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Line 33: \| children = \| residence = \| alma_mater = [[Dartmouth College]] ([[B.Bachelor A.of Arts\|AB]]) \| occupation = \| profession = Line 59: McCall was elected a member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] in 1887, serving three terms in 1888, 1889, and 1892.<ref name=Gentile836/> Politically a reform-minded [[Mugwump]] (he had supported Democrat [[Grover Cleveland]] in [[1884 United States presidential election\|1884]]), he introduced legislation to govern so-called "corrupt practices" of elected officials, intended to reduce the influence of money and favors in politics.<ref>Sobel, p. 89</ref><ref>Abrams, p. 270</ref> The legislation failed to pass the legislature until 1892.<ref>Evans, pp. 24, 27</ref> He also supported legislation abolishing [[debtors' prison\|imprisonment for debt]].<ref name=Gentile836/> He was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] in 1888,<ref>Evans, p. 23</ref> and served as the state's ballot commissioner in 1890 and 1891.<ref name=Gentile836/> In 1892, McCall was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]], a seat he would occupy for twenty years,<ref>Evans, p. 28</ref> generally winning reelection by large margins.<ref name=Gentile836/><ref name="cd">{{cite web \|title=S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903 \|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-04562_00_00-001-0001-0000 \|website=GovInfo.gov \|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office \|access-date=2 July 2023 \|pages=~~49-50~~49–50 \|date=9 November 1903}}</ref> As he had in the state legislature, he introduced a corrupt practices act into Congress. In April 1898, McCall was among the six representatives who voted against [[United States declaration of war upon Spain\|declaring war on Spain]]. In foreign policy, he was anti-imperialist, arguing for the independence of the [[Philippines]] after the [[Spanish–American War]],<ref>Abrams, p. 30</ref> and opposed the [[Dingley Tariff]], arguing its rates were too high. He was one of the few representatives opposed to the [[Hepburn Act]], which enabled the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] to regulate railroad rates.<ref name=Gentile836/><ref>Abrams, pp. 126–127</ref> He had a reputation as a bit of a maverick, because he often strayed from the Republican party line, but he maintained a generally conservative voting record, and introduced little new legislation.<ref name=Gentile836/> In 1912, McCall refused to stand for reelection, and was instead considered by the state legislature for election to the [[United States Senate]] in early 1913, to succeed the outgoing Senator [[Winthrop Murray Crane]]. His opponent, [[John W. Weeks]], was more conservative Republican who had the support of most of the Crane-dominated state party apparatus. The contest was bitterly divisive, an echo of the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)\|Progressive Party]] split that damaged the party at the national level, and was narrowly won by Weeks,<ref>Sobel, pp. 78–79</ref> even though McCall led in the party caucus balloting for the first three ballots.<ref name=Gentile836/>

Samuel W. McCall: Difference between revisions