Jump to content

Frank O. Lowden: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Added category American conservative people as the article says he was the preferred candidate of conservatives at the 1920 Republican National convention
No edit summary
 
(34 intermediate revisions by 27 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|American politician (1861–1943)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Frank Lowden
| name = Frank Orren Lowden
|image = Frank Orren Lowden in 1920.jpg
| image = Frank Orren Lowden (Illinois Blue Book Portrait 1917-1918).png
| caption = Lowden, {{circa}} 1917
|order = 25th [[Governor of Illinois]]
|lieutenant = [[John G. Oglesby]]
| order = 25th [[Governor of Illinois]]
| lieutenant = [[John G. Oglesby]]
|term_start = January 8, 1917
|term_end = January 10, 1921
| term_start = January 8, 1917
| term_end = January 10, 1921
|predecessor = [[Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne|Edward Dunne]]
| predecessor = [[Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne|Edward Dunne]]
|successor = [[Len Small]]
|state1 = [[Illinois]]
| successor = [[Len Small]]
| state1 = [[Illinois]]
|district1 = {{ushr|IL|13|13th}}
| district1 = {{ushr|IL|13|13th}}
|term_start1 = November 6, 1906
|term_end1 = March 3, 1911
| term_start1 = November 6, 1906
| term_end1 = March 3, 1911
|predecessor1 = [[Robert R. Hitt]]
|successor1 = [[John C. McKenzie]]
| predecessor1 = [[Robert R. Hitt]]
| successor1 = [[John C. McKenzie]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1861|1|26}}
| birth_name = Frank Orren Lowden
|birth_place = [[Sunrise Township, Chisago County, Minnesota|Sunrise]], [[Minnesota]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1943|3|20|1861|1|26}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1861|1|26}}
|death_place = [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], [[Arizona]], U.S.
| birth_place = [[Sunrise Township, Chisago County, Minnesota|Sunrise, Minnesota]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1943|3|20|1861|1|26}}
⚫
|party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|spouse = Florence Pullman (1896–1937)
| death_place = [[Tucson, Arizona]], U.S.
| restingplace = [[Graceland Cemetery]]
⚫
|children = 3
⚫
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
⚫
|education = [[University of Iowa]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Northwestern University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| spouse = Florence Pullman (1896–1937)
⚫
|footnotes = <ref name=UChiLib>{{cite web |title=Guide to the Frank O. Lowden Papers circa 1870-1943 |year=2011 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.LOWDENF |accessdate=2013-12-24 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Library]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Illinois History |date=April 1994 |pages=60–61 |accessdate=2013-12-25 |url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy940460.html |title=Lowden of Sinnissippi |first=Margaret |last=Fullilove-Nugent |publisher=Illinois Periodicals Online - [[Northern Illinois University Libraries]] |location=[[DeKalb, Illinois]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |title=Frank O. Lowden and Miss Florence Pullman |date=March 21, 1896 |accessdate=2013-12-25 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/03/22/105744476.pdf}}</ref>
⚫
| children = 3
⚫
| education = [[University of Iowa]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Northwestern University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| signature = Signature of Frank Orren Lowden (1861–1943).png
⚫
| footnotes = <ref name=UChiLib>{{cite web |title=Guide to the Frank O. Lowden Papers circa 1870-1943 |year=2011 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.LOWDENF |access-date=2013-12-24 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Library]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Illinois History |date=April 1994 |pages=60–61 |access-date=2013-12-25 |url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy940460.html |title=Lowden of Sinnissippi |first=Margaret |last=Fullilove-Nugent |publisher=Illinois Periodicals Online - [[Northern Illinois University Libraries]] |location=[[DeKalb, Illinois]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402013253/http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ihy940460.html |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Frank O. Lowden and Miss Florence Pullman |date=March 21, 1896 |access-date=2021-11-22 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/03/22/105744476.pdf}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''Frank Orren Lowden''' (January 26, 1861 – March 20, 1943) was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] politician who served as the [[List of Governors of Illinois|25th]] [[Governor of Illinois]] and as a [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] from [[Illinois]]. He was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in [[United States presidential election, 1920|1920]] and [[United States presidential election, 1928|1928]].
'''Frank Orren Lowden''' (January 26, 1861 – March 20, 1943) was an American [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] politician who served as the [[List of governors of Illinois|25th]] [[Governor of Illinois]] and as a [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] from [[Illinois]]. He was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]] and [[1928 United States presidential election|1928]].


Born in [[Sunrise Township, Chisago County, Minnesota|Sunrise Township, Minnesota]], Lowden practiced law in [[Chicago]] after graduating from the [[University of Iowa]]. He emerged as a local Republican leader and served in the House of Representatives from 1906 to 1911. He served as Governor of Illinois from 1917 to 1921, earning wide notice for his reorganization of state government and his handling of the [[Chicago race riot of 1919]].
Born in [[Sunrise Township, Chisago County, Minnesota|Sunrise Township, Minnesota]], Lowden practiced law in [[Chicago]] after graduating from the [[University of Iowa]]. He emerged as a local Republican leader and served in the House of Representatives from 1906 to 1911. He served as Governor of Illinois from 1917 to 1921, earning wide notice for his reorganization of state government and his handling of the [[Chicago race riot of 1919]].
Line 31: Line 37:


==Early life==
==Early life==
Lowden was born in [[Sunrise Township, Minnesota]],<ref>[http://www.sunrisetownship.com/historymuseums.htm History/Museums] at sunrisetownship.com</ref> the son of Nancy Elizabeth (Breg) and Lorenzo Orren Lowden, a blacksmith. He lived in [[Iowa]] from the age of seven, on the farm in [[Hardin County, Iowa]], in poverty. He attended school when chores on the family farm allowed. At age fifteen he began to teach in a [[one room school house]] in [[Hubbard, Iowa]].
Lowden was born in [[Sunrise Township, Minnesota]],<ref>[http://www.sunrisetownship.com/historymuseums.htm History/Museums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401012200/http://www.sunrisetownship.com/historymuseums.htm |date=April 1, 2008 }} at sunrisetownship.com</ref> the son of Nancy Elizabeth (Breg) and Lorenzo Orren Lowden, a blacksmith. He lived in [[Iowa]] from the age of seven, on the farm in [[Hardin County, Iowa]], in poverty. He attended school when chores on the family farm allowed. At age fifteen he began to teach in a [[one room school house]] in [[Hubbard, Iowa]].
After teaching five years, he entered the [[University of Iowa]] at twenty, graduating in 1885.
After teaching five years, he entered the [[University of Iowa]] at twenty, graduating in 1885.
He aspired to be a lawyer, but taught [[high school]] for a year while learning [[stenography]].
He aspired to be a lawyer, but taught [[high school]] for a year while learning [[stenography]].
That skill got him a job in 1886 at the Dexter law firm in [[Chicago]], and he took evening courses at the
That skill got him a job in 1886 at the Dexter law firm in [[Chicago]], and he took evening courses at the
[[Union College of Law]], completing the two year curriculum in one year, finishing as [[valedictorian]] in 1887. He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] the same year and practised law in Chicago for about 20 years.<ref name="eb1922">{{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Lowden, Frank Orren}}</ref> His wife, Florence, was the daughter of [[George Pullman]]. In 1899, he was professor of law at [[Northwestern University]], [[Evanston, Illinois]].<ref name=UChiLib/><ref name="eb1922"/>
[[Union College of Law]], completing the two year curriculum in one year, finishing as [[valedictorian]] in 1887. He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] the same year and practiced law in Chicago for about 20 years.<ref name="eb1922">{{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Lowden, Frank Orren}}</ref> His wife, Florence, was the daughter of [[George Pullman]]. In 1899, he was professor of law at [[Northwestern University]], [[Evanston, Illinois]].<ref name=UChiLib/><ref name="eb1922"/>


==Political career==
==Political career==
[[File:TIMEMagazine15Oct1923.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' cover, October 15, 1923]]
[[File:Frank Orren Lowden2.jpg|thumb|Lowden's official portrait as Governor of Illinois]]
[[File:Frank Orren Lowden2.jpg|thumb|Lowden's official portrait as Governor of Illinois]]
⚫
In 1900, Lowden declined the first assistant postmaster-generalship, offered him by President [[William McKinley|McKinley]], whom he had supported. He was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] in 1900 and 1904, and from 1904 to 1912 was a member of the [[Republican National Committee]]. He was also a member of the executive committee in 1904 and 1908. Lowden was elected a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Illinois]] in 1906 to fill the unexpired term of [[Robert R. Hitt]], deceased. He was re-elected for succeeding terms until 1911, when he declined to run for another term.<ref name="eb1922"/>


=== Entry ===
⚫
From 1917 to 1921, he was the [[Governor of Illinois]]. While governor, he won wide notice for the major reorganization of state government he spearheaded. He introduced the budget system for state expenditure, thereby reducing the rate of taxation in spite of rising prices.<ref name="eb1922"/> He was a strong supporter of the death penalty, and when in 1918 both houses of the [[Illinois General Assembly]] voted to abolish capital punishment, he vetoed the bill. He was energetic in marshalling the resources of his state in support of the United States' [[World War I]] effort. In 1917, when the [[mayor of Chicago]] refused to interfere with a meeting of the People's Council, an organization accused of pro-Germanism, he ordered out the state troops to prevent the meeting. He favoured [[woman suffrage]] and the enforcement of the [[Volstead Act]] for war-time prohibition. He was opposed to the [[League of Nations]] without reservations, on the ground that it would create a super-state.<ref name="eb1922"/> He gained nationwide stature for his handling of the [[Chicago Race Riot of 1919]] and a simultaneous transit strike in Chicago.<ref>{{cite book |pages=220–221 |author=Krist, Gary |title=City of Scoundrels: The Twelve Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago |location=New York |publisher=Crown |year=2012|isbn=978--0-307-45429-4 |lccn=2012032098}}</ref>
⚫
In 1900, Lowden declined the first assistant postmaster-generalship, offered him by President [[William McKinley|McKinley]], whom he had supported. He was a delegate to the [[Republican National Convention]] in 1900 and 1904, and from 1904 to 1912 was a member of the [[Republican National Committee]]. He was also a member of the executive committee in 1904 and 1908.


Lowden was elected a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] from [[Illinois]] in 1906 to fill the unexpired term of [[Robert R. Hitt]], deceased. He was re-elected for succeeding terms until 1911, when he declined to run for another term.<ref name="eb1922" />
⚫
He was a leading candidate for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nomination for president [[United States presidential election, 1920|in 1920]]. His campaign was embarrassed by reports of profligate spending. His Missouri [[campaign manager]] gave out $32,000 to promote his campaign, including $2,500 (a laborer's annual wage) to at least two convention delegates.<ref>{{cite book

⚫
|title=Coolidge |authorlink=Amity Shlaes |first=Amity |last=Shlaes |page=196
=== Governor of Illinois (1917–1921) ===
From 1917 to 1921, he was the [[Governor of Illinois]]. While governor, he won wide notice for the major reorganization of state government he spearheaded. He introduced the budget system for state expenditure, thereby reducing the rate of taxation in spite of rising prices.<ref name="eb1922" />

He was a strong supporter of the death penalty, and when in 1918 both houses of the [[Illinois General Assembly]] voted to abolish capital punishment, he vetoed the bill. He was energetic in marshalling the resources of his state in support of the United States' [[World War I]] effort.

⚫
In 1917, when the [[mayor of Chicago]] refused to interfere with a meeting of the People's Council, an organization accused of pro-Germanism, he ordered out the state troops to prevent the meeting. He favoured [[woman suffrage]] and the enforcement of the [[Volstead Act]] for war-time prohibition. He was opposed to the [[League of Nations]] without reservations, on the ground that it would create a super-state.<ref name="eb1922" /> He gained nationwide stature for his handling of the [[Chicago Race Riot of 1919]] and a simultaneous transit strike in Chicago.<ref>{{cite book |pages=220–221 |author=Krist, Gary |title=City of Scoundrels: The Twelve Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago |location=New York |publisher=Crown |year=2012|isbn=978--0-307-45429-4 |lccn=2012032098}}</ref>

=== 1920 presidential election and aftermath ===
⚫
He was a leading candidate for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[1920 Republican Party presidential primaries|nomination]] for president [[1920 United States presidential election|in 1920]]. His campaign was embarrassed by reports of profligate spending. His Missouri [[campaign manager]] gave out $32,000 to promote his campaign, including $2,500 (a laborer's annual wage) to at least two convention delegates.<ref>{{cite book
⚫
|title=Coolidge |author-link=Amity Shlaes |first=Amity |last=Shlaes |page=196
|isbn=978-0-06-196755-9 |lccn=2012032098 |year=2013 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]
|isbn=978-0-06-196755-9 |lccn=2012032098 |year=2013 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]
|location=[[New York City|New York]]}}</ref>
⚫
|location=[[New York City|New York]]}}</ref> Delegates at the Republican convention deadlocked over several ballots between Lowden and General [[Leonard Wood]], resulting in party leaders meeting privately to determine a compromise candidate. Their choice, [[Warren G. Harding]], went on to win the nomination. In [[United States presidential election, 1924|the 1924 election]], he declined the Republican nomination for vice president. In 1928, he again positioned himself to run for the party's nomination, but he was never much more than a minor threat to front runner [[Herbert Hoover]], who went on to win the presidential nomination and the election.

Delegates at the Republican convention deadlocked over several ballots between Lowden and General [[Leonard Wood]], resulting in party leaders meeting privately to determine a compromise candidate. Their choice, [[Warren G. Harding]], went on to win the nomination.

⚫
In [[1924 United States presidential election|the 1924 election]], he declined the Republican nomination for vice president. In [[1928 United States presidential election|1928]], he again positioned himself to run for the [[1928 Republican National Convention|party's nomination]], but he was never much more than a minor threat to front runner [[Herbert Hoover]], who went on to win the presidential nomination and the election.


==Railroad career==
==Railroad career==
[[File:Grave of Frank Orren Lowden (1861–1943) at Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Lowden's grave at Graceland Cemetery]]

In 1933, Lowden was appointed to be one of three receivers for the [[bankrupt]] [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]. He served in this capacity with co-receivers Joseph B. Fleming and James E. Gorman (the latter had been president of the railroad since 1917) until his death in 1943 in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. His remains are buried in [[Graceland Cemetery]], Chicago.
In 1933, Lowden was appointed to be one of three receivers for the [[bankrupt]] [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]. He served in this capacity with co-receivers Joseph B. Fleming and James E. Gorman (the latter had been president of the railroad since 1917) until his death in 1943 in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. His remains are buried in [[Graceland Cemetery]], Chicago.


Line 58: Line 81:


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Hutchinson |first=William T. |authorlink=William T. Hutchinson
* {{cite book|last=Hutchinson |first=William T. |author-link=William T. Hutchinson
|title=Lowden of Illinois: The Life of Frank O. Lowden
|title=Lowden of Illinois: The Life of Frank O. Lowden
|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1957 |lccn=57006274}}
|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1957 |lccn=57006274}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons category|Frank Orren Lowden}}
{{Commons category|Frank Orren Lowden}}
{{CongBio|L000472}}
{{CongBio|L000472}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frank Orren Lowden}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Frank Orren Lowden}}
*{{Find a Grave|8220}}


{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}
Line 77: Line 98:
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles S. Deneen]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles S. Deneen]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Illinois]]|years=1916}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Illinois]]|years=[[1916 Illinois gubernatorial election|1916]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Len Small]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Len Small]]}}
|-
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Calvin Coolidge]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Calvin Coolidge]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets|nominee]] for [[Vice President of the United States]]<br>{{small|Withdrew}}|years=[[United States presidential election, 1924|1924]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets|nominee]] for [[Vice President of the United States]]<br>{{small|Withdrew}}|years=[[1924 United States presidential election|1924]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles G. Dawes]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles G. Dawes]]}}
|-
|-
Line 98: Line 119:
{{United States presidential election, 1920}}
{{United States presidential election, 1920}}
{{United States presidential election, 1928}}
{{United States presidential election, 1928}}
{{USCongRep-start |congresses=59th–61st [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[Illinois]]}}
{{USCongRep/IL/59}}
{{USCongRep/IL/60}}
{{USCongRep/IL/61}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


Line 104: Line 130:
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:American schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)]]
[[Category:Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)]]
⚫
[[Category:Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election]]
⚫
[[Category:Candidates in the 1928 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:Farmers from Iowa]]
[[Category:Farmers from Iowa]]
[[Category:Governors of Illinois]]
[[Category:Illinois lawyers]]
[[Category:Illinois lawyers]]
[[Category:Illinois Republicans]]
[[Category:Northwestern University faculty]]
⚫
[[Category:Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:People from Chisago County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:People from Chisago County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:People from Hardin County, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Hardin County, Iowa]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois]]
[[Category:Republican Party governors of Illinois]]
⚫
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois]]
⚫
[[Category:Northwestern University faculty]]<!-- lectured -->
[[Category:Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from Iowa]]
⚫
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Republican Party state governors of the United States]]
⚫
[[Category:1920 United States presidential candidates]]
⚫
[[Category:1928 United States presidential candidates]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]
[[Category:University of Iowa alumni]]
[[Category:American conservative people]]

Latest revision as of 15:21, 21 June 2024

Frank Orren Lowden
Lowden, c. 1917
25th Governor of Illinois
In office
January 8, 1917 – January 10, 1921
LieutenantJohn G. Oglesby
Preceded byEdward Dunne
Succeeded byLen Small
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 13th district
In office
November 6, 1906 – March 3, 1911
Preceded byRobert R. Hitt
Succeeded byJohn C. McKenzie
Personal details
Born
Frank Orren Lowden

(1861-01-26)January 26, 1861
Sunrise, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedMarch 20, 1943(1943-03-20) (aged 82)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Resting placeGraceland Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
SpouseFlorence Pullman (1896–1937)
Children3
EducationUniversity of Iowa (BA)
Northwestern University (LLB)
Signature
[1][2][3]

Frank Orren Lowden (January 26, 1861 – March 20, 1943) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the 25th Governor of Illinois and as a United States Representative from Illinois. He was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nominations in 1920 and 1928.

Born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota, Lowden practiced law in Chicago after graduating from the University of Iowa. He emerged as a local Republican leader and served in the House of Representatives from 1906 to 1911. He served as Governor of Illinois from 1917 to 1921, earning wide notice for his reorganization of state government and his handling of the Chicago race riot of 1919.

At the 1920 Republican National Convention, Lowden was the preferred candidate of many of the party's conservatives. His supporters coalesced behind Warren G. Harding as a compromise candidate, and Harding won both the nomination and the 1920 presidential election. Lowden was nominated for vice president at the 1924 Republican National Convention, but he declined the nomination. Lowden was a candidate for president at the 1928 Republican National Convention, but Herbert Hoover won the nomination on the first ballot.

Early life

[edit]

Lowden was born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota,[4] the son of Nancy Elizabeth (Breg) and Lorenzo Orren Lowden, a blacksmith. He lived in Iowa from the age of seven, on the farm in Hardin County, Iowa, in poverty. He attended school when chores on the family farm allowed. At age fifteen he began to teach in a one room school house in Hubbard, Iowa. After teaching five years, he entered the University of Iowa at twenty, graduating in 1885. He aspired to be a lawyer, but taught high school for a year while learning stenography. That skill got him a job in 1886 at the Dexter law firm in Chicago, and he took evening courses at the Union College of Law, completing the two year curriculum in one year, finishing as valedictorian in 1887. He was admitted to the bar the same year and practiced law in Chicago for about 20 years.[5] His wife, Florence, was the daughter of George Pullman. In 1899, he was professor of law at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.[1][5]

Political career

[edit]
Time cover, October 15, 1923
Lowden's official portrait as Governor of Illinois

Entry

[edit]

In 1900, Lowden declined the first assistant postmaster-generalship, offered him by President McKinley, whom he had supported. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1900 and 1904, and from 1904 to 1912 was a member of the Republican National Committee. He was also a member of the executive committee in 1904 and 1908.

Lowden was elected a U.S. Representative from Illinois in 1906 to fill the unexpired term of Robert R. Hitt, deceased. He was re-elected for succeeding terms until 1911, when he declined to run for another term.[5]

Governor of Illinois (1917–1921)

[edit]

From 1917 to 1921, he was the Governor of Illinois. While governor, he won wide notice for the major reorganization of state government he spearheaded. He introduced the budget system for state expenditure, thereby reducing the rate of taxation in spite of rising prices.[5]

He was a strong supporter of the death penalty, and when in 1918 both houses of the Illinois General Assembly voted to abolish capital punishment, he vetoed the bill. He was energetic in marshalling the resources of his state in support of the United States' World War I effort.

In 1917, when the mayor of Chicago refused to interfere with a meeting of the People's Council, an organization accused of pro-Germanism, he ordered out the state troops to prevent the meeting. He favoured woman suffrage and the enforcement of the Volstead Act for war-time prohibition. He was opposed to the League of Nations without reservations, on the ground that it would create a super-state.[5] He gained nationwide stature for his handling of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 and a simultaneous transit strike in Chicago.[6]

1920 presidential election and aftermath

[edit]

He was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 1920. His campaign was embarrassed by reports of profligate spending. His Missouri campaign manager gave out $32,000 to promote his campaign, including $2,500 (a laborer's annual wage) to at least two convention delegates.[7]

Delegates at the Republican convention deadlocked over several ballots between Lowden and General Leonard Wood, resulting in party leaders meeting privately to determine a compromise candidate. Their choice, Warren G. Harding, went on to win the nomination.

In the 1924 election, he declined the Republican nomination for vice president. In 1928, he again positioned himself to run for the party's nomination, but he was never much more than a minor threat to front runner Herbert Hoover, who went on to win the presidential nomination and the election.

Railroad career

[edit]
Lowden's grave at Graceland Cemetery

In 1933, Lowden was appointed to be one of three receivers for the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. He served in this capacity with co-receivers Joseph B. Fleming and James E. Gorman (the latter had been president of the railroad since 1917) until his death in 1943 in Tucson, Arizona. His remains are buried in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.

Legacy

[edit]

The following are named after Lowden: Camp Lowden Boy Scout Camp, Lowden State Park and Lowden-Miller State Forest, all near his estate outside Oregon, Illinois; the Frank O. Lowden Homes in Chicago; and two Lowden Halls, located on the campus of the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Guide to the Frank O. Lowden Papers circa 1870-1943". University of Chicago Library. 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  2. ^ Fullilove-Nugent, Margaret (April 1994). "Lowden of Sinnissippi". Illinois History. DeKalb, Illinois: Illinois Periodicals Online - Northern Illinois University Libraries. pp. 60–61. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  3. ^ "Frank O. Lowden and Miss Florence Pullman" (PDF). The New York Times. March 21, 1896. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  4. ^ History/Museums Archived April 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at sunrisetownship.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Lowden, Frank Orren" . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
  6. ^ Krist, Gary (2012). City of Scoundrels: The Twelve Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago. New York: Crown. pp. 220–221. ISBN 978--0-307-45429-4. LCCN 2012032098.
  7. ^ Shlaes, Amity (2013). Coolidge. New York: HarperCollins. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-06-196755-9. LCCN 2012032098.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Orren Lowden.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 13th congressional district
1906–1911 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois
1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States
Withdrew
1924 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Illinois
1917–1921 		Succeeded by
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Cover of Time
15 October 1923 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frank_O._Lowden&oldid=1230240718"