Louis Theodore Michener (December 21, 1848 - February 10, 1928) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as the fourteenth

Indiana Attorney General The Indiana Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Indiana in the United States. Attorneys General are chosen by a statewide general election to serve for a four-year term. The forty-fourth and Attorney General is Todd Roki ...

from November 22, 1886 to November 22, 1890. Michener also served on the staff of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

as both a

campaign manager {{Political campaigning A campaign manager, campaign chairman, or campaign director is a paid or volunteer individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote ( ...

and

political adviser Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

Biography

Early life and education

Michener was born in

Connersville Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in Fa ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

to William and Mary A. (née Blake) Michener. William Michener, a native of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

who came to Indiana as a child, was descended from a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family from Washington County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Mary Michener was a native of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and also came to Indiana with her family at a young age. Michener attended

common school A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary o ...

s in Fayette County and was a student at Brookville College for a year. In 1870, he began to

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

with James C. McIntosh in Connersville. He was admitted to the bar in 1871 and opened a practice in Brookville.

Political career

In 1871, Michener, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, was appointed deputy

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Franklin County. He held this office for two years. In 1873, Michener moved to Winfield,

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 ...

before returning to Indiana one year later, settling in Shelbyville. In Shelbyville, he continued to practice law in partnership with his father-in-law, Thomas B. Adams. Michener left the firm in 1886. In 1886, Michener was elected

, succeeding Francis T. Hord. He served in the administrations of

Governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

Isaac P. Gray (a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

) and

Alvin P. Hovey Alvin Peterson Hovey (September 6, 1821 – November 23, 1891) was a Union (American Civil War), Union general during the American Civil War, an Indiana Supreme Court justice, congressman, and the List of governors of Indiana, 21st governor of I ...

(a Republican). Michener served two full terms as Attorney General and was succeeded to the office by Alonzo G. Smith. From 1886 to 1887, the Deputy Attorney General under Michener was William B. Hord, son of Michener's predecessor, Francis T. Hord. In addition to his duties as Attorney General, Michener served as chairman of the

Indiana Republican Party The Indiana Republican Party is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Indiana. The chairman of the Indiana Republican State Committee is Kyle Hupfer. History Republicans dominated Indiana from the 1860s to the 19 ...

Committee from 1888-1890, as a delegate to the

1884 Republican National Convention The 1884 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Exposition Hall in Chicago, Illinois, on June 3–6, 1884. It resulted in the nomination of former House Speaker James G. Blaine from Maine for presiden ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and also as

(

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Indiana) during the 1888 presidential election. Michener would also serve as campaign manager for Harrison in the 1892 election. Michener convinced

Stephen B. Elkins Stephen Benton Elkins (September 26, 1841January 4, 1911) was an American industrialist and politician. He served as the Secretary of War between 1891 and 1893. He served in the United States Congress as a Delegate from the Territory of New Mexi ...

(the man Harrison would later appoint as

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 ...

) to back Harrison in the 1888 Republican primaries, part of a larger bid to convince supporters of

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

to support Harrison over other Republican candidates. Following Harrison's election to the presidency, Michener joined the president's staff as a

. Michener was also an early supporter of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. Michener, along with

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...

and presidential secretary Elijah W. Halford, successfully convinced President Harrison to appoint Roosevelt to the

United States Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of t ...

in 1889. In 1904, Michener wrote a letter to

James S. Clarkson James S. Clarkson (May 17, 1842 – May 30, 1918) was a delegate to each Republican National Convention from 1876 to 1896; a member of the Republican National Committee from 1880 to 1896; chairman of the Committee from 1891 to 1892, and Preside ...

promoting the Republican

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

and

Charles W. Fairbanks Charles Warren Fairbanks (May 11, 1852 – June 4, 1918) was an American politician who served as a senator from Indiana from 1897 to 1905 and the 26th vice president of the United States from 1905 to 1909. He was also the Republican vice presid ...

in the 1904 presidential election, stating that opposition to Roosevelt and Fairbanks came primarily from

Southern Democrats Southern Democrats, historically sometimes known colloquially as Dixiecrats, are members of the U.S. History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States. Southern Democrats were generally mu ...

who wished to preserve

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

that disenfranchised

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Personal life and death

Michener was a friend and political ally of

Richard W. Thompson Richard Wigginton Thompson (June 9, 1809 – February 9, 1900) was an American politician. Thompson was born in Culpeper County, Virginia. He left Virginia in 1831 and lived briefly in Louisville, Kentucky before finally settling in Lawrence Cou ...

, a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Indiana and

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

. In 1872, Michener married Mary E. Adams, daughter of his law partner, Thomas B. Adams. Mary Adams was a native of Franklin County and moved with her husband to Washington, D.C. where she died in 1935. They had one child, Nora, who married a D.C. lawyer. Michener died in 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michener, Louis 1848 births 1928 deaths People from Connersville, Indiana Indiana Attorneys General Indiana Republicans Indiana lawyers American campaign managers Benjamin Harrison administration personnel United States presidential advisors