James H. Higgins

James Henry Higgins ( born January 22, 1876 in Lincoln, Rhode Iceland, † September 16, 1927 ) was an American politician and 1907-1909 Governor of the State of Rhode Iceland.

Early years and political rise

James Higgins attended by the Pawtucket High School until 1898, the Brown University and then studied until 1900 at the Faculty of Law, Georgetown University law. He then became a partner in the law firm Fitzgerald and Higgins. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1901 he was elected to the House of Representatives from Rhode Iceland. Between 1902 and 1906 he was mayor of Pawtucket.

Governor of Rhode Iceland

In 1906, Higgins ran against the incumbent George H. Utter for the office of Governor of Rhode Iceland. During the election campaign he promised to fight corruption and political cliques. He was responsible for the direct election of U.S. senators. Besides Utter was his main opponent in the election campaign, the local leader of the Republican Party, Charles R. Brayton. Higgins won the election with 1238 votes ahead. To date, he has remained the youngest when he took office governor of Rhode Iceland.

Higgins practiced the governorship from after a re-election between January 1, 1907, and January 5, 1909. As a member of the Reform wing of his party, he campaigned for better youth programs and women's suffrage. As previously announced in its election manifesto, he was against corruption and against lobbyists. He fought the aforementioned powerful leader of the Republican, Charles Brayton, who had operated for 40 years behind the scenes on odd ways politics and worked there with bribery and other illegal methods. After all, the governor achieved a partial success by forcing Brayton to a gradual withdrawal. There he failed to indict Brayton in court. In 1908, Higgins opted not to run again.

Further CV

After the end of his governorship Higgins has worked as a lawyer again. He died in September 1927., With his wife Ellen Frances Maguire James Higgins had two children.