Arthur Capper

Arthur Capper (* July 14, 1865 in Garnett, Anderson County, Kansas, † December 19, 1951 in Topeka, Kansas ) was an American politician and from 1915 to 1919 the 20th Governor of Kansas. This state he represented in the U.S. Senate.

Early years and political rise

Arthur Capper attended the local schools of his home. After his high school graduation in 1884, he served an apprenticeship in the printing trade. Over time he acquired a number of newspapers, which he then published in the capital city Topeka. Capper was a member of the Republican Party. He received his first public office in 1910 as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Kansas Agricultural College. He served three years this function. 1912 Capper applied first to the office of governor. At that time he was defeated George H. Hodges. In 1914, he managed to secure his party's nomination for the gubernatorial elections.

Governor of Kansas

After the successful election Capper could take up his post on 11 January 1915. After a re-election in 1916 he was able to complete a four -year term. During this time, some government committees were merged, inefficient government departments were completely dissolved. On the other hand, a pension committee was re- launched and created with the Highway Commission a department to take care of the highways. This happened against the backdrop of the growing volume of traffic by cars and other motorized vehicles. The Prohibition Act of Kansas was tightened again. His second term was overshadowed by the events surrounding the First World War. Since April 1917, the U.S. was at war. It now belonged to the duties of the governor, for the conversion of Insustrieproduktion to provide on arms and at the same time to recruit soldiers for the armed forces.

Further CV

After the expiration of his term in January 1919, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. There he remained between 4 March 1919 and January 3, 1949. During this time he was a member of several Senate committees. Unusually for a Republican was his wide-ranging support of the policy of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1923, he filed a motion in the Senate, which prohibited intermarriage between the races. After great protest, especially the African-American organizations, he had to withdraw this application again. After his retirement from Washington in 1949, he took care of back to his newspapers. Arthur Capper died in December 1951. He was married to Florence Crawford, the daughter of the former Governor Samuel J. Crawford.