Five Police Officers approaching. They grabbed me and beat me. Effigyt two of madisons mounds built by native americans thousands of years ago to honor the dead. These can be considered a kind of tombstone. They mark the graves of the dead and are carved in the shapes of just asand spirits, sometimes you see modern headstones carved in the shapes of urns or other architectural things. The campus has more mounds than any other place in the world that i am aware of. Explore the man considered to be the leader of the progressive movement. Everyone. S work for it is large, it is a glorious service. The call comes to every citizen. It is an unending struggle to make and keep government representative. Is probablyllette the most important political figure in Wisconsin History and one of the most important in the history of the 20th century of the United States. He was a reforming governor. He defined what aggressive is and is progressivism is. Senator United States who was recognized by his peers in the 1950s as one of the five greatest senators in American History. He was an opponent of world war i. Stood his ground advocating for free speech. Above all, bob la follette was about the people. After the civil war, america changed radically from a nation of Small Farmers and producers and manufacturers. 1870s, 1880 s, and 1890s, we had concentrations of wealth, rolling inequality, concern about the influence of money in government. Senators were elected by legislators and huge sums of money going into those campaigns. There was corruption. You had a group of individuals looking for a way to change the status quo. Around 1900, the idea of progressivism coalesced. You had reformers nationwide looking at how did we get into this problem and what can we do about that. Progressives were especially interested in changing systems. They were concerned the game was fixed so that the bigmoney folks, corporations, special interests were going to be able to get their weight. Any were not advocating quality of result. They wanted everyone to be at the same starting line. The follett went on to the congress as a member of the house of representatives and was a rather conventional con guzman. He voted the party line. In the 1880s, something happened that changed him. In 1890, he was called into the office of republican u. S. Senator. Sawyer was involved in a lock case which the left law case in a law case that was going to be tried by his brotherinlaw. Tte ar offered la folle retainer. Heres 50 per you will get more when the case comes out right. Follett said i am being bribed. He walked out. The story started making the rounds. He alienated himself from the rest of the Republican Party establishment. Story, that his own is when the inside hit him. This is what politics is about right now. It is about money. Can afford those who to buy justice and offices. He believed the system needed to be reformed. He spent the later part of the 1890s giving speeches all over wisconsin. If you wanted a speaker for your club or group, bob la follette would give a speech. He went to every kind of event you can imagine and built a reputation for himself. Ready to run for governor advocating on behalf of the people. He had two issues. One, the direct primary. No more selecting candidates in convention. Two, stop the interests, specifically railroads. Wisconsin farmers were dependent on the railroads setting prices. They believed those prices were being fixed income illusion in major collusion. Railroads gave out free passes to legislators. A free pass was like getting a free rental car because this was the way you got around. If you gave a free pass to every member of the legislature, they would look kindly on you. They are getting Free Transportation from them. Will follow it the follett ran on that. For the connections he made, the daddy gathered about who would support him, he won the nomination. He was opposed by the conservative republicans in the. Egislature trad did not get the legislation he wanted. Tried again, was elected governor. He was still being blocked by the stalwart republicans. In 1904, he went on the campaign trail against members of his own party. He started reading roll calls at the meetings, who voted against regulating the railroads. Who voted against the direct primary. Tremendous victory for bob la follette because he not only won reelection, but he won enough of his progressive supporters in the legislature. Wasother thing the follett successful in doing is he believed in referendum, recall, and initiative. He was able to get the legislature to agree a primary bill would be passed, but only if passed by referendum. , when he campaign, he distributed literature on one side to support bob la follette and the other to vote yes on the referendum. He would use his Campaign Machinery to campaign for the cause and the man. The time bob la follette was governor, United States senators were still being elected by the state legislature. One of the progressive reforms progressives all over the country advocated for was the direct election of senators. A Senate Position opened up in wisconsin. Announced he was going to run for senator, but he was not going to resign his position as governor until his reforms were passed. He was successfully elected senator, stated wisconsin for the first nine or 10 months of his term. Not until the legislature adjourned after passing his program did he assume his seat in washington in 1906. Period of a 20year service in the United States senate. Bob la follette was primed to repeat on a National Level some of his successes in wisconsin. La follettes methods of politics had to change because he was dealing with persuading a majority of 96 senators to support his position. La follette was a master tactician. Just like on the state level, he data on to gather who would support him, who he needed to contact. He was a master of rules in the senate. Bob la follette used the filibuster to stop legislation he felt was harmful. He was recognized in the u. S. Senate as a leader of a small group of progressives whose votes were needed by the majority to pass legislation. La follette was a republican, as were most progressives in the u. S. Senate. That group of 12 or 14 votes he controlled allowed him to negotiate. In terms of bob la follette spreading the progressive idea nationally, he used two techniques. One, he started a magazine called la follettes magazine,s great at promoting his name. Todayagazine still exist and is called progressive. Secondly, bob loved to speak in public. If you want to do speaker, bob la follette would go anywhere in the nation to speak. He did this partly because he was not independently wealthy man. He needed the income from speaking. Country go around the to various events to spread his word. He started you started getting progressive candidates in the democratic party. Woodrow wilson getting elected governor of new jersey in 1910 is a progressive. Teddy roosevelt nationally was with the a progressive kind of trust busting he was interested in doing, fighting against monopolies. Child labor, there were reformers around the nation concerned about the use of anddren in factories eliminated those. Bob la follette opposed war. He voted for Woodrow Wilson in 1916, even though bob la follette was a republican. Because her wilson believed in wilsons pledge to keep the United States out of the war. Of 1917, Woodrow Wilson asked congress to declare war on germany. Bob la follette was one of only six United States senators to oppose that war. Only munitionsd makers, profiteers would benefit from that. That the people would suffer through the loss of loved ones in the military. That thencerned government was not telling the people the full cost of the war. Was thecipal concern suppression of civil liberties. Passed a billess called the espionage act. The bill did not have anything to do about espionage. It was not enough spine. It was not about spying. It was about suppressing opposition to the war. Newspapers were shut down as a result of that. People were jailed for their criticism of the war. Thela follette believed bill of rights was not repealed because the United States was at war. 1917, it was a, critical turning point for la follette. He gave a speech in st. Paul, minnesota. At that meeting, bob la follette was critical of the war effort. He said we have grievances against germany, but those grievances are not sufficient to go to war. Associated press reported him as saying we have no grievances against germany. That news story created a national uproar. In wisconsin, 90 of the faculty wisconsinity of signed a round robin petition opposing la follette. There were calls and an investigation in the united expel bob la follette. There were threats on his life. La follettes point was i did not say that. With the war hysteria, that explanation did not carry much weight because he did oppose the war. Of 1918ot until may that the Associated Press apologized for their error. It was not until 1919 that the United States senate cleared his name and said there are no grounds for expelling la follette. Fame and the respect he has comes from his stance for civil liberties, when he was one of the few people in the country speaking out on behalf of of the right of the people to exercise their free speech rights under the constitution. Bob laollett follette, i think, was interested in being president from the beginning. 1908, bob la follette in the senate only two years and he throws his hat in the ring. Teddy Roosevelt Sturm is coming to an end. Everybody expects howard taft will get the nomination. Bob la follette thinks he would be a good candidate. He is an unsuccessful candidate to be nominated at the republican convention. 1912 was the year la follette thought would be his year. He sounded out teddy roosevelt. Teddy said i am not going to be running. Bob la follette was going to be the leader of the progressives challenging William Howard taft for the republican nomination. Antitaft forces start developing some strength, roosevelt changes his mind and throws his hat in the ring. La follette is outraged at this. He is not going to support roosevelt at the convention and takes his fight to the convention. William howard taft gets the nomination. Teddy roosevelt runs as an independent on a progressive bull moose ticket. He did finally run for president on his own progressive ticket in 1924. La follette looked at the two parties, davis and the democrats, coolidge and the republicans, and said both are conservative parties. Neither are running on progressive reform issues, and he created a third party that ran with burton wheeler, a democrat, as his Vice President and la follette for president. It was poorly funded. They had about 250,000 to spend nationally compared to about 4 million the republicans have an about 2 million the democrats had. Relied on his own speechmaking ability. Should consider it his patriotic duty to build at least a part of his life into the life of his country. Gotmazingly, la follette about 17 of the vote nationally in that election. That was the second best run of a thirdparty. Only Teddy Roosevelts Bull Moose Progressive Party exceeded that. Matched andn 1992 slightly exceeded la follettes effort. He carried only wisconsin, but he came in second in about 10 other states. Lastwas la follettes iraq, running for president in hoorah, running for president in 1924. His sons created the third party, the Progressive Party in wisconsin an attempted to take the party nationally in 1938, carrying on the issues old which werefor important in the context of the 1930s. You saw things like unemployment compensation. Yousaw many of the ideas found in the new deal emerged out of wisconsin. Franklin roosevelt delivered patronage in wisconsin through wisconsin progressives rather than the Wisconsin Democratic party. That idea continued right down arough bronson la follette, Third Generation descended from bob la follette, who was wisconsins attorney general. Many of the ideas bob la follette fought for are still open issues. La follette called for the direct election of president s as opposed to through the electoral college. He wanted to see the elimination of the influence of money in campaigns. He wanted popular review of judicial decisions, being able to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Referendums on collymore, calling war, that the United States would not be able to go to war except in a defensive fashion without a popular referendum. Some of those ideas are still being debated today. That it shall not corrupt but shall obey the government that guards and protects its rights. Neither passive citizenship is not enough. For whatbe aggressive is right if government is to be who areom those addressing what is wrong. All weekend, American History tv is joining our Charter Cable partners to showcase the history of madison, wisconsin
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