James Beauchamp Clark (March 7, 1850March 2, 1921) was an American

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 ...

and attorney who represented

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

in the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

and served as

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

from 1911 to 1919. Born in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, he established a law practice in

Bowling Green, Missouri Bowling Green is a city in Pike County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,334 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Pike County. History Bowling Green was settled in 1819, and designated county seat in 1824. Settled chiefly b ...

. He won election to the House in 1892, lost his seat in 1894, and won the seat back in 1896. He became the House Minority Leader in 1908 and was elevated to Speaker after Democrats took control of the House in the

1910 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1910. Africa * South African general election Europe * 1910 Bosnian parliamentary election * 1910 Croatian parliamentary election * Danish Folketing election * Danish Landsting election * Finnish ...

. He inadvertently helped defeat the Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1911 by arguing that ratification of the treaty would lead to the incorporation of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

into the United States. Entering the

1912 Democratic National Convention The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. The Convention The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 t ...

, Clark had won the backing of a majority of the delegates, but lacked the necessary two-thirds majority to win the presidential nomination. After dozens of ballots,

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

emerged as the Democratic presidential nominee, and went on to win the 1912 presidential election. Clark helped Wilson pass much of his progressive agenda but opposed U.S. entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The 1920 House elections saw the defeat of numerous Democrats, including Clark. He died the following March, two days before he would have left office.

Early life and education

Clark was born in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, to John Hampton Clark and Aletha Beauchamp. Through his mother, he was the first cousin twice removed of the famous lawyer-turned-murderer Jereboam O. Beauchamp. He is also directly descended from the famous

John Beauchamp (Plymouth Company) John Beauchamp (1592–1655) was the most influential member of the Plymouth Company. Life and career John Beauchamp was the son of Thomas Beauchamp of Cosgrove and Dorothy (Clark) Beauchamp. His Norman French last name was pronounced as the ...

through his mother. He graduated from Bethany College in 1873, and from

Cincinnati Law School The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

in 1875.

Career

Clark served as president of Marshall College (now

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

) from 1873 to 1874. In 1875, he was admitted to the bar, and the following year he moved to

, the county seat of Pike County, where he practiced law. He was city attorney from 1878 to 1881, and prosecuting attorney of Pike County from 1885 to 1889.

Politics

Clark was a member of the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

in 1889 and 1891. Clark was elected to the

in 1892. After a surprise loss in 1894 to William M. Treloar, he regained the seat in 1896, and remained in the House until his death, the day before he was to leave office. Clark ran for

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

in 1903 but was defeated by

John Sharp Williams John Sharp Williams (July 30, 1854September 27, 1932) was a prominent American politician in the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party from the 1890s through the 1920s, and served as the Minority Leader of the United States House of Re ...

of Mississippi. After Williams ran for the Senate in 1908, Clark ran again for the position and won. When the Democrats won control of the House in 1911, Clark became

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Canadian reciprocity treaty

In 1911, Clark gave a speech that helped to decide the election in Canada. On the floor of the House, Clark argued for the recent Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty of 1911 and declared: "I look forward to the time when the American flag will fly over every square foot of British North America up to the North Pole." Clark went on to suggest in his speech that the treaty was the first step towards the end of Canada, a speech that was greeted with "prolonged applause" according to the ''Congressional Record''.Allan, ''Bomb Canada: And Other Unkind Remarks in the American Media'' page 18. The ''Washington Post'' reported, "Evidently, then, the Democrats generally approved of Mr. Clark's annexation sentiments and voted for the reciprocity bill because, among other things, it improves the prospect of annexation." The ''Chicago Tribunal'' condemned Clark in an editorial, predicting that Clark's speech might have fatally damaged the treaty in Canada; "He lets his imagination run wild like a Missouri mule on a rampage. Remarks about the absorption of one country by another grate harshly on the ears of the smaller." The Conservative Party of Canada, which opposed the treaty, won the Canadian election in large part because of Clark's speech. In 1912, Clark was the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, coming into the convention with a majority of delegates pledged to him, but he failed to receive the necessary two-thirds of the vote on the first several ballots. After lengthy negotiation, clever management by supporters of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Governor

, with widespread allegations of influence by special interests, delivered the nomination instead to Wilson.

Later career

Clark's speakership was notable for his skill from 1910 to 1914 in maintaining party unity to block

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

's legislation and then pass Wilson's. Clark split the party in 1917 and 1918, when he opposed Wilson's decision to bring the United States into

. In addition, Clark opposed the

Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The Pani ...

, which concentrated financial power in the hands of eastern banks (mostly centered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

). Clark's opposition to the Federal Reserve Act is said to be the reason that Missouri is the only state granted two

Federal Reserve Banks A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve A ...

(one in St. Louis and one in Kansas City). Clark was defeated in the Republican landslide of 1920 and died shortly thereafter in his home in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. Champ Clark is the namesake of the small community of Champ, Audrain County, Missouri. The former

Clark National Forest Clark National Forest was a National Forest in Missouri established on September 11, 1939 with . On July 1, 1973 it was administratively combined with Mark Twain National Forest, and on February 17, 1976 it was absorbed by Mark Twain. The forest ...

likewise was named after him.

Personal life

Clark married Genevieve Bennett Clark on December 14, 1881. Together, they had two children, Joel Bennett Clark and Genevieve Clark Thomson. Bennet served as a

United States 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

from 1933 to 1945. Genevieve was a suffragette and a candidate for the House of Representatives for Louisiana. He was an adherent of the Disciples of Christ.

Champ Clark Bridge

A bridge in Louisiana, Missouri that connects Missouri to neighboring Illinois was originally built in 1928. It bears the name Champ Clark. In late 2019, another bridge of the same name was constructed to replace the structurally deficient original bridge.

Gallery

File:James Beauchamp Clark.jpg, Speaker Clark's official portrait Image:MannWithClark.jpg, Speaker Clark (left) with Representative James R. Mann of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

Image:Funeral of Champ Clark, 1921.jpg, Champ Clark's casket being loaded into a hearse outside the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, flag at half staff, March 5, 1921 Image:JBClark.jpg, Clark about a month before his death, wearing an antique-style

beaver hat A beaver hat is a hat made from felted beaver fur. They were fashionable across much of Europe during the period 1550–1850 because the soft yet resilient material could be easily combed to make a variety of hat shapes (including the familiar t ...

. Image:1509 16th Street, N.W..JPG, Clark's former residence in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

File:Bennet and Genevieve Clark.jpg, Bennet and Genevieve Clark Image:Champ Clark and daughter Genevieve.jpg, Champ Clark and daughter Genevieve Image:Champ Clark bust.jpg, Champ Clark, left, examining marble bust of himself, made by Moses Wainer-Dykaar, right.

References

External links

* * )
James Beauchamp Clark's Signature on the 17th Amendment to the constitution
Image of original document
Champ Clark, late a representative from Missouri, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1922
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Champ 1850 births 1921 deaths American Disciples of Christ Bethany College (West Virginia) alumni Minority leaders of the United States House of Representatives Missouri lawyers People from Lawrenceburg, Kentucky Speakers of the United States House of Representatives Candidates in the 1912 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri Presidents of Marshall University People from Bowling Green, Missouri 19th-century American lawyers