Early Life
Born in Lonoke, Arkansas, Robinson attended the University of Arkansas and studied law at the University of Virginia.
In 1894 Robinson was elected to the Arkansas Legislature and served one term. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1902 from the Sixth District of Arkansas, and was re-elected to four subsequent terms, serving until 1913.
In 1912 Robinson was elected Governor of Arkansas. He resigned his U.S. House seat on January 14, 1913 and took office as governor on January 15. However, U.S. Senator Jefferson Davis had died on January 3, after the legislature had re-elected him to a new term beginning March 4, 1913; his seat was now open. On January 27, 1913, only 12 days after Robinson took office as governor, the legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate to replace Davis.
Robinson became the very last U.S. Senator elected by a state legislature rather than by direct popular vote. The Seventeenth Amendment, which required direct election, took effect on April 8, 1913. All the other Senators elected to terms starting in 1913 had been elected earlier; Senator James H. Brady of Idaho was elected to fill a vacancy on January 24; he was next to last.
Robinson resigned as governor on March 10, 1913. Although he served as governor for only 55 days, he worked to provide funds to complete the new state capitol building, create a labor statistics board, adopt an official state flag, and create a highway commission.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Taylor Robinson
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