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HIRAM JOHNSON: THE BULL MOOSE RUNNING MATE

© John S. Cooper

Hiram Johnson, California governor for over six years and U.S. Senator from California for twenty-eight years, was a progressive reformer with enough political influence in his home state to sway elections. It is said, and with good reason, that his personal influence once changed the outcome of a presidential election.

Johnson's introduction to politics came from his father, a one-term Congressman from California. His father's political reputation was far from the best. At one point, his father pleaded no contest to charges of adding names of non-existent people to the voter list. He was also charged with having ballots printed with his name and his popular opponent's name printed with special ink that would disappear after a period of time (long enough for the ballots to be marked by the voters). After the ink vanished, the names of the candidates would appear reversed from the original order in which they appeared on the ballot.

After being admitted to the bar, Hiram joined his brother in his father's law office. When his father, Grove, ran for Congress in 1894, Hiram acted as his campaign manager. Hiram gained much political experience in this campaign, which he put to good use later. Grove quickly rejected the reform program. Given that rejection and Grove's unscrupulous political conduct, Hiram and his brother left Grove's law office and political campaign. Grove was defeated for re-election. Hiram's rise in Republican politics began after his separation from his father's organization.

In 1892, Hiram was selected as President of the county Republican Party. In 1895, he became City Attorney of Sacramento, after supporting the reform candidate for mayor. In 1902, after splitting with his father and the loss of his candidate for mayor, Hiram and his brother moved to San Francisco and opened a law office there. Two years later, Hiram opened his own office. (He had trouble working with his alcoholic brother.)

Hiram participated in two notable and highly publicized prosecutions of political corruption. One was the mayor of San Francisco, Eugene Schmitz, and the other was San Francisco's political boss, Abraham Ruef. These established his image as a tough, independent, and honest lawyer. That image got him elected governor of California in 1910. He ran on a promise to eliminate the influence of the railroads in state politics.

Governor Johnson, backed by a strongly progressive legislature, carried out his reform program. Bills were signed into law involving recall, initiative and referendum, direct primary for U.S. Senators (still elected by the state legislatures until 1913), a state civil service system, eight-hour works days for women, and strong guidelines for child labor. But it was his success in limiting the power of the railroads that gained him national attention. A new State Utilities Act gave the state railroad commission sweeping powers.

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