Service in The Legislature and Military
After becoming admitted to the bar in 1893 and beginning to serve as a lawyer in Centerville, Iowa, he was elected in 1895, at age twenty-three, to the Iowa House of Representatives as a "fusion candidate" with Democratic Party and Populist Party support. The youngest member of the House, Porter served two terms (from 1896 to 1900).
In 1898, while a state representative, he served in the U.S. Army with the 51st Iowa Volunteers during the Spanish-American War and early stages of the Philippine–American War. While in the service, he also ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House in Iowa's 8th congressional district, and for Iowa Secretary of State. In 1899 he married Maude Boutin, and was elected to the Iowa State Senate, where he served from 1900 to 1904. In 1900, 1902, 1904, and 1906, he refused requests to run again for Congress in the 8th district, concluding each time that incumbent Republican Congressman William P. Hepburn could not be defeated.
Read more about this topic: Claude R. Porter
Famous quotes containing the words service, legislature and/or military:
“Our chief want in life, is, someone who shall make us do what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him we are easily great.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“An ... important antidote to American democracy is American gerontocracy. The positions of eminence and authority in Congress are allotted in accordance with length of service, regardless of quality. Superficial observers have long criticized the United States for making a fetish of youth. This is unfair. Uniquely among modern organs of public and private administration, its national legislature rewards senility.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“There are many examples of women that have excelled in learning, and even in war, but this is no reason we should bring ‘em all up to Latin and Greek or else military discipline, instead of needle-work and housewifry.”
—Bernard Mandeville (1670–1733)