[5], He also became active in the Democratic Party and managed several local political campaigns. The specifics are left to the state legislators to determine. He was barred, but managed to have his wife ("Ma Ferguson") elected governor; she was elected for a second term in 1932. Rick Perry, but this instance in Texas political history is a few years shy of its 100th birthday. Though no Texas official has been impeached and removed from office at the state level since Ferguson, Texas politics has hardly been scandal-free. The Legislature is aghast at the meddling with the flagship state university. After he was appointed in 2011, Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout scandals within the University of Texas system. If the House adopts articles of impeachment, the Texas State Senate must then sit as the court of impeachment. Rachel M. Gunter further places the Ferguson impeachment in the context of the suffrage movement. "Ferguson Impeachment 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. The founders did not invent impeachment. He was re-elected in 1916. Ferguson declared that the legislature constituted little more than a "kangaroo court," but only a few After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. The anti-prohibitionists attempted to have a similar convention, but Ferguson, whose statements and Bell County record identified him as an anti-prohibitionist, refused to submit his name to it. His wife was defeated for re-election in 1926, following questions of improper use of her pardoning power. He convened the commission, and the body approved that Barker write a letter to the Governor-elect. Cities | James Ferguson Dr. Ken Bridges An argument over spending tax. He can be reached by email: Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. He was replaced by William P. Hobby after the Texas House of Representatives found him guilty in ten of twenty-one charges. In 1924, Ferguson entered his wife Miriam, known as "Ma", in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. 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. In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. Against a lawsuit filed to prevent the Texas Democratic Party from listing him on the primary ballot, Ferguson argued that his impeachment trial ended without a conviction or judgment because he resigned his office before the Senate decided the case. Encyclopedia.com. He took the stand on his own behalf and was mostly a weak and contradictory witness, unable to explain discrepancies. Gould, Lewis L. "The University Becomes Politicized: The War with Jim Ferguson." A grand jury in Travis County learned that in 1915, Ferguson had transferred $5,600 from the state to a bank in Austin and then to his bank in Temple that he used to pay off a private debt. 2-stem governor fro 1921-1924 . Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. In his eyes, the university was made up of corruptionists, draft dodgers, two-bit thieves and butterfly chasers, according to a historical account compiled by what is now the Texas Exes. In the wake of the controversy, issues from Fergusons past campaign for governor in 1916 came back into the spotlight. As much as one might appreciate Fergusons homey aphorisms, a word hed likely have found objectionable because of its academic taint his style loses its charm when you learn all that was revealed at his impeachment. She was reelected in 1932 and served January 17, 1933 January 15, 1935. There were . 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. Hall updated Governor Rick Perry's office in April 2013 with the full list. [9] According to historian Dan Utley, Ferguson planned to use state appointments as part of a spoils system to reward his political supporters. This is not a current story but a faint echo of a notorious event in Texas history, the impeachment of Gov. [5], On December 31, 1899, he married Miriam A. Wallace at her family home. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. This led to a special session being called by the Legislature, to press for Fergusons impeachment. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Unlike federal offices, which require formal charges brought against an individual and in most cases criminal charges, the Texas Constitution does not provide specific grounds for impeachment. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. The conviction forbade Ferguson to hold "any office of honor, trust, or profit" in Texas. He submitted his resignation the day before he was scheduled to be formally convicted. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. He was kicked out of a local prep school, Salado College, at age 12 for misbehavior. Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. Eight federal judges have been convicted in the Senate and removed from office. The vote was 25-3. 1914 campaign literature in which Ferguson fires back against criticisms from his 'dry' opponent, Thomas H. Ball, and others in the prohibition faction. The accusations, apparently true, were typical of the corruption, graft, and manipulations of American public life. Even his former political allies couldnt find him innocent in the face of such damning evidence and his own indefensible behavior. There are 31 members of the Texas State Senate. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. In 1917, James E. Ferguson, nicknamed "Pa Ferguson," was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas. James E. Ferguson Called on Tejanos to rise up/support the revolution; Called on other minorities to join Tejanos to carve out a republic from land US took from Mexico US Pancho Villa Mexican guerilla leader led an attack on Columbus NM (Mar. 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 lost the 1922 Democratic Primary race for U.S. Senate by a wide margin. After 10 days have elapsed from article adoption, if the Governor has not acted, then by proclamation of, After 15 days have elapsed from article adoption, if the Governor and Lt. Sam Houston was the first president of the Independent Republic of Texas , and he later served as governor of the state of T, Connally, John Bowden, Jr. The colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. With charges growing against Ferguson, the House of Representatives drew up 21 charges against him and voted to impeach. [1] Impeachments in Texas begin in the Texas House of Representatives which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. As a political speaker he had few equals. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 86 (October 1982). State legislature | Ferguson was indicted on nine charges in July 1917. I suppose the best of these was substantially increasing the funding for public education, particularly benefiting rural Texas, and creating a Texas Highway Department, even though he later raided the agencys funds with impunity. The framers considered impeachment an important check on the power of the presidency and against corruption. 2] THE IMPEACHMENT OF JAMES E. FERGUSON I85 there, was immediately converted to the legal profession. Found in volume 15,291 (available at govinfo). He vilified everything from fraternities to the faculty to the student body. Governor and President Pro Tempore have not acted, then by proclamation of a signed majority of the members of the Senate. But Ferguson ran for governor in the 1918 Democratic primary. In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. While there, legislators legally took up another matter, impeachment. The chair of the State Library and Historical Commission, Eugene C. Barker, heard talk about these plans and intervened in support of Winkler. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he ran his wife's campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. Why was Governor James E. Ferguson impeached and convicted in 1917? In 1922 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate. Her most recent publications include contributions to Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives and Discovering Texas History. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. She even used the word Christian in the law, implying that Christian forgiveness was appropriate here. Winds light and variable.. After an unsuccessful campaign for president in 1920, Ferguson ran the gubernatorial campaign of his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson, in 1924. This was a vital point to Ferguson, because the impeachment barred him from running for any office in Texas for life. After returning to Bell County, he farmed and worked with a railroad-bridge gang until, after a brief study of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1897 and began the practice of law in Belton. The legislature then came back into session to consider impeachment, an attempt Ferguson immediately condemned. James Edward (Pa) Ferguson (1871-1944), Texas governor, son of James Edward and Fannie (Fitzpatrick) Ferguson, was born on August 31, 1871, near Salado, Bell County, Texas. Dan Moody. The legality of the speaker calling a session was questionable the Texas Constitution says only the governor can call a special session but the point became moot when Ferguson called his own special session to discuss the budget for the University of Texas. She served two nonconsecutive two-year terms as governor: January 20, 1925 January 17, 1927. Five concerned the misapplication of public funds, three related to his quarrel with the university, one declared that he had failed properly to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state, and one charged that he had received $156,500 ($2.9 million in todays dollars) from a source he refused to reveal. 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. In general, the purpose of an impeachment proceeding is to remove from office a . 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In retaliation, Ferguson vetoed the entire appropriation for the university. {{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. He was replaced by William P. Hobby after the Texas House of Representatives found him guilty in ten of twenty-one charges. An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court. This is not a current story but a faint echo of a notorious event in Texas History, the impeachment of Gov. Impeachment is the equivalent of an indictment. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he 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 question was eventually carried into the courts, where the judgment of the Court of Impeachment was sustained. Farmer Jim wasnt even much of a farmer, though he owned a few farms and was incredibly loyal to farmers. No. Ferguson, had a stormy two-term reign and was impeached in 1917 over charges of misappropriation of funds regarding the University of Texas as well as embezzlement. When he was four years old, his father died. 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. The Freddy's Glass legacyPeople who knew our dad and his story say he would be proud of us, but we say, Man, were proud of himHe truly. And she won. 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. Both women followed husbands who had served earlier. So, he quit ahead of time so he could then turn aroundand he was counting on coming right back and getting reelected. There were two major elements of the impeachment charges brought against Ferguson in 1917. 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. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, so he had his wife run in his place. Both elected and non-elected officials can be impeached in Texas. He left home at 16, traveling and taking odd jobs until he returned to farm in Bell County. Basically, he wanted five professors fired, for the unstated reason that they had spoken out publicly against his candidacy for governor. Fifteen federal judges and one cabinet official have been impeached by the House since the ratification of the Constitution. Copyright 2022 Coordinating Council for Women in History. James Edward Ferguson, also called Farmer Jim or Pa was born in Bell County in 1871. He left home at sixteen and wandered for two years through the states of the Far West, where he lived by accepting any employment offered. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. 2003, The Texas State Historical Association. Early in his second term the governor became involved in a serious quarrel with the University of Texas. Needed buildings were provided at other eleemosynary institutions. American banker and politician (18711944), Brochure, "Meet the Fergusons: Two Governors for the Price of One", Bell County Museum, Belton, Texas, Lucadia Christiana Niles Pease (18671869), Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Texas Politics Project, Governors of Texas, 12. ." 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. At the same time, officials had begun looking into Fergusons finances. 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 . Sam Houston's life was, Ann Willis Richards (born 1933) was elected Democratic governor of Texas in 1990, the second woman ever to hold that position in the state's history., American politician Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) gained fame in the 1920s when she was elected governor of Wyoming, becoming the first woman in the, Barbara Jordan (american Congressional Representative), Jordan, Barbara Charline The following sections are outlined in Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. The UT battle was the one he should have avoided. His mother continued to live on the farm, and he began working in the fields as a young boy. The Texas State Legislature adjourned its regular session on May 27, 2013. Gov. Ferguson was born to the Reverend James E. Ferguson, and Fannie Ferguson near Salado in south Bell County, Texas. In sum, his down-home authenticity faded away to reveal a man who was mostly a fraud. 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. Unable to run under his own name, Ferguson ran his wife's campaign for Governor; Miriam A. Ferguson, known as "Ma" Ferguson, was twice elected as governor, serving two non-consecutive terms, from 1925 to 1927 and 1933 to 1935. At age 12 he entered Salado College (a preparatory school) but was eventually expelled for disobedience. The [Texas House of Representatives] immediately turned its attention to the numerous charges against [Governor James Ferguson] and, after a lengthy investigation, prepared twenty-one articles of impeachment. months before, both the House and the Senate had refused to sustain charges against him, and his removal from office was far from certain when the legislature convened in special session. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky and Bruce A. Glasrud have brought together top scholars to shine a light on this unique chapter in Texas history. Barred from state office, he ran for president in 1920 on the American Party ticket. He was a popular figure, singing laws protecting sharecroppers and providing state funding for rural schools. An effort was begun in 2013 to investigate the possibility of impeaching University of Texas Regent Wallace Hall. When James Ferguson failed to get his name on the ballot in 1924, Miriam entered the race for the Texas governorship. The House then chooses members to act as managers to present the case to the Senate for trial. The House sent 21 articles of impeachment to the Senate. When his reasoning was questioned, he would respond, I am governor of Texas. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. He left home at 16, traveling and taking odd jobs until he returned to farm in Bell County. The Court of Impeachment, by a vote of twenty-five to three, removed Ferguson from office and made him ineligible to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the state of Texas. To impeach, the House simply needs a majority vote on the different charges involved. The prohibitionists passed over their better-known leaders and gave their support to Charles H. Morris of Winnsboro, a political unknown. That committee has been holding a series of meetings in late 2013. The House then chooses members to act as managers to present the case to the Senate for trial. General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. Five of the articles sustained by the Senate charged Ferguson with the misapplication of public funds, three related to his quarrel with the University, one declared that he had failed properly to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state, and one charged that he had received $156,500 in currency from a source that he refused to reveal. In 1916 Ferguson's reelection seemed certain. The framers considered impeachment an important check on the power of the presidency and against corruption. His father died when he was four. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us, A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, Despite High-Profile Endorsements, Democrat Eliz Markowitz Loses Houston-Area Special Election. Public policy. He was re-elected in 1916. If that is the case, then the state house must follow procedures outlined regarding calling a special session specifically for the process of impeachment. Committee member Dan Flynn said he was not surprised by the findings and was pleased the university counsel reached a conclusion.[21][22][23][24]. James Ferguson. He was indicted and impeached during his second term, forced to resign and barred from holding further Texas office.[1][2][3][4]. In 1924, his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson won election as governor as a stand-in candidate in a tightly-contested race. Encyclopedia.com. He maintained his. Though Fergusons hatred for UT ran deep, he never fully explained his animus. 1917: James 'Pa' Ferguson Jr., Texas. Ferguson convinced his wife to run one more time in 1940. 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. James Edward Ferguson Jr. (August 31, 1871 - September 21, 1944), known as Pa Ferguson, was an American Democratic politician and the 26th Governor of Texas, in office from 1915 to 1917. And here, Ferguson made his second blunder. Angry that two professors had openly criticized his administration, Ferguson demanded that the Board of Regents fire them. Impeached. You have permission to edit this article. It appears that neither governor was brought to trial. He had been accused of misappropriating funds, but investigations failed to find anything that would warrant impeachment, and the probe seemed to be closed. In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. He moved to Temple and in 1907 joined with others in establishing the Temple State Bank. The Senate, acting as a court of impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and convicted the governor of 10 of them. In July 1917, he was indicted for misappropriation of funds. Oklahoma has impeached and removed two governors, and West Virginia impeached four members of its State Supreme Court at the same time in 2018. Impeachment is the power of a legislative body to address charges of impropriety or criminality by a government official, such as a governor or lieutenant governor. Dr. Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan who enjoys sharing these stories about people from the Lone Star state. 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. The most that the select committee can do would be to recommend to the full state house that articles of impeachment be drafted. U.S. Congress | 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. Before the process could be completed, Ferguson resigned from office, contending that the legislative action against him was a kangaroo court. After he returned to Texas, he studied law in Bell County and was admitted to the bar. 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 politician. Hall investigated the university's forgivable-loans program and admissions policies and preferential treatment to politically-connected individuals. 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. | After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. James Ferguson. Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. In 1917, Gov. Proclamation signed by a majority of the members of the House. Three new normal schools were authorized. Ferguson was removed from office and deemed ineligible to hold any position of honor, trust, or profit under the laws of Texas by the Court of Impeachment by a vote of twenty-five to three. Connally, John Bowden, Jr. Pat Neff. To impeach, the House simply needs a majority vote on the different charges involved. The Board of Regents hired the firm to review whether Hall may have violated any federal privacy laws in his handling of student information. Though as of this writing, three presidents have been impeached, none have ever been removed from office. He showed up most every day to his own trial, invited or not, with two armed Texas Rangers as escorts. Ferguson's attack against Mayes resulted in a drive by the legislature to impeach Ferguson. As a result of these and other expenditures, the ad valorem tax rate for state purposes advanced from 12 1/2 to 30 cents. Dictionaries thesauruses pictures and press releases. 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." Bridges can be reached by email at drkenbridges@gmail.com. Dictionary of American History. 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 . The prohibitionists held an elimination convention and pledged their support to Thomas H. Ball of Houston. we are currently accepting new members. Has Austin Eliminated All Restrictions On People Experiencing Homelessness? Senators then act as jurors while the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the proceedings. One final note of incredulity. Eight federal judges have been convicted in the Senate and removed from office. [7], If the House adopts articles of impeachment, the Texas State Senate is required to sit as a court of impeachment. Scandals of all sorts, from the brazen to the bizarre, have occurred for decades at all levels. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. You have permission to edit this article. Ma placed a distant fifth. Bruce A. Glasrud is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, and retired dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Sul Ross State University. Available at govinfo ) that committee has been holding a series of meetings in late 2013 wife! Have brought together top scholars to shine a light on this unique chapter in Texas begin in the Senate County! Should have avoided and President Pro Tempore have not acted, then by of... Of James E. Ferguson impeached and convicted the governor of 10 of them Regent! 12 1/2 to 30 cents: Sorry, there are 31 members of the controversy, issues from past! 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