Philip Fox La Follette (May 8, 1897August 18, 1965) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 27th and 29th governor of Wisconsin, from 1931 to 1933 and from 1935 to 1939. A member of the prominent La Follette family, he was a son of Wisconsin governor and Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette and younger brother of Robert M. La Follette Jr.
After first winning election as a leader of the progressive wing of the Republican Party, La Follette left the party after losing the 1932 Republican gubernatorial primary; he returned to office running on the Wisconsin Progressive Party ticket after founding that party with his brother in 1934. In 1938, he briefly attempted to form a national progressive party (the National Progressives of America), but the effort was largely abandoned after he enlisted in the Pacific War.
During World War II, La Follette was commissioned in the U.S. Army and served as public relations officer for General Douglas MacArthur. Later in life, he was general counsel and president of Hazeltine Corporation.
Early life and career
La Follette was born on May 8, 1897 in Madison, Wisconsin, to former representative Robert M. La Follette and women's suffrage activist Belle Case La Follette. At the time of his birth, he had been the third of four children. La Follette served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Infantry in 1918, during World War I. In 1919, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison and in 1922, he received a Bachelor of Laws degree.
La Follette served on his father's presidential campaign in 1924. He was the district attorney for Dane County, Wisconsin, from 1925 to 1927.
First Wisconsin governorship (1931–1933) La Follette entered the gubernatorial election in 1930 against incumbent governor Walter J. Kohler Sr.. During the campaign La Follette and his allies criticized the governor for conservative policies and tied him to the unpopular administration of Herbert Hoover. During his first term, La Follette began implementing policies to alleviate the Great Depression. Many of the policies enacted under him would later serve as models for the federal government under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
During his first term, La Follette enacted state ownership of public utilities, conservation and employment programs to help the unemployed. Additionally, La Follette helped set up a program for unemployment insurance, the first of its kind in the country, and a single state-wide labor code. La Follette was defeated in the Republican primary because of the worsening conditions of the Great Depression, as well as broader dissatisfaction with his service as governor. He was defeated for re-election by former governor Kohler.
Out of government By 1934, the Great Depression had caused a sharp decline of conditions in Wisconsin, and this decline, alongside a resurgence of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, forced progressive Republicans to seek new ways into office.
While La Follette eventually supported a split from the Republicans, he worked alongside William T. Evjue, the editor of the Madison-based Capital Times to curb the more radical influences of congressman Thomas Amlie and his allies.
Separately from La Follette and his allies, more radical elements of the third party movement established the Farmer-Labor-Progressive League (FLPL), which would develop a platform and endorse candidates in elections, this new organization had the potential to upset the aims La Follette had been working for with the new party. Fortunately, after La Follette spoke at the F.L.P.L. convention, the League decided to support his party.
Second Wisconsin governorship (1935–1939)
Following his re-election, La Follette took a far different tone for his second term than he had for his first. In his second inaugural address he stressed the need for reform in more concrete terms, advocating for an increase in executive power and calling for increased spending towards schools and wages despite a projected $9 million dollar shortfall in the budget.
Wisconsin Works Bill One of La Follette's most radical pieces of legislation up to that point was the Wisconsin Works Bill, which would have established a state controlled public works and relief program. The program had the backing of Roosevelt, who was supportive of state efforts at experimentation.
In planning out the Bill, La Follette asked the Wisconsin Regional Planning Committee to expand its inventory of public works projects. Additionally, La Follette employed his secretary, Thomas Duncan and state adjudant general Ralph Immell to develop a plan to finance and assemble administrative details for the program respectively. Alongside the other two, Ralph Hoyt, a Milwaukee lawyer, was charged with developing methods to circumvent financial limitations in the state constitution. The plan additionally was ironed out over a week in early May with several of Roosevelt's directors and advisors, such as Harry Hopkins, Frank Walker, Harold Ickes, and Rexford Tugwell.
When the legislation was finally submitted to the legislature, Democrats turned against the governor, accusing La Follette of using the bill as a means of gaining more control over work relief in the state. To try and push the legislature to support his bill, La Follette began a campaign, using the bully pulpit to appeal to the constituents of opposed senators.
Within the legislation, it provided for the creation of a Wisconsin Finance Authority, which was intended to bypass financial restrictions within the state constitution. The directors of the Authority would be appointed by the governor directly. Additionally, the Authority would be able to issue up to 100 million dollars' worth of its own notes, which would be exchangeable with U.S. dollars and act as valid means to pay state and local taxes. Additionally, the bill contained provisions for old age pensions, public school subsidies, and an amendment to balance the state budget. La Follette would contend that the plan would eventually pay for itself.
The plan immediately faced backlash from conservatives, socialists, municipal governments, and bankers. Critics argued the plan was too vague in its financing provisions, its constitutionality, and that it concentrated too much power in the hands of the governor. Despite this, the Roosevelt administration expressed support for the passage of the legislation. In the end, the bill was defeated in the state senate by a vote of 9 for, and 14 against. Even after several amendments, the bill was again defeated in the state senate, this time by a vote of 16 for and 17 against.
Following the defeat of the Works Bill, La Follette recommended Immell be appointed as Wisconsin director of the Works Progress Administration. Throughout the course of Roosevelt's presidency, he would continue criticizing his relief efforts as insufficient compared to the failed Works Bill.
During the 1936 election, La Follette made the failure of the Works Bill a central part of his campaign and, thanks in part to the national Democratic wave that year, won enough seats that he could then pass a "Little New Deal" in the 1937 session.
Wisconsin Reorganization Orders Following his re-election in 1936, La Follette began creating plans to radically alter the structure of government in the state. To this end he drafted the Wisconsin Reorganization Orders, which would "transfer certain divisions, agencies, functions, powers, and duties to the Executive," and allow the governor to propose bills that the legislature could either ratify or reject such bills.
Following a drawn out three-week legislative session, La Follette began attempting alternative means to get the legislature to act on his proposals, despite opposition from Democrats and Republicans, both houses of the legislature passed changes to the governing rules to speed up the passage of legislation. In coordination with Assembly Speaker Paul Alfonsi, and progressive members of the state Senate, they began quickly forcing legislation through the chamber using the new rules, passing a farm bill, a commerce bill, and a bill for mortgage moratoriums all in quick succession.
During the session, bills were introduced and passed with restrictions on parliamentary debate and without hearings from the public. Additionally, the presiding officers of both chambers would repeatedly rule standard parliamentary procedure as out of order. With the final hours of the session spent confirming 24 of La Follette's administrative appointments. The session immediately drew controversy as members of both major parties left the chamber shouting "heil" in a mock Nazi salute. while comparisons were made in the media to the dictatorial actions of the deceased Governor of Louisiana Huey Long.
The special session caused a rift within the Wisconsin Progressive Party as members like Evjue sharply criticized La Follette and his conduct in the special session.
National Progressives of America
To announce the formation of his national third party, La Follette planned a rally in Madison. At this rally he had the area decorated in red, white, and blue, with a military band playing marching music and other patriotic songs and football players for the University of Wisconsin-Madison acting as ushers and bouncers for the event. In all, upwards of 3,500 people attended the rally. After building up enthusiasm among the attendees, La Follette unveiled a new program for his National Progressives of America (N.P.A.). The announcement of the party had drawn mixed responses from the public and other progressives. Various national liberal figures, allies of Roosevelt, organized labor, and even allies of La Follette declined to support the new party. The media offered criticism of the party platform, with many media outlets calling it vague and lacking in definite proposals, while the party itself was described as having fascist overtones. While La Follette never openly endorsed fascism, he had believed that European dictators were effective at mobilizing people and bringing them comfort and meaning, and that they should be learned from. Even harsher criticism was instead leveled at the symbol for the party, which was compared to a swastika.
After its formation, La Follette traveled the country in an attempt to recruit allies to his cause and build up the party. In response, various progressive and liberal figures declined to affiliate and expressed disinterest in the party.
While La Follette was absent from Wisconsin, the state progressive party began to collapse, as factionalism and intraparty bickering began to take hold. Additionally, many of his old allies, such as Alfonsi, felt sidelined by La Follette, as many of them did not agree with the formation of the N.P.A.. Due to his prolonged absences, La Follette appointed Immell as the National Progressive's National Director.
1938 election By the end of his third term, La Follette felt reluctant to seek a fourth term. Instead he felt it was more important to devote his time and energy to promoting the N.P.A., but upon being dissatisfied with the performance of Ekern, and no one else volunteering to run, he ultimately decided to run for a fourth term. By the 1938 elections, the divisions in the state Progressive Party had grown even more wide, and while La Follette and his brother remained neutral, they privately supported their ally Ekern over the more radical Amlie in the Senate primary that year, and their lack of endorsement exacerbated tensions between both sides, with supporters of Amlie threatening to leave the party over it. Even during his campaign, La Follette continued to express a hesitancy to serve a fourth term, at one point considering stating an intention to take the office if Progressives elected a majority in the state legislature.