Political Prairie Fire
Political Prairie Fire

Author: Robert Loren Morlan

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 1955-01-01

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 1452911231

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Political Prairie Fire was first published in 1955. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. Political Prairie Fire was first published in 1955. The farmers of North Dakota were ripe for revolt when the magnetic figure of A. C. Townley strode into their midst and offered them a new political formula to redress their grievances. Townley's plan was simple but revolutionary; it called for the formation of a Nonpartisan Political League dedicated to the election of candidates through the established two-party system and to a platform emphasizing public ownership of certain vital farm services and facilities, such as terminal grain elevators and hail insurance on crops. Like the great prairie fires of the plains states, the political flames of the Nonpartisan League spread swiftly from one farm to the next across North Dakota and into the adjoining states. The League is regarded by many as the last of the great agrarian protest movements. It is historically significant because it achieved a measure of success well beyond that of most similar movements. It controlled the government of one state for some years, elected state officials and legislators in a number of midwestern and western states, and sent several congressmen to Washington. Its impact helped shape the destinies of a dozen states and the political philosophies of an important segment of the nation's voters. The League's methods of operation often serve today as a guide for political action. This is the first detailed, unbiased history of the Nonpartisan League. Thoroughly documented for the specialist, it is nevertheless equally interesting for the general reader.

John A. Johnson
John A. Johnson

Author: Winifred G. Helmes

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 1949-01-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1452910499

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John A. Johnson was first published in 1949. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The first native-born governor of Minnesota, and the only Democrat to have been elected to that office three times, was also the first Minnesotan to have a presidential nomination within his grasp. This study of a man who was, perhaps, the state's most beloved chief executive is a warm, fast-moving personal biography and an engrossing piece of political history. The issues, personalities, shifting political currents, and party cleavages, state and national, of the early 1900s live again in the full recounting of the political campaigns of that era. One chapter is devoted to the 1908 Democratic National Convention at which Johnson's name was place in nomination for the presidency—the convention which chose William Jennings Bryan as its standard-bearer for the third and last time. Johnson was a man of buoyant spirit and great personal charm, and the story of his life again dramatizes the American tradition that by force of character a man can lift himself from the humblest beginnings. At the time of his death in 1909 the warships in New York harbor dropped their flags to half-mast, and hundreds of memorial services were held throughout the nation. Many believed that, had he lived, Johnson would have won the presidential nomination and election in 1912.