Francis E. McGovern

Francis Edward McGovern ( born January 21, 1866 Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, † May 16, 1946 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ) was an American politician and from 1911 to 1915 the 22nd Governor of the state of Wisconsin.

Early years and political rise

McGovern attended until 1890 the University of Wisconsin. He then worked as a high school teacher in Brodhead and Appleton. At the same time he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1897. Then he opened a law firm in Milwaukee.

Politically, McGovern on the progressive wing of the Republican Party. Between 1905 and 1909 he was district attorney in Milwaukee County. During this time, he accused some people of the city administration for corruption. In 1908, McGovern competed unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate. With the help of former incumbent Robert La Follette he succeeded in 1910, the election to the office of the governor, where he prevailed with 50.6 percent of the vote to Democrat Adolph H. Schmitz.

Governor of Wisconsin

McGovern took up his new post on January 2, 1911. In his first term, more progressive reforms were carried out in Wisconsin. At that time there were new labor laws and new regulations for child and female labor. The governor was also against corruption and reformed the income tax. In addition, a road authority ( Highway Commission ) was established and first environmental laws to protect the forests and the waters have been adopted.

Since the year 1912 there was a political conflict between McGovern and his one-time mentor Robert La Follette. The reason was both simple rivalry between two influential politicians, but also a debate over the question of the Republican presidential nomination the year 1912. McGovern supported Theodore Roosevelt, which blamed him La Follette. Despite his re- election as governor in 1912, he was able to successfully govern in his second term, barely, because La Follette and his followers made ​​his life difficult. This also prevented a possible choice McGovern in the U.S. Senate in 1914.

Further CV

During the First World War, McGovern worked as a military lawyer. He then returned lawyer in Milwaukee. But he was still interested in politics, joined in the 1930s through to the Democratic Party and supported the policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the 1930s, he was also chairman of a committee in Wisconsin, which dealt with the crime and the criminal justice system ( Committee on Crime and Criminal Justice ). In 1940 he applied unsuccessfully as the Democratic candidate for the office of governor: Behind the victorious Republicans Julius P. Heil and Orland Steen Loomis of the Wisconsin Progressive Party, he finished only third place. Francis McGovern died in May 1946.