Henry S. Johnston - Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

On January 10, 1927, Johnston was inaugurated as the seventh Governor of Oklahoma with all the hopes of a successful administration. Immediately, the Legislature approved Johnston’s appropriation proposals to establish a crippled children’s hospital and increased school aid funds to over $1,500,000 a year. As one observer cited, it was the “highest public school subsidy in state history at the time.”

However, problems would haunt Johnston's governorship from the beginning. Before the Legislature adjourned in May 1927, complaints were raised against Johnston’s private secretary, Mrs. O. O. Hammonds. The Legislative leaders believed Mrs. Hammonds held too much power over the Governor. It was even believed that Mrs. Hammonds went so far to make executive decisions and appointments in her own right. Believing that Johnston was neglecting his duties, the Legislature's leaders demanded that she be immediately discharged from the Governor’s services.

Determined to impeach Johnston for neglect of his duties by the end of 1927, the Legislative leaders met in special session under a newly adopted initiative proposition. This measure was introduced to deal with Governor Walton’s impeachment four years earlier. In this special session, the Legislature announced its plans to investigate the Governor. Before the Legislature could act, the Oklahoma Supreme Court intervened to the benefit of Johnston. The Court ruled in the case Simpson v. Hill that the Legislature’s actions were unconstitutional and that they could only meet during regular sessions or at the call of the Governor in special session. Following the Supreme Court’s example, Oklahoma City’s district court issued an injunction against the Legislature, preventing state lawmakers from convening.

Ignoring both courts, the Legislature proceeded with its plans and headed for the Oklahoma State Capitol to continue with impeachment charges. The Legislature was only stopped when Oklahoma National Guard troops, under the orders of Johnston, prevented them from entering the Capitol. This did not stop the Legislature from acting. The Legislature convened on December 13, 1927 in the Huckins Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. There, the Oklahoma House of Representatives raised charges, which the Oklahoma Senate as the Court of Impeachment agreed to, against Governor Johnston and many members of his administration. However, realizing that the Judicial branch sided with the Executive branch on this matter and that the courts were concerned over the legality of their session, the Senate dismissed the issues and the Legislature adjourned. The whole event only made Johnston more popular and powerful. The people loved him for using the courts to decide the issue, rather than martial law.