Walter M. Pierce
| Walter Marcus Pierce | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Representative from Oregon's 2nd Congressional District From: March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1943 | |||
| Predecessor | Robert R. Butler | ||
| Successor | Lowell Stockman | ||
| Former Governor of Oregon From: January 8, 1923 – January 10, 1927 | |||
| Predecessor | Benjamin W. "Ben" Olcott | ||
| Successor | Isaac Lee "I. L." Patterson | ||
| Former State Senator from Oregon From: 1917–1921 | |||
| Predecessor | ??? | ||
| Successor | ??? | ||
| Former State Senator from Oregon From: 1903–1907 | |||
| Predecessor | ??? | ||
| Successor | ??? | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Clara Rudio (died 1890) Laura Rudio (died 1925) Cornelia Marvin | ||
Walter Marcus Pierce (May 30, 1861 – March 27, 1954) was the racist liberal Democrat from Oregon who was the state's governor in the 1920s and later was the U.S. representative from the 2nd congressional district.
Contents
Political career
Governor of Oregon
A progressive, eugenicist,[1][2] birth control advocate,[3] and ally of the Ku Klux Klan,[4][5] Pierce faced incumbent Republican Benjamin W. Olcott in the general election. During the campaign, Olcott issued a proclamation which denounced the Klan for three assaults the terrorist group perpetrated.[6] However, Pierce won the general election by fifteen percentage points.[7]
Pierce backed the Klan's agenda by supporting the Compulsory Public Education Act, which forced all children in the state to attend public schools.[5] It was especially aimed to prevent Catholics, who the KKK despised, from being able to send their children to private schools. Although the ballot measure passed by five percentage points,[8] the Act was struck down three years later in the United States Supreme Court case Pierce v. Society of Sisters,[5] where the unanimous opinion stated:[9]
| “ | The child is not the mere creature of the state. | ” |
Considered to have been liberal, Pierce pushed for the establishment of a statewide income tax and government-owned hydroelectric projects.[10] In 1923, he supported the Alien Property Act which sought to prevent Japanese immigrants from owning or leasing land.[4]
Pierce lost re-election in 1926 to Republican Isaac L. Patterson by twelve points.[11]
U.S. House of Representatives
After unsuccessfully running for the House of Representatives in 1928,[12][13] he was elected in the 1932 Democrat landslide.[14] An adamant New Dealer who supported big government policies,[4] he was re-elected four times before losing re-election in the 1942 Midterm Elections by over twenty points.[15]
Similar to a number of progressives during World War II such as California governor Culbert Olson, Pierce supported the internment of Japanese-Americans ordered by Roosevelt.[4][16] He also voted against the 1940 Gavagan-Fish[17] anti-lynching bill.[18]
Legacy
Nearly a century after the fight over schooling in Oregon during the 1920s, leftists including teachers' unions and BLM[19][20] have tried to undermine school choice and religious liberty using the same anti-Catholic attempts that Pierce and the Klan employed, ultimately going down in defeat after a 2020 Supreme Court ruling.[21]
See also
References
- ↑ Thompson, Sabrina (June 11, 2020). EOU still considering name change for Pierce Library. The Observer. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ↑ November 13, 2020. Board approves budget, de-names library. Eastern Oregon University. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ↑ McCoy, Robert R. The Paradox of Oregon's Progressive Politics: The Political Career of Walter Marcus Pierce. JSTOR. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Walter Pierce (1861-1954). Oregon Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 DeMarco, Donald (August 5, 2011). How Some Nuns Defeated the Ku Klux Klan. National Catholic Register. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Proclamation Against the Ku Klux Klan, 1922. The Oregon History Project. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ OR Governor Race - Nov 07, 1922. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Oregon Compulsory Public Education, Measure 6 (1922). Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Pierce v. Society of Sisters. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Gov. Walter Marcus Pierce. National Governors Association. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ OR Governor Race - Nov 02, 1926. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ OR - District 02 Race - Nov 06, 1928. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ OR - District 02 Special Election Race - Nov 06, 1928. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ OR - District 02 Race - Nov 08, 1932. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Candidate - Walter M. Pierce. Our Campaigns. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ A Mixed Reception: Japanese Americans Return to Oregon. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ FascinatingPolitics (July 1, 2018). On Ideology and Anti-Lynching Legislation. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ↑ TO PASS H.R. 801, A BILL TO MAKE LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
- ↑ Russell, Jason (September 8, 2016). Black Lives Matter leader quits over school choice. Washington Examiner. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Williams, Thomas D. (July 1, 2020). Catholic League Compares BLM and Democrats to Ku Klux Klan. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ↑ Berry, Susan (July 1, 2020). Lead Attorney in SCOTUS Espinoza Case: School Choice Critics Hiding Behind KKK Anti-Catholic Amendments. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
