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  Joseph B. Foraker Campaign of 1908
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ContributorChronicler 
Last EditedChronicler  Jun 29, 2013 07:15pm
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News DateSunday, June 30, 2013 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0
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Joseph B. Foraker was a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1908. His campaign provides an interesting insight into the Republican Party at the end of the Theodore Roosevelt presidency.

Background

Foraker was already a leader in the Republican Party. As a leader of the "Young Republicans" in the 1880s, Foraker was elected Governor and served two terms. Although he was a successful Governor and enacted many reforms, he was defeated for a third term in 1889. In the mid-1890s, Foraker began to build a network of supporters around Ohio that was separate from the Mark Hanna organization. When the Republicans regained control of the legislature, they elected Foraker to the US Senate. He was a leader on foreign affairs, encouraging war against Spain and then sponsoring the Foraker Act to govern Puerto Rico.

During the Roosevelt administration, Foraker drifted away from his reform positions and became a leader of the conservatives in the Senate. He was in open opposition to the President by early 1906. He led the opposition to Roosevelt's railroad regulation bill as well as the administration's plan for admission of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona to the Union. Perhaps the nadir came when he proposed one of his partisans for Collector of Internal Revenue in Cleveland; the incumbent was a personal friend of Ida McKinley, who wrote President Roosevelt to ask for his re-appointment [NYT 1/27/1906]. Foraker also led the criticism of TR during the Brownsville affair in late 1906 [NYT 12/21/1906].

Foraker Enters the Presidential Race

In the middle of 1906, it became apparent that Taft was planning to run for President in 1908. Foraker's supporters announced that they would block his endorsement in Ohio [NYT 7/14/1906]. The first step in Foraker's attempt to win the Ohio delegates of 1908 took place when Foraker won control of the Ohio Republican State Convention [NYT 9/13/1906]. Foraker was emboldened when several Taft Republicans were defeated in the 1906 midterm election. In an effort to shift the energy of the situation, Taft announced his candidacy on 12/29/1906, nearly a year earlier than expected [NYT 12/30/1906]. He raised the stakes in Ohio when he made an arrangement with US Rep. Theodore E. Burton to unseat Foraker in the Senate [NYT 3/21/1907].

Undaunted, Foraker unleashed his own surprise. On 2/26/1907, Foraker called for a presidential preference primary in Ohio that would allow the voters to choose between him and Taft and a primary to allow Republicans to choose between him and Burton for the US Senate [NYT 3/27/1907]. Taft initially rejected the idea, but on 3/30/1907 Taft accepted Foraker's challenge [NYT 3/31/1907]. While the two men began laying the groundwork for a bitter primary in their home state, they were also battling each other in the South. Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock, a Taft supporter, visited Southern Republicans in the spring of 1907, possibly to talk with them about holding the line in the battle for delegates to the 1908 convention. Foraker's attacks on the Brownsville incident spurred his popularity in the South, where he was considered the front-runner [NYT 4/20/1907].

The situation was so tense in Ohio that party leaders feared a division in the state party. Walter Brown, state Republican chairman, asked the two candidates to suspend their campaigns until after the local elections of 1907 [NYT 4/30/1907]. Taft, encouraged by events, agreed to Brown's request the following day [NYT 5/2/1907]. Foraker was initially inclined to follow suit. However, it was increasingly clear that he was losing ground in Ohio and was likely to lose the presidential and senatorial nomination. On 5/12/1907 he vowed to end Taft's presidential campaign [NYT 5/13/1907]. Just four days later, George B. Cortelyou jumped into the presidential ring as another conservative Republican, as the conservatives worried that Foraker might not be able to hold Ohio [NYT 5/16/1907].

Foraker was increasingly desperate in the summer of 1907. He gave a blistering attack on TR and Taft at a Chatauqua and rejected an offer to drop out of presidential contention to focus on retaining his US Senate seat [NYT 7/30/1907]. The next day, the Ohio Republican Central Committee endorsed Taft [NYT 7/31/1907].

On 8/6/1907, Foraker gave a speech in Cleveland in which he laid the seeds of his own political demise. Referring to a recent fine of $29 million levied on Standard Oil, Foraker claimed credit, as he had helped draft the Elkins law that was used against the petroleum giant [NYT 8/7/1907]. The temporary political capital for his role was a major boost to Foraker's campaign.

Other developments helped to boost Foraker in late 1907. Republicans in Georgia officially endorsed his campaign on 8/28/1907. In the state convention, dominated by African American delegates, Foraker was called a "second Abraham Lincoln." They promised to work for him in other Southern states [NYT 8/24/1907]. Foraker spoke at the 100th anniversary of the founding of Hillsboro, Ohio, and said that "no higher duty rests on the American people at this time than that of setting their faces resolutely against all suggestions and plans that would destroy or impair the Constitution," a veiled reference to reform measures among the Republicans [NYT 9/19/1907]. In response to Foraker's ongoing vitriol, TR removed Foraker's patronage role, but this decision was not popular [NYT 10/1/1907]. In the municipal elections, US Rep. Burton lost his bid for Mayor of Cleveland; this, with the loss of other Taft Republicans, emboldened Foraker [NYT 11/17/1907]. The Ohio State League of Republican Clubs recognized the failure of Taft supporters in the local elections of 1907 and endorsed Foraker [NYT 11/21/1907]. Foraker officially made his declaration of candidacy by accepting the endorsement; in a surprise, he also stated that he was retiring from the Senate and would not stand for re-election [NYT 11/30/1907].

Delegate Selection - 1908

Taft took the initiative in early 1908. The Ohio Republican state committee met on 1/2 and approved a plan for delegate selection. A primary was scheduled for 2/11 in which candidates for delegates to the state convention would appear on an Australian ballot listed under the names Taft and Foraker. Attempts to amend the procedure failed by consistent votes of 14-7 [NYT 1/3/1908].

Local Ohio Republican organizations began to re-think their endorsements in early 1908. The Cuyahoga County party, one of the first to endorse Taft, was stinging from its 1907 defeat and rescinded its endorsement. All Taft supporters were removed from posts in the county party [NYT 1/7/1908].

During the following weeks, as Foraker worked to complete his slates of delegates for the primary, he filed a motion for an injunction to stop the primary from taking place, as some of its provisions were inconsistent with the Bronson Law [NYT 1/21/1908]. It was an irony that Foraker proposed to stop the preference primary, which was originally his idea. The motions moved quickly through the legal system and were rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court on 1/28 [NYT 1/29/1908].

In addition to his ongoing troubles in Ohio, Foraker was losing ground in the South. The Florida Republican state convention ended up divided. One faction chose Taft delegates, but supporters of Charles E. Hughes caused the other faction to appoint unpledged delegates rather than Foraker delegates [NYT 2/7/1908].

The all-important Ohio primary arrived on 2/11/1908. Foraker only managed to sponsor slates in 36 of the 88 counties, and these slates were crushed. Taft delegates won almost every contested race. Upon hearing the news in Washington DC, Foraker originally stated that he might call his own state convention to select delegates to the national convention [NYT 2/12/1908]. When the state Republican convention met on 3/3, Taft supporters removed all Foraker supporters from the state committee and appointed Taft delegates to the national convention [NYT 3/4/1908]. Taft won all district conventions but one, which appointed two Foraker delegates [NYT 5/17/1908].

As more delegates were appointed nationally to the national convention, the situation was increasingly dire for Foraker. He won additional delegates in the divided Florida party [NYT 4/22], and seceders from the Mississippi state convention sent Foraker delegates. Recognizing his challenges, Foraker said that he was considering running as an independent Republican [NYT 4/13/1908]. Throughout these weeks, Foraker was working in the Senate to reimburse black troops in Brownsville in a valiant attempt to right the improper decision by TR [NYT 5/14/1908].

When the Republican National Convention was held, Foraker received only 16 votes for President, a remarkably poor showing for one of only two contenders who mounted a national campaign.

The Archbold Letters

Although Foraker agreed to support Taft after his nomination, it soon became clear that Taft did not desire his help. William R. Hearst was given letters from Standard Oil from 1902 that documented that Foraker was on the company's payroll. A letter dated 1/27/1902 stated that it was sent along with "$50,000, per our understanding." The letters, sent by J.D. Archbold, showed that Foraker had an unethical, if not illegal, relationship with Standard Oil [NYT 9/19/1908]. The letters seriously damaged Foraker's reputation, and Taft stated on 9/19 that he did not want to appear with Foraker. The Senator attempted to explain away the monetary gifts, but that same day additional letters came out that further tarnished him [NYT 9/20/1908].

The Archbold letters were the final nail in the coffin of Foraker's career and helped explain his shift from a reformer to the leader of the conservative Republicans in Congress.

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