Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century. He was elected in

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

as the

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 po ...

from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he was repeatedly re-elected and served until 1945. As a governor, Johnson was a leading American progressive. He ran for vice president on

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 ...

's Progressive ticket in the 1912 presidential election. As a US senator, Johnson became a leading liberal

isolationist Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entan ...

, among those "Irreconcilables" who opposed the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

and rejected the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. Later, Johnson was also a vocal opponent of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its Organ ...

. After having worked as a stenographer and reporter, Johnson embarked on a legal career. He began his practice in his hometown of

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. After he moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, he worked as an assistant

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 ...

. Gaining statewide renown for his prosecutions of public corruption, Johnson won the 1910 California gubernatorial election with the backing of the

Lincoln–Roosevelt League The Lincoln–Roosevelt League (officially known as the League of Lincoln-Roosevelt Republican Clubs) was founded in 1907 by California journalists Chester H. Rowell of the ''Fresno Morning Republican'' and Edward Dickson of the ''Los Angeles Exp ...

. He instituted several progressive reforms, establishing a railroad commission and introducing aspects of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

, such as the power to

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatc ...

state officials. Having joined with Roosevelt and other progressives to form the Progressive Party, Johnson won the party's 1912 vice-presidential nomination. In one of the best third-party performances in U.S. history, the ticket finished second nationally in the popular and electoral votes. Johnson was elected to the US Senate in 1916, becoming a leader of the chamber's Progressive Republicans. He made his biggest mark in the Senate as an early voice for

isolationism Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...

, opposing U.S. entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and U.S. participation in the

. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

. He supported Democratic nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election. While Johnson initially supported many of Roosevelt's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

programs, by November 1936 he became violently hostile to Roosevelt as a potential dictator. Johnson in poor health served in the Senate until his death in 1945.

Early years

Hiram Johnson was born in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

on September 2, 1866. His father, Grove Lawrence Johnson, was a Republican U.S. Representative and a member of the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

whose career was marred by accusations of election fraud and graft. His mother, Annie De Montfredy, was a descendant of a family of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s who had emigrated to the American colonies in the early 18th century to escape religious persecution after the

Edict of Fontainebleau The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without ...

. She was a member of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

based on her descent from

Pierre Van Cortlandt Pierre Van Cortlandt (January 10, 1721 – May 1, 1814) was an American politician who served as the first Lieutenant Governor of New York. He was first elected to the New York Assembly in March 1768 and served in that body as the representative ...

and Philip Van Cortlandt. Johnson had one brother and three sisters. After attending public schools and Heald's Business College, Johnson worked as a

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''s ...

reporter and stenographer in law offices. He studied law at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

from 1884 to 1886, where he was a member of the

Chi Phi Fraternity Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was for ...

. After his

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1888, Johnson practiced in Sacramento with his brother Albert as the firm of Johnson & Johnson. In 1902, Johnson moved to

, where he was hired as an assistant

and became active in

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

politics. He attracted statewide attention in 1908 when he assisted DA

Francis J. Heney Francis Joseph "Frank" Heney (March 17, 1859 – October 31, 1937) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician. Heney is known for killing an opposing plaintiff in self-defense and for being shot in the head by a prospective juror during the S ...

in the prosecution of

Abe Ruef Abraham Ruef (September 2, 1864 – February 29, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. He gained notoriety as the corrupt political boss behind the administration of Mayor Eugene Schmitz of San Francisco during the period before and after ...

and Mayor

Eugene Schmitz Eugene Edward Schmitz (August 22, 1864 – November 20, 1928), often referenced as "Handsome Gene" Schmitz, was an American musician and politician, the 26th mayor of San Francisco (1902-7), who was in office during the 1906 San Francisco earthqu ...

for graft. After Heney was shot in the courtroom in an attempted assassination, Johnson took the lead for the prosecution and won the case.

Governor of California (1911–17)

In 1910, Johnson won the gubernatorial election as a member of the

, a Progressive Republican movement running on a platform opposed to the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

. During his campaign, he toured the state in an open automobile, covering thousands of miles and visiting small communities throughout California that were inaccessible by rail. Johnson helped establish rules that made voting and the political process easier. For example, he established rules to facilitate recalls. This measure was used on Governor

Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...

in 2003. In office, Johnson was a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

who promoted a number of democratic reforms: the election of U.S. Senators by direct popular vote rather than the state legislature (which was later ratified nationwide by a constitutional amendment), cross-filing,

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

, and recall elections. Johnson's reforms gave California a degree of direct democracy unmatched by any other U.S. state at the time. Johnson was also instrumental in reining in the power of the

through the establishment of a state railroad commission. On taking office, Johnson paroled Chris Evans, convicted as the Southern Pacific train bandit, but required that he leave California. Although initially opposed to the bill, Johnson gave in to political pressure and supported the California Alien Land Law of 1913, which prevented Asian immigrants from owning land in the state (they were already excluded from

naturalized citizenship Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the ...

because of their race).

1912 vice presidential campaign

In 1912, Johnson was a founder of the national Progressive Party and ran as the party's vice presidential candidate, sharing a ticket with former President

. Roosevelt and Johnson narrowly carried California but finished second nationally behind the Democratic ticket of

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 ...

and Thomas Marshall. Their second-place finish, ahead of incumbent Republican President

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 ...

, remains among the strongest for any

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...

in American history. Johnson was re-elected governor of California in 1914, gaining nearly twice the votes of his opponent.

U.S. Senator (1917–45)

Refusing to give the lady a seat --Treaty of Versailles

In 1916, Johnson ran successfully for the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat

George S. Patton Sr. Colonel George Patton Sr. (June 26, 1833 – September 25, 1864) was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. He was the grandfather of World War II general George S. Patton. George Patton was also the great-grandfather of Major ...

He took office on March 16, 1917. Johnson was elected as a staunch opponent of American entry into

, and allegedly said, "The first casualty when war comes is truth." However, this quote may be apocryphal. As an

, Johnson voted against the

during his first term. During his Senate career, Johnson served as chairman of the Committees on Cuban Relations (Sixty-sixth Congress), Patents (Sixty-seventh Congress), Immigration (Sixty-eighth through Seventy-first Congresses), Territories and Insular Possessions (Sixty-eighth Congress), and Commerce (Seventy-first and Seventy-second Congresses). In the Senate, Johnson helped push through the

Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...

, having worked with

Valentine S. McClatchy Valentine Stuart McClatchy (August 29, 1857 – May 15, 1938) was an American newspaper owner and journalist. As publisher of ''The Sacramento Bee'' (now The McClatchy Company) from his father's death in 1883, McClatchy co-owned the paper with his ...

and other anti-Japanese lobbyists to prohibit Japanese and other

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...

immigrants from entering the United States. In the early 1920s, the motion picture industry sought to establish a self-regulatory process to fend off official censorship. Senator Johnson was among three candidates identified to head a new group, alongside

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

and

Will H. Hays William Harrison Hays Sr. (; November 5, 1879 – March 7, 1954) was an American Republican politician. As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1918–1921, Hays managed the successful 1920 presidential campaign of Warren G. H ...

. Hays, who had managed President Harding's 1920 campaign, was ultimately named to head the new

Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

in early 1922. As Senator, Johnson proved extremely popular. In 1934, he was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the popular vote; he was nominated by both the Republican and Democratic parties and his only opponent was Socialist

George Ross Kirkpatrick George Ross "Kirk" Kirkpatrick (February 24, 1867 – March 23, 1937) was an American anti-militarist writer and political activist. He is best remembered as the 1916 Vice Presidential nominee of the Socialist Party of America. He was briefly the ...

. In 1943, a confidential analysis of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made by British scholar

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

for his

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, stated that Johnson: :is the Isolationists' elder statesman and the only surviving member of the illiam E. Borah- enry Cabot

Lodge Lodge is originally a term for a relatively small building, often associated with a larger one. Lodge or The Lodge may refer to: Buildings and structures Specific * The Lodge (Australia), the official Canberra residence of the Prime Minist ...

-Johnson combination which led the fight against the League in 1919 and 1920. He is an implacable and uncompromising Isolationist with immense prestige in California, of which he has twice been Governor. His election to the Senate has not been opposed for many years by either party. He is acutely Pacific-conscious and is a champion of a more adequate defence of the West Coast. He is a member of the Farm ''Bloc'' and is ''au fond'', against foreign affairs as such; his view of Europe as a sink of iniquity has not changed in any particular since 1912, when he founded a short-lived progressive party. His prestige in Congress is still great and his parliamentary skill should not be underestimated. In 1945, Johnson was absent when the vote took place for ratification of

, but made it known that he would have voted against this outcome. Senators

Henrik Shipstead Henrik Shipstead (January 8, 1881June 26, 1960) was an American politician. He served in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1947, from the state of Minnesota. He served first as a member of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party from 1923 to 1941 an ...

and

William Langer William "Wild Bill" Langer (September 30, 1886November 8, 1959) was a prominent American lawyer and politician from North Dakota, where he was an infamous character, bouncing back from a scandal that forced him out of the governor's office and ...

were the only ones to cast votes opposing ratification.

Presidential politics

Following Theodore Roosevelt's death in January 1919, Johnson was the most prominent leader in the surviving progressive movement; the Progressive Party of 1912 was dead. In 1920 he ran for the Republican nomination for president but was defeated by conservative Senator

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

. Johnson did not get the support of Roosevelt's family, who instead supported Roosevelt's long-time friend

Leonard Wood Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba, and Governor-General of the Philipp ...

. At the convention, Johnson was asked to serve as Harding's running mate, but he declined. Johnson sought the 1924 Republican nomination against President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

, but his campaign was derailed after he lost the California primary. Johnson declined to challenge

for the 1928 presidential nomination, instead choosing to seek re-election to the Senate. In the 1932 presidential election, Johnson broke with President Hoover. He was one of the most prominent Republicans to support Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. During Roosevelt's first term, Johnson supported the president's

economic recovery package and frequently 'crossed the floor' to aid the Democrats. By late 1936 he was convinced that Roosevelt was a very dangerous would-be dictator. Johnson, although in poor health, attacked Roosevelt and the New Deal following FDR's attempt to take control of the Supreme Court in 1937.

Personal life

Hiram Johnson and son LCCN2014715773 (cropped)

In January 1887, Johnson married Minne L. McNeal. The couple had two sons: Hiram W. Johnson, Jr., and Archibald McNeal Johnson. From 1917 to 1929, he and his family resided at the Riversdale Mansion in Riverdale Park,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

Death

Having served in the Senate for almost thirty years, Johnson died in the Naval Hospital in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...

, on August 6, 1945, the same day as the US conducted atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He was interred in

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several memb ...

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. ...

Legacy

Johnson gained some recognition in the media and general public during the

2003 California recall election The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spa ...

because he was the most important person behind the introduction of the law that allowed state officials to be recalled.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

, the eventual winner, referred to Johnson's progressive legacy in his campaign speeches. On August 25, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Johnson would be one of 13 inducted into the

California Hall of Fame The California Hall of Fame honors individuals and families who embody California's innovative spirit and have made their mark on history. The hall and its exhibits are housed in The California Museum in Sacramento. The hall of fame was conceiv ...

. Johnson held the record as California's longest-serving United States Senator for over 75 years, until it was broken by

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...

on March 28, 2021. The Hiram Johnson papers reside at the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it reta ...

at the

.Hiram Johnson papers, 1895–1945
/ref>

Hiram Johnson High School Hiram W. Johnson High School is a secondary school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, in the Tahoe Park South area of Sacramento, California, United States. Notable alumni * Henry Andrade, hurdler * Bryan Barber, motion picture ...

is named in his honor.

References

External links

Guide to the Hiram Johnson Papers
at the Bancroft Library *

Early years

Governor of California (1911–17)

1912 vice presidential campaign

U.S. Senator (1917–45)

Presidential politics

Personal life

Death

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading

Unpublished PhD dissertations that are online

Primary sources

External links

Archives