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{{More citations needed|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = James Ferguson
| image = James E. Ferguson.jpg
| order = 26th [[Governor of Texas]]
| lieutenant = William P. Hobby
| term_start = January 19, 1915
| term_end = August 25, 1917
| predecessor = [[Oscar Branch Colquitt]]
| successor = [[William P. Hobby]]
| office1 = [[First Ladies and Gentlemen of Texas|First Gentleman of Texas]]
| governor1 = [[Miriam A. Ferguson]]
| term_label1 = In role
| term_start1 = January 17, 1933
| term_end1 = January 15, 1935
| predecessor1 = Maud Sterling
| successor1 =
| governor2 = Miriam A. Ferguson
| term_label2 = In role
| term_start2 = January 20, 1925
| term_end2 = January 17, 1927
| predecessor2 = Myrtle Neff
| successor2 = Mildred Moody
| birth_name = James Edward Ferguson Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1871|8|31}}
| birth_place = [[Salado,
| death_date = {{death date and age|1944|9|21|1871|8|31}}
| death_place = [[Austin, Texas]], U.S.
| restingplace = [[Texas State Cemetery]]
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Miriam A. Ferguson|Miriam A. Wallace]]|December 31, 1899}}
| children = 2
| caption = Ferguson in 1914
}}
{{multiple image
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== First term as governor ==
In 1914, Ferguson was [[1914 Texas gubernatorial election|elected as governor of Texas]] by running as an anti-[[
Prior to his inauguration, Ferguson conferred with officials at the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]] regarding appointments affecting learning and higher education.<ref>Gould (1982), pp. 261{{endash}}262.</ref> According to historian [[Dan Utley]], Ferguson planned to use state appointments as part of a [[spoils system]] to reward his political supporters. He tapped Reverend Allan Ferguson Cunningham to serve as State Librarian, despite his lack of training or experience in the field. The incumbent State Librarian was [[Ernest Winkler]], who was a professional historian with years of experience as a librarian. The chair of the State Library and Historical Commission, [[Eugene C. Barker]], heard talk about these plans and intervened in support of Winkler. He convened the commission, and the body approved that Barker write a letter to the Governor-elect. The letter claimed that Winkler was the best person for the job. Meanwhile, Winkler fought for his job by enlisting the help of his colleagues. 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]].<ref>Utley (2013), pp. 75{{endash}}76.</ref>
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Ferguson's attack against Mayes resulted in a drive by the legislature to [[impeachment in the United States|impeach]] Ferguson. The chairman of the investigating committee, [[William H. Bledsoe]] of [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]], called for impeachment. Ferguson was indicted on nine charges in July 1917. 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.<ref name=tsha>{{cite web |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffe05 |title=Ferguson, James Edward|publisher=Texas State Historical Association |work=The Handbook of Texas Online |access-date=March 31, 2012|date=June 12, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Governor Ferguson Is Impeached By The Senate Saturday, By 27 to 4: 10 of 21 Charges Sustained By High Impeachment Court|date=1917-09-23|publisher=[[Abilene Daily Reporter|The Abilene Daily Reporter]]|volume=8|issue=163|page=1|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Abilene_Daily_Reporter_(Abilene,_Tex.),_Vol._8,_No._163,_Ed._1_Sunday,_September_23,_1917_-_DPLA_-_17e30e1c6869f269bfb37feb213b352a_(page_1).jpg}}</ref>
The [[Texas Senate]], many of whom had served under Mayes and with whom Mayes maintained cordial relationships,<ref>[http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/LtGovDocs/MayesGift1913-04-01.pdf Texas State Senate Journal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195646/http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/LtGovDocs/MayesGift1913-04-01.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }}</ref> removed Ferguson as governor and declared him ineligible to hold office under Texas jurisdiction. Together with Attorney General [[Ken Paxton]], who
Despite this, Ferguson ran for governor in the [[1918 Texas gubernatorial election|1918 Democratic primary]], but was defeated by his successor and incumbent, [[William P. Hobby]] of [[Houston]], previously the [[Lieutenant Governor of Texas|lieutenant governor]].
== Presidential candidate ==
Ferguson also ran for [[President of the United States]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1920|1920 election]] as the candidate of the [[American Party (Texas)|American Party]]. Ferguson was on the ballot only in Texas, where he received 47,968 votes (9.9 percent of the vote in Texas, 0.2 percent of the vote nationwide). Ferguson's platform included opposition to the League of Nations, opposition to a [[Prohibition in the United States|national prohibition of alcohol]], and a full pardon to [[Eugene V. Debs]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Texas Ex-Governor Candidate of New American Party|newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch|location=Richmond, Virginia|date=April 22, 1920|via=Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers at the Library of Congress|access-date=November 11, 2023|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045389/1920-04-22/ed-1/seq-1/}}</ref> Ferguson sought the support of [[Warren Harding]] and the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] to convince its voters to vote for the American Party ticket and unite the anti-Democratic vote in Texas.<ref name="Brown 1984">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Norman D.|title=Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas Politics, 1921-1928|year=1984|publisher=[[Texas A&M University Press]]|location=[[College Station, Texas]]|pages=98–99|url=https://archive.org/details/hoodbonnetlittle0000brow/page/336/mode/2up|url-access=registration|access-date=November 9, 2023}}</ref> The [[1920 United States presidential election|1920 presidential election]] was won by [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] candidate [[Warren Harding]].
* [[Eugene Victor Debs]] of the [[Socialist Party of America]].
* [[Parley P. Christensen|Parley Parker Christensen]] of the United States [[Farmer–Labor Party]].
* [[Aaron S. Watkins|Aaron Sherman Watkins]] of the [[United States Prohibition Party]].
Though Ferguson was unsuccessful in the presidential election, the American Party did elect four members to the [[Texas House of Representatives]]; Walter J. Kveton of [[Sealy, Texas|Sealy]], Otto F. Menking of [[Fayetteville, Texas|Fayetteville]], Henry Julius Neinast of [[Burton, Texas|Burton]], and John Henry Wessels of [[La Grange, Texas|La Grange]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reese|first1=T. B.|last2=Gransberry|first2=C. R.|chapter=Members of the House of Representatives, Thirty-Seventh Legislature|pages=245–249|title=Legislative Manual of the Thirty-Seventh Legislature|publisher=Texas State Legislature|location=[[Austin, Texas]]|year=1921|access-date=March 26, 2024|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/legManuals/37th%20Legislative%20Manual.pdf}}</ref> On January 28, 1922, Ferguson dissolved the American Party in order to run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the [[1922 United States Senate election in Texas|1922 election]].<ref name="Brown 1984"/>
== Senate bid and First Gentleman of Texas ==
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In 1924, Ferguson entered his wife [[Miriam A. Ferguson|Miriam]], known as "Ma", in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. She won that and [[1924 Texas gubernatorial election|the general election]],<ref name=":0"/> saying that she intended to rely on her husband for advice. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, Mr. Ferguson, known as "Pa", ran his wife's campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the candidate endorsed by the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. The Fergusons beat Robertson and went to the Governor's Mansion for a third time. Two years later they lost a reelection bid amid new scandals concerning excessive pardons and political patronage abuses.
Miriam Ferguson
"Ma" Ferguson became the second female governor in the United States,
==See also==
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==Further reading==
* {{cite book | title=American Demagogues: Twentieth Century|
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