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"FIGHTING BOB" LA FOLLETTE, PART I

© John S. Cooper

Robert “Fighting Bob” Marion La Follette was probably the leading progressive politician of the Progressive Era. After serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for six years and as governor of Wisconsin for five years, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from January 2, 1906 until his death in June 1925. During that time, he vied for the Republican Presidential nomination four times and ran for President as the candidate of the Progressive Party in 1924. He never came close to victory.

La Follette grew up in a relatively comfortable and prosperous environment. His father died when La Follette was an infant, leaving his mother a widow for the second time. She married again to a seventy year old man, John Saxton, who moved the family from their farm to his store. A deeply religious man, Saxton raised La Follette and his brother and sisters in a strict religious environment. La Follette was turned away from religion by his stepfather when Saxton told La Follette that his father had gone to hell when he died because he was not a religious person.

Education was not considered as important as religion, and the local schools did not prepare La Follette well for advanced education. After remedial education at a local academy, La Follette enter the University of Wisconsin at the age of twenty, and graduated five years later. It was at the University of Wisconsin that La Follette’s political character was formed. One important factor was a speech by Wisconsin Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan that called the “accumulation of wealth the handmaiden of disaster” for all civilizations. La Follette had a life-long distrust and contempt of capitalists throughout his career.

La Follette did not have the money for a college education, and solved the problem by purchasing a newspaper, the University Press, with borrowed money. He soon made the paper, and himself, financially successful. He also made a name for himself in debating circles with his stirring oratory. In May 1879, he won the Interstate Oratorical Contest in Iowa City. This was a highly publicized and closely followed competition, and his victory gained him considerable attention.

In 1880, La Follette passed his bar exam and set up a private law practice in the state capital. That June, he ran for district attorney. Although not supported by the Republican Party bosses, he nevertheless won the nomination after a vigorous campaign. He won the general election after another energetic campaign. He soon gained a reputation as an able advocate in the courtroom, and was the only Republican in his county to win in the next election, (with the slim margin of ninety-three votes).

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