Thomas E. Watson
Encyclopedia
Thomas Edward "Tom" Watson (1856 - 1922) was an American
politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Georgia
. In the 1890s Watson championed poor farmers as a leader of the Populist Party, articulating an agrarian political viewpoint while attacking business, bankers, railroads, Democratic President Grover Cleveland
, and the Democratic Party. He was the nominee for vice president with William Jennings Bryan
in 1896 on the Populist ticket
(but there was a different vice presidential nominee on Bryan's Democratic ticket). After 1900 he was best known for his writing that attacked blacks, Jews and Catholics. Two years prior to his death, he was elected to the United States Senate
.
, the county seat of McDuffie County, Georgia
. After attending Mercer University
(he did not graduate; family finances forced withdrawal after two years), he became a school teacher. At Mercer University
, Watson was part of the Georgia Psi chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Watson later studied law and was admitted to the Georgia bar
in 1875. He joined the Democratic Party, and in 1882 was elected to the Georgia Legislature
.
As a state legislator, Watson struggled unsuccessfully to curb the abuses of the powerful railroad corporations. A bill subjecting railroads to county property taxes was voted down after U.S. Senator Joseph E. Brown
offered to provide the legislators with round-trip train fares to the Louisville Exposition
of 1883. In disgust, Watson resigned his seat and returned to the practice of law before his term expired. He was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket of Grover Cleveland
and Allen G. Thurman
in the 1888 election
.
platform, and was elected to the United States House of Representatives
as an Alliance Democrat in 1890. In Congress
, he was the only Southern Alliance Democrat to abandon the Democratic caucus, instead attending the first People's Party congressional caucus. At that meeting, he was nominated for Speaker of the House
by the eight Western Populist Congressmen. Watson was instrumental in the founding of the Georgia Populist Party in early 1892.
The People's Party advocated the public ownership of the railroads, steamship lines and telephone and telegraph systems. It also supported the free and unlimited coinage of silver, the abolition of national banks, a system of graduated income tax and the direct election of United States Senator
s. As a Populist, Watson tried to unite the agrarians across class lines, overcoming racial divides. He also supported the right of African American men to vote. Unfortunately, the failures of the Populists' attempt to make political progress through fusion tickets with the Democrats in 1896 and 1898 deeply affected Watson.
Watson served in the House of Representatives from 1891 until March 1893. After being defeated he returned to work as a lawyer in Thomson, Georgia. He also served as editor and business manager of the People's Party Paper, published in Atlanta.
The masthead of Watson's newspaper in 1894 declared that it "is now and will ever be a fearless advocate of the Jeffersonian
Theory of Popular Government, and will oppose to the bitter end the Hamiltonian
Doctrines of Class Rule, Moneyed Aristocracy, National Banks, High Tariffs, Standing Armies and formidable Navies — all of which go together as a system of oppressing the people."
, the proposed Democratic Party candidate. They were led to believe that Watson would become Bryan's running mate. After giving their support to Bryan, the latter announced that Arthur Sewall
, a more conservative banker from Maine would be his vice presidential
choice on the Democratic ticket.
This created a split in the Populist Party. Some refused to support Bryan, whereas others, such as Mary Lease
, reluctantly campaigned for him. Watson's name remained on the ballot as Bryan's vice presidential nominee on the Populist Party ticket, while Sewall was listed as Bryan's Democratic Party vice presidential nominee. Watson received 217,000 votes for Vice President, less than a quarter of the number of votes received by the 1892 Populist ticket. However, Watson received more votes than any national Populist candidate from this time on.
Bryan's defeat damaged the Populist Party. While Populists held some offices in western states for several years, the party ceased to be a factor in Georgia politics.
, which had drawn many converts from the ashes of Populism. He became a vigorous antisemite and anti-Catholic crusader, and advocated reorganizing the Ku Klux Klan
.
Watson was nominated as the Populist Party's candidate in 1904 and received 117,183 votes. This was double the Populist's showing in 1900, but less than one-eighth of the party's support from just 12 years earlier.
The Populist Party's fortunes declined in the 1908 presidential campaign, and Watson as the party's standard bearer attracted just 29,100 votes. While Watson never received more than 1% of the nationwide vote, he had respectable showings in selected Western and Southern states. In the 1904 and 1908 campaigns, Watson received 18% and 12% respectively in his home state of Georgia.
In 1913 Watson played a prominent role through his newspaper in inflaming public opinion in the case of Leo Frank
, a Jewish American factory manager who was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker. Frank was convicted of murder on August 25, 1913 after a month-long trial and sentenced to death by hanging by Judge Roan. At the eleventh hour, on June 21, 1915, departing Governor of Georgia John M. Slaton
commuted the sentence of Frank to life in prison. The clemency decision followed a lengthy failed appeals process over a two-year period. On August 16, 1915 at 11 PM, Frank was abducted from his prison cell by a group of prominent men and lynched in the early hours of August 17, 1915, an act which Watson had both called for and later celebrated on the pages of The Jeffersonian.
Watson rejoined the Democratic Party, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1920. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage
in 1922 at age 66. Rebecca L. Felton was appointed to replace him and served (for 24 hours) as the first female U.S. Senator.
Watson is honored with a 12 feet (3.7 m) bronze statue on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol
in Atlanta over the legend "A champion of right who never faltered in the cause."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. In the 1890s Watson championed poor farmers as a leader of the Populist Party, articulating an agrarian political viewpoint while attacking business, bankers, railroads, Democratic President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, and the Democratic Party. He was the nominee for vice president with William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
in 1896 on the Populist ticket
United States presidential election, 1896
The United States presidential election held on November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by political scientists to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history....
(but there was a different vice presidential nominee on Bryan's Democratic ticket). After 1900 he was best known for his writing that attacked blacks, Jews and Catholics. Two years prior to his death, he was elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
Early career
Thomas E. Watson was born September 5, 1856 in ThomsonThomson, Georgia
Thomson, incorporated February 15, 1854, is a city in McDuffie County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,828 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of McDuffie County. Thomson's nickname is "The Camellia City of the South", in honor of the thousands of camellia plants...
, the county seat of McDuffie County, Georgia
McDuffie County, Georgia
McDuffie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on October 18, 1870. As of 2000, the population was 21,231. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 21,551. The county seat is Thomson....
. After attending Mercer University
Mercer University
Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...
(he did not graduate; family finances forced withdrawal after two years), he became a school teacher. At Mercer University
Mercer University
Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...
, Watson was part of the Georgia Psi chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Watson later studied law and was admitted to the Georgia bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1875. He joined the Democratic Party, and in 1882 was elected to the Georgia Legislature
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....
.
As a state legislator, Watson struggled unsuccessfully to curb the abuses of the powerful railroad corporations. A bill subjecting railroads to county property taxes was voted down after U.S. Senator Joseph E. Brown
Joseph E. Brown
Joseph Emerson Brown , often referred to as Joe Brown, was the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, and a U.S. Senator from 1880 to 1891...
offered to provide the legislators with round-trip train fares to the Louisville Exposition
Southern Exposition
The Southern Exposition was a five-year series of World's Fairs held in the city of Louisville, Kentucky from 1883 to 1887 in what is now Louisville's Old Louisville neighborhood. The exposition, held for 100 days each year on immediately south of Central Park, which is now the St....
of 1883. In disgust, Watson resigned his seat and returned to the practice of law before his term expired. He was a presidential elector for the Democratic ticket of Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
and Allen G. Thurman
Allen G. Thurman
Allen Granberry Thurman was a Democratic Representative and Senator from Ohio, as well as the nominee of the Democratic Party for Vice President of the United States in 1888.-Biography:...
in the 1888 election
United States presidential election, 1888
The 1888 election for President of the United States saw Grover Cleveland of New York, the incumbent president and a Democrat, try to secure a second term against the Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison, a former U.S. Senator from Indiana...
.
Congressman
Watson began to support the Farmers' AllianceFarmers' Alliance
The Farmers Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement amongst U.S. farmers that flourished in the 1880s. One of the goals of the organization was to end the adverse effects of the crop-lien system on farmers after the American Civil War...
platform, and was elected to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
as an Alliance Democrat in 1890. In Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, he was the only Southern Alliance Democrat to abandon the Democratic caucus, instead attending the first People's Party congressional caucus. At that meeting, he was nominated for Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
by the eight Western Populist Congressmen. Watson was instrumental in the founding of the Georgia Populist Party in early 1892.
The People's Party advocated the public ownership of the railroads, steamship lines and telephone and telegraph systems. It also supported the free and unlimited coinage of silver, the abolition of national banks, a system of graduated income tax and the direct election of United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
s. As a Populist, Watson tried to unite the agrarians across class lines, overcoming racial divides. He also supported the right of African American men to vote. Unfortunately, the failures of the Populists' attempt to make political progress through fusion tickets with the Democrats in 1896 and 1898 deeply affected Watson.
Watson served in the House of Representatives from 1891 until March 1893. After being defeated he returned to work as a lawyer in Thomson, Georgia. He also served as editor and business manager of the People's Party Paper, published in Atlanta.
The masthead of Watson's newspaper in 1894 declared that it "is now and will ever be a fearless advocate of the Jeffersonian
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
Theory of Popular Government, and will oppose to the bitter end the Hamiltonian
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
Doctrines of Class Rule, Moneyed Aristocracy, National Banks, High Tariffs, Standing Armies and formidable Navies — all of which go together as a system of oppressing the people."
Vice Presidential candidacy
In the 1896 presidential election the leaders of the Populist Party entered into talks with William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, the proposed Democratic Party candidate. They were led to believe that Watson would become Bryan's running mate. After giving their support to Bryan, the latter announced that Arthur Sewall
Arthur Sewall
Arthur Sewall was a U.S. Democratic politician from Maine most notable as William Jennings Bryan's first running mate in 1896. As the Populist Party nominee, Bryan had another running mate as well, Thomas E. Watson...
, a more conservative banker from Maine would be his vice presidential
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
choice on the Democratic ticket.
This created a split in the Populist Party. Some refused to support Bryan, whereas others, such as Mary Lease
Mary Elizabeth Lease
Mary Elizabeth Lease was an American lecturer, writer, and political activist. She was an advocate of the suffrage movement as well as temperance but she was best known for her work with the Populist party. She was born to Irish immigrants Joseph P. and Mary Elizabeth Clyens, in Ridgway,...
, reluctantly campaigned for him. Watson's name remained on the ballot as Bryan's vice presidential nominee on the Populist Party ticket, while Sewall was listed as Bryan's Democratic Party vice presidential nominee. Watson received 217,000 votes for Vice President, less than a quarter of the number of votes received by the 1892 Populist ticket. However, Watson received more votes than any national Populist candidate from this time on.
Bryan's defeat damaged the Populist Party. While Populists held some offices in western states for several years, the party ceased to be a factor in Georgia politics.
Presidential candidacies
As his own personal wealth grew, Watson denounced socialismSocialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, which had drawn many converts from the ashes of Populism. He became a vigorous antisemite and anti-Catholic crusader, and advocated reorganizing the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
.
Watson was nominated as the Populist Party's candidate in 1904 and received 117,183 votes. This was double the Populist's showing in 1900, but less than one-eighth of the party's support from just 12 years earlier.
The Populist Party's fortunes declined in the 1908 presidential campaign, and Watson as the party's standard bearer attracted just 29,100 votes. While Watson never received more than 1% of the nationwide vote, he had respectable showings in selected Western and Southern states. In the 1904 and 1908 campaigns, Watson received 18% and 12% respectively in his home state of Georgia.
Later years
Through his publications Watson's Magazine and The Jeffersonian, Watson continued to have great influence on public opinion, especially in his native Georgia.In 1913 Watson played a prominent role through his newspaper in inflaming public opinion in the case of Leo Frank
Leo Frank
Leo Max Frank was a Jewish-American factory superintendent whose hanging in 1915 by a lynch mob of prominent citizens in Marietta, Georgia drew attention to antisemitism in the United States....
, a Jewish American factory manager who was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old factory worker. Frank was convicted of murder on August 25, 1913 after a month-long trial and sentenced to death by hanging by Judge Roan. At the eleventh hour, on June 21, 1915, departing Governor of Georgia John M. Slaton
John M. Slaton
John Marshall Slaton, or Jack Slaton, served two non-consecutive terms as the 60th Governor of Georgia.Slaton was born in Meriwether County, Georgia....
commuted the sentence of Frank to life in prison. The clemency decision followed a lengthy failed appeals process over a two-year period. On August 16, 1915 at 11 PM, Frank was abducted from his prison cell by a group of prominent men and lynched in the early hours of August 17, 1915, an act which Watson had both called for and later celebrated on the pages of The Jeffersonian.
Watson rejoined the Democratic Party, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1920. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1922 at age 66. Rebecca L. Felton was appointed to replace him and served (for 24 hours) as the first female U.S. Senator.
Death and legacy
Tom Watson died on September 26, 1922. He was 66 years old at the time of his death.Watson is honored with a 12 feet (3.7 m) bronze statue on the lawn of the Georgia State Capitol
Georgia State Capitol
The Georgia State Capitol, in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, is an architecturally and historically significant building. It has been named a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the main office building of Georgia's government...
in Atlanta over the legend "A champion of right who never faltered in the cause."
Works
- The Story of France (1899)
- Thomas Jefferson (1900)
- Napoleon: A Sketch of His Life, Character, Struggles, and Achievements (1902)
- The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson (1903)
- Bethany: A Story of the Old South (1904)
- The Life and Speeches of Thos. E. Watson (1908)
- Socialists and Socialism (1910)
- The Roman Catholic Hierarchy (1912)
- The Life and Times of Andrew Jackson (1912)
- Political and Economic Handbook (1916)
Further reading
- C. Vann WoodwardC. Vann WoodwardComer Vann Woodward was a preeminent American historian focusing primarily on the American South and race relations. He was considered, along with Richard Hofstadter and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to be one of the most influential historians of the postwar era, 1940s-1970s, both by scholars and by...
. Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel. New York: Macmillan, 1938. —Reissued 1973. - C. Vann WoodwardC. Vann WoodwardComer Vann Woodward was a preeminent American historian focusing primarily on the American South and race relations. He was considered, along with Richard Hofstadter and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., to be one of the most influential historians of the postwar era, 1940s-1970s, both by scholars and by...
. "Tom Watson and the Negro in Agrarian Politics," Journal of Southern History Vol. 4, No. 1 (Feb., 1938), pp. 14–33 in JSTOR
External links
- Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922) from the New Georgia Encyclopedia.
- The Thomas E. Watson Papers Digital Collection from the Southern Historical CollectionSouthern Historical CollectionThe Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South...
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Inventory of the Thomas E. Watson Papers, 1863-1996 in the Southern Historical CollectionSouthern Historical CollectionThe Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South...
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. - Tom Watson at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Tom Watson Biography at Vassar
- Tom Watson Biography at Watson-Brown Foundation
- Tom Watson Biography at Strangers To Us All
- Fiery Politician Alienated Many, By Ben Palmer
- Watson's Magazine, full issues at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Political and Economic Handbook By Thomas Edward Watson (1916)
- Socialists and Socialism By Thomas Edward Watson (1910)
- The Life and Times of Andrew Jackson By Thomas E. Watson (1912)
- The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson By Thomas E. Watson
- The Story of France By Thomas E. Watson Vol. I Vol. II (1899)