Harry Hines Woodring (May 31, 1887September 9, 1967) was an American politician. A Democrat, he was the 25th

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

and the

United States Assistant Secretary of War The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of August ...

from 1933 to 1936. His most important role was

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

in President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's cabinet from 1936 to 1940. After 1938 Roosevelt rejected isolationism regarding Europe. Woodring quietly opposed Roosevelt and was eventually fired.

Biography

Harry Hines Woodring was born in 1887 in

Elk City, Kansas Elk City is a city in Montgomery County, Kansas, United States, along the Elk River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 260. History Elk City had its start in the year 1868 by the building of a trading post at that locatio ...

, the son of farmer and

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

soldier Hines Woodring. He was educated in city and county schools and at sixteen began work as a janitor. He attended Lebanon Business University in

Lebanon, Indiana Lebanon (/ˈlɛbnən/) is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,792 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is located in central Indiana, approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis and southe ...

, for one year, which gained him employment as a bookkeeper and assistant cashier of the First National Bank in Elk City.

Career

Woodring soon became assistant cashier at the First National Bank of Neodesha. Woodring moved up quickly to become vice president and owner of the bank until he enlisted as a private in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Tank Corps in World War I. He was elected department commander of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

in Kansas then in 1928 he sold his banking business to enter politics.

Governor of Kansas

Woodring won the Kansas gubernatorial election of 1930 in a controversial three-way race with Republican Frank Haucke and write-in candidate and goat-gland transplantation specialist, John Brinkley. Brinkley won the most votes, but the state only counted ballots with ''J. R. Brinkley'' written in, disqualifying tens of thousands of ballots with variants like ''John Brinkley'' written in. Woodring himself admitted he would have lost, had all Brinkley's votes been counted. Woodring served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

from 1931 to 1933. As the only Democrat elected to a statehouse office, his efforts to cut expenditures were largely blocked by Republicans, so he cut his own salary and the highway department, the one place where Democrats had control. Woodring ran for re-election in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, but lost to Republican

Alf Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...

in a three-way race, again featuring John Brinkley. On July 25, 1933, Woodring married Helen Coolidge, with whom he had three children. Coolidge was the daughter of United States Senator

Marcus A. Coolidge Marcus Allen Coolidge (October 6, 1865January 23, 1947) was a Democratic United States Senator representing Massachusetts from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1937. Biography Coolidge was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, son of Frederick Spau ...

War Department

Woodring served as

Assistant Secretary of War The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second–ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to thMilitary Laws of the United States "The act of August ...

from 1933 to 1936, with supervision over procurement matters. He was promoted and served as

in the Roosevelt cabinet from 1936 to 1940. He continued the recommendations of his predecessor for increasing the strength of the

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, and the Reserve Corps. During his tenure he directed a revision of mobilization plans to bring personnel and procurement into balance and stressed the need to perfect the initial (peacetime) protective force. A strict

non-interventionist Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...

, Woodring came under pressure from other cabinet members to resign in the first year of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes met with Roosevelt at least twice to call for Woodring's firing, but FDR was at first unwilling to do so, instead appointing outspoken interventionist

Louis A. Johnson Louis Arthur Johnson (January 10, 1891April 24, 1966) was an American politician and attorney who served as the second United States Secretary of Defense from 1949 to 1950. He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1937 to 1940 and the 15th na ...

as Woodring's assistant secretary of war. Woodring and Johnson were immediately at odds, and quickly reached the point where they refused to speak to each other. On June 20, 1940, Roosevelt ended the struggle by finally firing Woodring, replacing him with long-time Republican politician

Henry Stimson Henry Lewis Stimson (September 21, 1867 – October 20, 1950) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. Over his long career, he emerged as a leading figure in U.S. foreign policy by serving in both Republican and D ...

. Woodring remained isolationist, opposing the

Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, , was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday b ...

. Woodring ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Kansas in 1946, and for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nomination for that post in 1956.

Death

Woodring died following a stroke in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...

, on September 9, 1967, at the age of 80. He is buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...

References

Bibliography

External links

*
National Governors AssociationKansapediaThe Evening IndependentPublications concerning Kansas Governor Woodring's administration available via the KGI Online Library
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodring, Harry H. 1887 births 1967 deaths People from Montgomery County, Kansas People from Wilson County, Kansas Military personnel from Kansas United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War I Democratic Party governors of Kansas United States Secretaries of War American Disciples of Christ Franklin D. Roosevelt administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians United States Assistant Secretaries of War