[9] According to historian Dan Utley, Ferguson planned to use state appointments as part of a spoils system to reward his political supporters. [4], In Texas, two officials have been successfully impeached -- Governor James Ferguson in 1917 and Judge O.P. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. You can cancel at any time. He only made the ballot in Texas, winning just under 10% of the vote. State legislature | James Edward Ferguson Collection, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. In his eyes, the university was made up of corruptionists, draft dodgers, two-bit thieves and butterfly chasers, according to a historical account compiled by what is now the Texas Exes. Low 54F. November 2013 testimony prompted committee-member Trey Fischer to request the inquiry. Only two elected officials in the history of Texas have ever been successfully impeached. Dictionaries thesauruses pictures and press releases. Even his former political allies couldnt find him innocent in the face of such damning evidence and his own indefensible behavior. KVUE is looking back at the history of some past Texas governors. Jim "Pa" Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. Ferguson made bond of $13,000 and announced his candidacy for a third term as governor. With charges growing against Ferguson, the House of Representatives drew up 21 charges against him and voted to impeach. Before his impeachment, Texas students paraded from the campus to the Capitol and held a protest rally, complete with the university band, right outside Fergusons office while he met with the regents. The Legislature then came back into session to consider impeachment, an attempt Ferguson immediately condemned. FERGUSON IMPEACHMENT FERGUSON IMPEACHMENT. Norman Kittrell, Governors Who Have Been and Other Public Men of Texas (Houston: Dealy-Adey-Elgin, 1921). he was accused of misuse of public funds following his call for a special legislative session When a governor is removed from office, resigns, or dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, who becomes governor? He was reelected in 1916 but the following year was impeached on grounds of misusing public funds and removed from office. [8], Prior to his inauguration, Ferguson conferred with officials at the University of Texas regarding appointments affecting learning and higher education. ." System has not protected the privacy rights of students, staff, and patients. Two years later they lost a reelection bid amid new scandals concerning excessive pardons and political patronage abuses. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he ran his wife's campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. Though he was kicked out of office and disgraced in front of his colleagues, Ferguson was still very popular among his hard-core supporters and rallied back. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. He loaned himself so much money that he practically bankrupted his own bank. Ferguson's attack against Mayes resulted in a drive by the legislature to impeach Ferguson. In 1922 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate. The second had to do with his utilization of the Temple Bank he had controlling interest in as his personal slush fund. You have permission to edit this article. Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. Ferguson was indicted on nine charges which included misapplication of public funds, embezzlement and the diversion of a special fund. The Regents refused. He blamed his directors for running a shoddy operation. Its our 10th year participating in Amplify, and to celebrate, weve got $15,000 in matching funds from four generous Tribune supporters. The Texas Legislative Code governs the process by which the Texas State Legislature can be brought into special session to address an impeachment proceeding. W. V. Howerton, ed., Facts on Ferguson: A Review of the Impeachment and a Reply to Charges Made by Ex-Governor Ferguson (Austin, 1918). In 1917, James E. Ferguson, nicknamed "Pa Ferguson," was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas. In 1903, Ferguson was elected as city attorney in Belton, Texas. In 1913, William Sulzer was impeached and removed from office as governor of New York. Though as of this writing, three presidents have been impeached, none have ever been removed from office. A grand jury in Travis County learned that in 1915, Ferguson had transferred $5,600 from the state to a bank in Austin and then to his bank in Temple that he used to pay off a private debt. Almost a century later, the Ferguson impeachment presents both striking similarities and key differences to the ongoing saga involving University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall. Double your gift when you give by 6 p.m. Thursday. StrongJanuary 29, 202010:48 amArts & Culture, Stories From Texas, Bain News Service /Wikimedia Commons [Public domain]. Democratic nominee James M. Cox won in Texas, where the white majority was voting solidly Democratic. "Ferguson Impeachment Ferguson was the only "wet" candidate in the Democratic primary and garnered all of the anti-prohibitionist votes over a plurality of "dry" candidates. The United States Constitution provides that the President of the United States shall only be removed from office upon "Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. Three new normal schools were authorized. Scandals of all sorts, from the brazen to the bizarre, have occurred for decades at all levels. Almost a century later, the impeachment of Ferguson by the Texas House of Representatives presents both striking similarities and key differences to the ongoing Hall saga. After he returned to Texas, he studied law in Bell County and was admitted to the bar. He showed up most every day to his own trial, invited or not, with two armed Texas Rangers as escorts. "[14], An effort was begun in June 2013 to try and impeach Hall from his position as regent. Ferguson had vetoed the entire appropriations for the University of Texas in 1916. Though he was kicked out of office and disgraced in front of his colleagues, Ferguson was still popular among his hardcore supporters and rallied back. 4. [9] According to his accusers, Hall filed requests of more than 800,000 pages, which some Texas administrators called an unnecessary burden. This ragtag pair, better known as "Pa . In 1925, Miriam became the first female governor of Texas after campaigning as a stand-in for her husband, and James E. Ferguson became the first gentleman of Texas for her two terms. While the campaign of 1916 was in progress, the Ferguson administration had been charged with a number of irregularities. The Texas Senate, many of whom had served under William Harding Mayes and with whom Mayes maintained cordial relationships,[14] removed Ferguson as governor and declared him ineligible to hold office under Texas jurisdiction. The movement to impeach and remove James Ferguson as governor ultimately ended with Ferguson _____. His father died when he was 4. James Ferguson. There is no regularly scheduled session until 2015. As a result of these developments, the speaker of the House called a special session to consider charges of impeachment against the governor. He entered Salado College, a local preparatory school, at age twelve but was eventually expelled for disobedience. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson's political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women's enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one . But the day before the conviction was certain to come down. "Ma" Ferguson became the second female governor in the United States, with Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming being the first. In 1924, his wife, Miriam Ma Ferguson won election as governor as a stand-in candidate in a tightly-contested race. The veto was retaliation against the university because of its refusal to dismiss certain faculty members whom Ferguson found objectionable, including William Harding Mayes, former Texas Lieutenant Governor and founder and dean of the University of Texas School of Journalism. James Ferguson is the only governor to be impeached and convicted. Fifteen federal judges and one cabinet official have been impeached by the House since the ratification of the Constitution. Three others dealt with the veto of university funding as an abuse of power and official oppression. Johnson Roofing built a business on topping off buildings, but when it comes to its legacy, Bill Johnson and daughter Sherri focus on the foundation. The policy of state aid to rural schools was begun, and a rather timid law requiring compulsory school attendance was passed. But the mere fact that Ferguson had been impeached and made ineligible to hold any office of trust or profit under the state did not in any sense remove him from the field of Texas politics. James T. DeShields, They Sat in High Places: The Presidents and Governors of Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1940). Gulf of Mexico warming at faster rate than global ocean, study finds, As Texas STAAR test goes fully online, teachers feel defeated, Texas Education Agency projects confidence, Texas Standard for Feb. 23, 2023: Why many cotton farmers arent planting as much this year. State executives | It proved his undoing. [1] Impeachments in Texas begin in the Texas House of Representatives which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. Almost a century later, the Ferguson impeachment presents both striking similarities and key differences to. One final note of incredulity. The Board of Regents hired the firm to review whether Hall may have violated any federal privacy laws in his handling of student information. Apply today! In retaliation, Ferguson vetoed the entire appropriation for the university. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. months before, both the House and the Senate had refused to sustain charges against him, and his removal from office was far from certain when the legislature convened in special session. Thats how she likes it. When he was four years old, his father died. James Ferguson Dr. Ken Bridges An argument over spending tax. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself. He was kicked out of a local prep school, Salado College, at age 12 for misbehavior. The House sent 21 articles of impeachment to the Senate. Dr. Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan. Ferguson then went on a tour of Texas, voicing his disdain for the university and what he called the university crowd in public speeches. James Ferguson was a banker from Temple who would become governor in 1914 - famous, or infamous, as the only Texas governor to face impeachment. Ballot measures, Who represents me? James Ferguson. The colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. As much as one might appreciate Fergusons homey aphorisms, a word hed likely have found objectionable because of its academic taint his style loses its charm when you learn all that was revealed at his impeachment. His wife was defeated for re-election in 1926, following questions of improper use of her pardoning power. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. Her most recent publications include contributions to Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives and Discovering Texas History. This document includes constitutional provisions, rules of procedure and practice in the Senate, articles of impeachment, and Porteous' answer. Similarly, the Texas constitution gives the lower house of the legislature power to impeach judges, the governor, and statewide elected officials. Impeachment is the equivalent of an indictment. So, he quit ahead of time so he could then turn aroundand he was counting on coming right back and getting reelected. He was elected governor in 1914, his first election. The Ferguson controversy with the university brought renewed interest in the old charges, however, and at about the same time a number of new charges were made. She even used the word Christian in the law, implying that Christian forgiveness was appropriate here. Sam Houston's life was, Ann Willis Richards (born 1933) was elected Democratic governor of Texas in 1990, the second woman ever to hold that position in the state's history., American politician Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977) gained fame in the 1920s when she was elected governor of Wyoming, becoming the first woman in the, Barbara Jordan (american Congressional Representative), Jordan, Barbara Charline Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. The Senate removed Ferguson from office by a vote of 25-3. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, so he had his wife run in his place. In 1924, Ferguson entered his wife Miriam, known as "Ma", in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. He served 15 months as governor. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. When they wouldnt, he started replacing them one by one and withheld state funding from the university to force UT to obey his orders. Yet the House rejected a broad attempt to impeach Johnson for abuse of power in 1867, because many congressmen felt a president had to commit a crime to be impeached. The reason he called the special session was because he wanted to address the UT budget, but they impeached him instead. In her first term, Miriam Ma Ferguson, as she was known, had a law passed that gave amnesty to all Texas officials formerly impeached. Ferguson cleverly resigned, claiming then that the Senate couldnt uphold an impeachment for someone who wasnt actually in office. The fight with the university touched off a massive scandal. The prohibitionists passed over their better-known leaders and gave their support to Charles H. Morris of Winnsboro, a political unknown. Bruce Rutherford, The Impeachment of Jim Ferguson (Austin: Eakin Press, 1983). Ferguson was born to the Reverend James E. Ferguson, and Fannie Ferguson near Salado in south Bell County, Texas. He was an avowed enemy of the KKK, but to hear him talk about black people, youd have thought he had earned his hood. The Fergusons beat Robertson and went to the Governor's Mansion for a third time. In 1917, Gov. It reveals the attempt and failure of a megalomaniac in the governors chair to dominate the state university by political methods for political purposes, the American Political Science Review wrote a year later. He said the governor served the people, but he used the power of the office to reward his friends and crush not just his political enemies, but good servants of the state whose only offense was not voting for him. In 1930 he conducted the unsuccessful campaign of his wife for the governorship, and in 1932 he conducted her successful campaign for the same office. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Fergusons political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, womens enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. A grand jury in Travis County learned that in 1915, Ferguson had transferred $5,600 from the state to a bank in Austin and then to his bank in Temple that he used to pay off a private debt. This was a vital point to Ferguson, because the impeachment barred him from running for any office in Texas for life. School districts | This is not a current story but a faint echo of a notorious event in Texas history, the impeachment of Gov. In 1935, the Fergusons lost their ranch in Bell County because of financial troubles during the Great Depression. In retaliation, Ferguson vetoed the entire appropriation for the university. Bridges can be reached by email at drkenbridges@gmail.com. He claimed to be painstakingly honest; he was an embezzler. [10], After being re-elected in 1916, Ferguson vetoed the appropriations for the University of Texas. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Fergusons impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Public policy. He submitted his resignation the day before he was scheduled to be formally convicted. Mrs. Ferguson served as the first lady of Texas during the gubernatorial terms of her husband (1915-17), who was impeached during his second administration. Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/ferguson-impeachment. Gov. In sum, his down-home authenticity faded away to reveal a man who was mostly a fraud. This call was of doubtful legality, but Ferguson removed all question by calling the legislature to meet for the purpose of making appropriations for the University of Texas. He had been accused of misappropriating funds, but investigations failed to find anything that would warrant impeachment, and the probe seemed to be closed. Lewis L. Gould, Progressives and Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973; rpt., Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1992). [15][16] No unelected official in Texas has ever been successfully impeached or removed from office. Donations by CCWH members and other patrons support CCWH awards and initiatives. At 16, he left home and drifted through the states of the American West, working successively in a vineyard, a mine, a barbed wire factory, and at a grain ranch. Ferguson had vetoed the entire appropriations for the University of Texas in 1916. The accusations against Mayes were that he used his ownership of newspapers, including the Brownwood Bulletin, to spread negative information about Ferguson. Governor and President Pro Tempore have not acted, then by proclamation of a signed majority of the members of the Senate. There are 150 members of the Texas State House. Before the process could be completed, Ferguson resigned from office, contending that the legislative action against him was a kangaroo court. He was replaced by William P. Hobby after the Texas House of Representatives found him guilty in ten of twenty-one charges. In 1916 Ferguson's reelection seemed certain. He often said, civilization begins and ends with the plow. Ferguson was a mesmerizing speaker and storyteller and was splendidly fluent in the dialects of rural Texas. He believed that "a Negro has no business whatever taking a part in the political affairs of the Democratic party, the white man's party." The anti-prohibitionists attempted to have a similar convention, but Ferguson, whose statements and Bell County record identified him as an anti-prohibitionist, refused to submit his name to it. The Legislature cannot call itself into special session. To impeach, the House simply needs a majority vote on the different charges involved. As a result of his actions, in 1917, Ferguson became the only Texas governor impeached and removed from office. After returning to Bell County, he farmed and worked with a railroad-bridge gang until, after a brief study of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1897 and began the practice of law in Belton. She would serve one more term as governor from 1933 to 1935. In the United States legal tradition, impeachment is comparable to an indictment in a criminal court. The chair of the State Library and Historical Commission, Eugene C. Barker, heard talk about these plans and intervened in support of Winkler. Legislators have accused Hall of abusing his power and targeting University of Texas, Austin President Bill Powers, while Hall maintains he was acting as a responsible regent investigating situations of clout and accountability problems within the University of Texas system. We help women historians thrive through events, resources, and community. The charges of impeachment grew from a controvesy with the University of Texas administration, and resulted in Ferguson being charged with misapplication of public funds among nine other charges. This is simply not true. The Constitution gives the House power to impeach the president, officials appointed by the president (including cabinet officers) and judges. Encyclopedia.com. There are 31 members of the Texas State Senate. Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. If that is the case, then the state house must follow procedures outlined regarding calling a special session specifically for the process of impeachment. Seven of the charges related to misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement, and one to the diversion of a special fund. The Senate, sitting as a High Court of Impeachment, spent three weeks considering the charges and finally convicted the governor on ten . [8] Hall, as an individual citizen, filed FOIA requests with the University system after his inquiries via his role as a Regent were rebuffed. Kvue is looking back at the University of Texas in 1916 had to with. '', in the face of such damning evidence and his own trial, invited or not with..., resources, and the diversion of a signed majority of the vote a... Key differences to impeach Ferguson scandals concerning excessive pardons and political patronage abuses newspapers. His directors for running a shoddy operation he returned to Texas Women: their Histories their... 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