. State legislators created a select committee to launch an investigation into possibly impeaching Wallace Hall, an appointed member of the University of Texas System Board of Regents. As a result of his actions, in 1917, Ferguson became the only Texas governor impeached and removed from office. After he returned to Texas, he studied law in Bell County and was admitted to the bar. A grand jury in Travis County learned that in 1915, Ferguson had transferred $5,600 from the state to a bank in Austin and then to his bank in Temple that he used to pay off a private debt. In 1917, Gov. The legislature passed generous appropriation bills, and the ad valorem tax rate reached the constitutional maximum of thirty-five cents. But the day before the conviction was certain to come down. [9] According to historian Dan Utley, Ferguson planned to use state appointments as part of a spoils system to reward his political supporters. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. In a Central Texas county, high schoolers are jailed on felony charges for vaping what could be legal hemp, UT System pauses new diversity, equity and inclusion policies at its campuses. The fact is that he had parked state funds in his bank for personal gain and he had run his bank as a one-man Ponzi scheme. Impeachment is the power of a legislative body to address charges of impropriety or criminality by a government official, such as a governor or lieutenant governor. He often said, civilization begins and ends with the plow. Ferguson was a mesmerizing speaker and storyteller and was splendidly fluent in the dialects of rural Texas. The Fergusons retired from public life afterward with James Ferguson dying in 1944 and his wife passing away in 1961. Bruce A. Glasrud is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, and retired dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Sul Ross State University. Hearing the gasps in the chamber, Ferguson immediately asked to strike the comment. 4. [6] They had two daughters: Ouida Wallace Ferguson, and Dorrace Watt Ferguson. The question was eventually carried into the courts, where the judgment of the Court of Impeachment was sustained. An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court.. Three new normal schools were authorized. School districts | He was barred, but managed to have his wife ("Ma Ferguson") elected governor; she was elected for a second term in 1932. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Fergusons political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, womens enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. Jim Ferguson so enormously popular 100 years ago. He gave a speech in his own defense and blamed the charges on that N-word loving senator from the north, Senator Johnson. Not Lyndon. When he was four years old, his father died. When his reasoning was questioned, he would respond, I am governor of Texas. It appears that there were no criminal proceedings in this case. "Ferguson Impeachment Impeached: The Removal of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson (Texas A&M University Press, 2017) Hardcover. On December 31, 1899, he married Miriam A. Wallace; they had two children. As a result of these developments, the speaker of the House called a special session to consider charges of impeachment against the governor. The impeachment process begins with the House of Representatives. Ferguson convinced his wife to run one more time in 1940. After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. Though Fergusons hatred for UT ran deep, he never fully explained his animus. He made only a few speeches and must have known long before the votes were cast that Mrs. Ferguson had no chance to win. Five concerned the misapplication of public funds, three related to his quarrel with the university, one declared that he had failed properly to respect and enforce the banking laws of the state, and one charged that he had received $156,500 ($2.9 million in todays dollars) from a source he refused to reveal. He believed that "a Negro has no business whatever taking a part in the political affairs of the Democratic party, the white man's party." [20], A January 2014 review by the law firm Hilder & Associates concluded that there was "no credible evidence of a violation of [the state government code] that would warrant a referral for criminal prosecution." In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. He told the UT president, Dr. Robert E. Vinson, that he wanted them fired. Three others dealt with the veto of university funding as an abuse of power and official oppression. He served 15 months as governor. Despite his resignation, the State Senate voted 25-3 to convict, which meant that Ferguson could not seek another public office in Texas. He loaned himself so much money that he practically bankrupted his own bank. Seven of the charges related to misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement, and one to the diversion of a special fund. Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. Ferguson convinced his wife to run one more time in 1940. In 1917, James E. Ferguson, nicknamed "Pa Ferguson," was impeached and removed from the governorship of Texas. In 1925, Miriam became the first female governor of Texas after campaigning as a stand-in for her husband, and James E. Ferguson became the first gentleman of Texas for her two terms. The anti-prohibitionists attempted to have a similar convention, but Ferguson, whose statements and Bell County record identified him as an anti-prohibitionist, refused to submit his name to it. A powerful governor clashes with the University of Texas at Austin. Jim Pa Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. Elections in 2023 | He entered Salado College, a local preparatory school, at age twelve but was eventually expelled for disobedience. The Board of Regents hired the firm to review whether Hall may have violated any federal privacy laws in his handling of student information. The Senate can call witnesses to testify and vote to convict with a two-thirds majority vote. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. This is why I so often say, Im W. F. Strong, these are Stories from Texas some of them are astonishingly true., 2021 Texas Standard. Aside from the act instituting the highway department, the second Ferguson administration was marked by little in the way of important legislation. Bridges can be reached by email at drkenbridges@gmail.com. Gould, Lewis L. "The University Becomes Politicized: The War with Jim Ferguson." Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. U.S. President | Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. The Senate found Ferguson guilty on five charges relating to mishandling of public funds and abuse of power in relation to the university. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. The second had to do with his utilization of the Temple Bank he had controlling interest in as his personal slush fund. TEXAS HISTORY MINUTE: The impeachment of Pa Ferguson, Texas lawmakers push for statewide paid parental leave, Graford secures regional quarterfinal in domina, Parker County man arrested on charges of impersonating an officer, 'New' doors opening: Poston Dry Goods now Mineral Wells hub, Mineral Wells native celebrates 103rd birthday, UPDATED playoff basketball scores: 2/20-2/21/23, Brock moves on with emphatic win over Holliday, Graford secures regional quarterfinal in dominant fashion, Millsap's Coach Johnson relishes his 'calling'. Nine years later, Ferguson died of a stroke. [12], [13] In addition, Cigarroa wrote: "During testimony before the Select Committee, some early witnesses implied that the U.T. [15][16] No unelected official in Texas has ever been successfully impeached or removed from office. Though as of this writing, three presidents have been impeached, none have ever been removed from office. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. He claimed to be a successful businessman; he was not. Low 54F. He convened the commission, and the body approved that Barker write a letter to the Governor-elect. He was a popular figure, singing laws protecting sharecroppers and providing state funding for rural schools. He posted bond and wasted no time in announcing his candidacy for a third term as governor. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. Amplify your impact and donate now. I suppose the best of these was substantially increasing the funding for public education, particularly benefiting rural Texas, and creating a Texas Highway Department, even though he later raided the agencys funds with impunity. [5], In 2013, the Texas State Legislature began an impeachment trial for Regent Wallace Hall. The Constitution gives the House power to impeach the president, officials appointed by the president (including cabinet officers) and judges. He was replaced by William P. Hobby after the Texas House of Representatives found him guilty in ten of twenty-one charges. KVUE is looking back at the history of some past Texas governors. [7], If the House adopts articles of impeachment, the Texas State Senate is required to sit as a court of impeachment. The Senate can call witnesses to testify and vote to convict with a two-thirds majority vote. This call was of doubtful legality, but Ferguson removed all question by calling the legislature to meet for the purpose of making appropriations for the University of Texas. 9, 1916) Gen. John J. Pershing led US forces in a hunt for Villa from March 14, 1916 to Feb. 7, 1917 An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court. This is not a current story but a faint echo of a notorious event in Texas History, the impeachment of Gov. Dictionary of American History. The State Senate reduced the charges to ten, half of which dealt with the transfer of the $5,600. Gulf of Mexico warming at faster rate than global ocean, study finds, As Texas STAAR test goes fully online, teachers feel defeated, Texas Education Agency projects confidence, Texas Standard for Feb. 23, 2023: Why many cotton farmers arent planting as much this year. The prohibitionists held an elimination convention and pledged their support to Thomas H. Ball of Houston. The founders did not invent impeachment. The excitement that greeted the veto was soon overshadowed by the greater excitement that surrounded the impeachment trial. [11] Another leading Ferguson critic on the UT campus was the historian Eugene C. Barker. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. James Ferguson. The prohibitionists passed over their better-known leaders and gave their support to Charles H. Morris of Winnsboro, a political unknown. Dictionary of American History. Ballotpedia features 395,442 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. He had been accused of misappropriating funds, but investigations failed to find anything that would warrant impeachment, and the probe seemed to be closed. Ferguson made bond of $13,000 and announced his candidacy for a third term as governor. Legislators have accused Hall of abusing his power and targeting University of Texas, Austin President Bill Powers, while Hall maintains he was acting as a responsible regent investigating situations of clout and accountability problems within the University of Texas system. Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. But the mere fact that Ferguson had been impeached and made ineligible to hold any office of trust or profit under the state did not in any sense remove him from the field of Texas politics. Though no Texas official has been impeached and removed from office at the state level since Ferguson, Texas politics has hardly been scandal-free. Angry that two professors had openly criticized his administration, Ferguson demanded that the Board of Regents fire them. Unable to run under his own name, Ferguson ran his wife's campaign for Governor; Miriam A. Ferguson, known as "Ma" Ferguson, was twice elected as governor, serving two non-consecutive terms, from 1925 to 1927 and 1933 to 1935. However, the judgment to impeachhanded down one day after his resignation-was upheld, preventing him from holding public office in Texas. The UT battle was the one he should have avoided. The reason he called the special session was because he wanted to address the UT budget, but they impeached him instead. Governor and President Pro Tempore have not acted, then by proclamation of a signed majority of the members of the Senate. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Norman D. Brown, Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas Politics, 1921-1928 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984). The Constitution gives Congress the power of impeachment in federal cases. Even his former political allies couldn't find him innocent in the face of such damning evidence - and his own indefensible behavior. Low 54F. The chairman of the investigating committee, William H. Bledsoe of Lubbock, called for impeachment. If the Senate is not in session, there are four ways by which it may be convened.[7]. In 1918 he sought the Democratic party nomination for the governorship but was defeated by William P. Hobby. After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. The ruling declared that he could no longer hold office in Texas, but he ran the campaigns of his wife, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson. [4], In Texas, two officials have been successfully impeached -- Governor James Ferguson in 1917 and Judge O.P. There is no regularly scheduled session until 2015. Impeachment is the equivalent of an indictment. [1] Impeachments in Texas begin in the Texas House of Representatives which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. As Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers, a core source of original meaning, the framers "borrowed" the model from the English.And, as Raskin pointed . The Texas House of Representatives prepared 21 charges against Ferguson, and, in his impeachment trial, the Texas Senate convicted him on 10 of those charges, including misapplication of public funds and receiving $156,000 from an unnamed source.[12][13]. The Regents refused. Leah LaGrone Ochoa then explores Fergusons hot-and-cold relationship with the Texas press, and Mark Stanley examines the impact of the impeachment on Texas politics in the decades that followed. With charges growing against Ferguson, the House of Representatives drew up 21 charges against him and voted to impeach. James "Pa" Ferguson was the Governor of Texas from 1915 to 1917, when he was impeached and convicted on several charges. Advocates are pushing for legislation to help them. Provision was made for the establishment of the Austin State School. Though he had signed legislation creating three new colleges, he found himself in a feud with professors at the University of Texas. Nellie Tayloe Ross was sworn in on January 5, 1925; Miriam Ferguson followed on January 20. Tags You have permission to edit this article. Title 6, Chapter 665 of the Texas Government Code addresses the impeachment and removal of public officers by the state house. He blamed his directors for running a shoddy operation. Centex baseball preview: What's old, new, borrowed and blue for 2023? (b. November 2013 testimony prompted committee-member Trey Fischer to request the inquiry. He left home at 16, traveling and taking odd jobs until he returned to farm in Bell County. The entire process is substantially the same in Texas for elected officials, as it is for most of the other states. by Nicole Shealy . The incumbent State Librarian was Ernest Winkler, who was a professional historian with years of experience as a librarian. The vote made him ineligible to hold any office of honor, trust or profit in the state of Texas. "[3] In general, impeachments are a rare occurrence. The policy of state aid to rural schools was begun, and a rather timid law requiring compulsory school attendance was passed. Animals talk; all you have to do is listen. For Trey and Carol South, love of animals feeds their souls, and clients are assured their pets . The landholdings of the prison system were greatly increased, and because of the rising price of farm commodities, the system became self-sustaining; during the years of war prosperity, it showed a profit. Gov. we are currently accepting new members. He was reelected in 1916 but the following year was impeached on grounds of misusing public funds and removed from office. Ferguson cleverly resigned, claiming then that the Senate couldnt uphold an impeachment for someone who wasnt actually in office. Meanwhile, Winkler fought for his job by enlisting the help of his colleagues. In 1916 Ferguson's reelection seemed certain. James Ferguson is the only governor to be impeached and convicted. To impeach, the House simply needs a majority vote on the different charges involved. Ferguson then went on a tour of Texas, voicing his disdain for the university and what he called the university crowd in public speeches. 2020 Census Making An Invisible Population Visible, Lyceum Poll Finds Bernie Sanders Most Likely Democrat To Beat Trump In Texas, One Texans Journey to Understanding His Identity as a Queer Muslim, In West Texas, Knowing Your Address Can Be The Difference Between Life And Death. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Ferguson's political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, women's enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. As much as one might appreciate Fergusons homey aphorisms, a word hed likely have found objectionable because of its academic taint his style loses its charm when you learn all that was revealed at his impeachment. His mother continued to live on the farm, and he began working in the fields as a young boy. It proved his undoing. Senators then act as jurors while the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the proceedings. It reveals the attempt and failure of a megalomaniac in the governors chair to dominate the state university by political methods for political purposes, the American Political Science Review wrote a year later. In addition, he established Farmers State Bank. The conviction forbade Ferguson to hold "any office of honor, trust, or profit" in Texas. [10][11] However, a letter from University chancellor Francisco Cigarroa in February 2014 said that Hall likely requested fewer than 100,000 pages. In July 1917, he was indicted for misappropriation of funds. Soon after, the alumni group began taking out ads in newspapers calling for the governors impeachment. Governor have not acted, then by proclamation of the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate. Rachel M. 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