Progressive Politician
Soon after the 1896 presidential election, Clarke moved to Cleveland, where he became a partner in the law firm of Williamson and Cushing. The firm represented corporate and railroad interests, and Clarke soon demonstrated his worth, replacing senior partner Samuel W. Williamson as the general counsel for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad. Yet Clarke continued his involvement in the Democratic Party. His politics evolved during this period, as Clarke abandoned many of the political views of his youth, including those involving states' rights, and embraced instead the program of the emerging progressive movement. Clarke's political evolution during this period was facilitated considerably by his friendship with Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson, who helped restore Clarke's standing within the state party after Clarke's previous failure to support Bryan's presidential bid.
In 1903, Johnson succeeded in taking control of the state Democratic Party, an effort which Clarke supported. At the party's convention that August, Clarke was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Though an accomplished orator, Clarke's work as a railroad attorney, his opposition to Bryan's presidential candidacy seven years before, and his own personal limitations all contributed to his failure to upset his Republican rival, Mark Hanna, who won the balloting in the Ohio General Assembly by 115 votes to 25 for Clarke.
In the aftermath of his defeat, Clarke reduced his participation in party politics, focusing instead on his legal work for a time. Yet Clarke was soon back in the political arena, withdrawing from the partnership with Williamson and Cushing in 1907. His relationship with Johnson suffered after Clarke supported the successful candidacy of conservative Democrat Judson Harmon for governor in 1908; in response, when nominating a candidate for the United States Senate race in 1910 Johnson passed over Clarke in favor of Atlee Pomerene, the eventual winner. Clarke's support for the incorporation of progressive reforms into the Ohio Constitution in 1911, however, helped to restore his standing among Ohio progressives. Clarke attempted to parlay this into a second run for a United States Senate seat early in 1914, but he faced opposition in the primary from Ohio Attorney General Timothy S. Hogan and by the spring appeared to be in danger of losing the race.
Read more about this topic: John Hessin Clarke
Famous quotes containing the words progressive and/or politician:
“There is, I think, no point in the philosophy of progressive education which is sounder than its emphasis upon the importance of the participation of the learner in the formation of the purposes which direct his activities in the learning process, just as there is no defect in traditional education greater than its failure to secure the active cooperation of the pupil in construction of the purposes involved in his studying.”
—John Dewey (1859–1952)
“The politician being interviewed clearly takes a great deal of trouble to imagine an ending to his sentence: and if he stopped short? His entire policy would be jeopardized!”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)