chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Ferguson convinced his wife to run one more time in 1940. Jim Pa Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? In 1924, his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson won election as governor as a stand-in candidate in a tightly contested race. 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 . Soon the talk of impeachment is echoing through the halls of the Capitol. [7], In 1914, Ferguson was elected as governor of Texas by running as an anti-prohibitionist Democrat. Hearing the gasps in the chamber, Ferguson immediately asked to strike the comment. He was replaced by William P. Hobby after the Texas House of Representatives found him guilty in ten of twenty-one charges. With charges growing against Ferguson, the House of Representatives drew up 21 charges against him and voted to impeach. An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court.. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Fergusons political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, womens enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. After he returned to Texas, he studied law in Bell County and was admitted to the bar. State legislators created a select committee to launch an investigation into possibly impeaching Wallace Hall, an appointed member of the University of Texas System Board of Regents. First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. James Ferguson. He was popular for his folksy charm across. U.S. Congress | He was elected governor in 1914, his first election. Donations by CCWH members and other patrons support CCWH awards and initiatives. [15][16] No unelected official in Texas has ever been successfully impeached or removed from office. The House sent 21 articles of impeachment to the Senate. The conviction forbade Ferguson to hold "any office of honor, trust, or profit" in Texas. The Ferguson controversy with the university brought renewed interest in the old charges, however, and at about the same time a number of new charges were made. (b. But the mere fact that Ferguson had been impeached and made ineligible to hold any office of trust or profit under the state did not in any sense remove him from the field of Texas politics. He submitted his resignation the day before he was scheduled to be formally convicted. Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. Only 17 federal officers have been impeached since 1776. The Senate, sitting as a High Court of Impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and finally convicted the governor on ten . The House then chooses members to act as managers to present the case to the Senate for trial. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 86 (October 1982). In 1913, William Sulzer was impeached and removed from office as governor of New York. Jordan wa, Houston, Sam Seven of the charges related to misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement, and one to the diversion of a special fund. Ballotpedia's election legislation tracker, Political favoritism in admissions to the University of Texas, Forgivable loans program at the University of Texas Law School, House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations (TSAO), Joint Committee on Oversight of Higher Ed Governance, Excellence & Transparency, University of Texas System Board of Regents, 1987 Memorandum within the Texas Legislative Council regarding removal of state officers by the state legislature, Analysis of Constitutional Impeachment Procedures in Texas, Texas House Bill 588, the "Top 10% Rule" (1997), https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Impeachments_in_Texas&oldid=8020920, Conflicts in school board elections, 2021-2022, Special Congressional elections (2023-2024), 2022 Congressional Competitiveness Report, State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022, State Legislative Competitiveness Report, 2022, Partisanship in 2022 United States local elections. 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