Governor of Oklahoma
During the first session of the Legislature during 1929, the House brought official impeachment charges against Governor Johnston. Effective January 21, Holloway officially became Acting Governor. Once Johnston was removed on March 20, Holloway was elevated from Acting Governor to the office of eight Governor of Oklahoma. Like Governor Trapp before him, Holloway would become the second Lt Governor in the state’s history to become the Governor following impeachment.
With an administration beginning in the middle of great government distrust, Governor Holloway worked to silence political unrest and to restore faith in the state government. In the progressive footsteps of his early predecessors, Holloway passed laws redefining child labor limits and instituted a new mining code which improved health and safety regulations. Also in progressive manner, Holloway instituted a state wide Temperance Day in all public schools on the Friday nearest January 16.
Due to the increased number of automobiles on Oklahoma’s highways, public safety issues were being raised. In response, Holloway mandated a state wide speed limit of 45 miles-per-hour. Holloway also reduced the Oklahoma Highway Commission, created by Governor Trapp, from five members to three.
An issue that Holloway dealt with head on was the western bounty of Oklahoma. Holloway called a special session of the Legislature of the Twelfth Legislative Session on May 16, 1929. The Legislature adjourned on July 5, with the resolution of acquiring toll bridges along the border. Holloway’s most important reform came in his administration’s changing of Oklahoma’s election laws. The Governor instituted the runoff primary for the first time. This required a candidate to hold a clear majority in a party in order to run on the party’s ticket.
On October 29, 1929, Holloway’s administration, as well as the rest of the world, would face a new problem. When Wall Street crashed, Oklahoma, and the United States, was thrown into the Great Depression. Until this point, Holloway had vowed to keep the state’s expenditures under $30,000,000 in his two years of Governorship. With Oklahoma already $2,000,000 in debt, the Depression only made matters worse. Holloway was forced to spend more money than the state’s revenues allowed in order to prevent a total collapse of the state government and private businesses. This would continue until the end of his term.
In 1930, the colorful and popular Democrat William H. Murray was elected to replace Holloway. Holloway officially left office on January 12, 1931 as Murray was inaugurated as the ninth Governor of Oklahoma.
Read more about this topic: William J. Holloway
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