Ferguson was born to the Reverend James E. Ferguson, and Fannie Ferguson near Salado in south Bell County, Texas. In July 1917, he was indicted for misappropriation of funds. Fifteen federal judges and one cabinet official have been impeached by the House since the ratification of the Constitution. He convened the commission, and the body approved that Barker write a letter to the Governor-elect. 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. Ferguson was on the ballot only in Texas, where he received 47,968 votes (9.9 percent of the vote in Texas, 0.2 percent of the vote nationwide). While there, legislators legally took up another matter, impeachment. Ferguson was also surpassed by three other unsuccessful candidates: Ferguson failed at his bid for the United States Senate in 1922, having lost in the Democratic runoff election to Earle Bradford Mayfield. Though he had signed legislation creating three new. After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. Against a lawsuit filed to prevent the Texas Democratic Party from listing him on the primary ballot, Ferguson argued that his impeachment trial ended without a conviction or judgment because he resigned his office before the Senate decided the case. And once again, there is talk of impeachment in the Legislature. 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 . Reprinted with permission from the Handbook of Texas Online, a joint project of the Texas State Historical Association and the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin. In retaliation, Ferguson vetoed the entire appropriation for the university. It appears that neither governor was brought to trial. He lost the 1922 Democratic Primary race for U. S. Senate by a wide margin. [10], After being re-elected in 1916, Ferguson vetoed the appropriations for the University of Texas. Texas History Minute: Jim Ferguson only Texas governor to be impeached, removed. 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. James Edward Ferguson Collection, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Ferguson was convinced that Vinson was behind the protest. The Regents refused. The Constitution gives the House power to impeach the president, officials appointed by the president (including cabinet officers) and judges. Its hard not to like the down-home folksy style that made Texas Gov. Some have said Hall is being targeted for uncovering evidence of political favoritism with respect to admissions processes.[6]. Connally, John Bowden, Jr. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. The report concluded that Hall had a legitimate reason for having the documents in question. Jim "Pa" Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. Early in his second term the governor became involved in a serious quarrel with the University of Texas. Eight governors have been removed from office through impeachment. In 1903, Ferguson was elected as city attorney in Belton, Texas. But the day before the conviction was certain to come down. State executives | Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Instead, the House immediately turned its attention to 21 articles of impeachment. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Norman D. Brown, Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas Politics, 1921-1928 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1984). The regents refused. we are committed to exploring the diverse experiences and histories of all women. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. After he was appointed in 2011, Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout scandals within the University of Texas system. He blamed his directors for running a shoddy operation. Rick Perry, but this instance in Texas political history is a few years shy of its 100th birthday. Southwestern Historical Quarterly 86 (October 1982). W. V. Howerton, ed., Facts on Ferguson: A Review of the Impeachment and a Reply to Charges Made by Ex-Governor Ferguson (Austin, 1918). Only the governor can do that. General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services. Ferguson's attack against Mayes resulted in a drive by the legislature to impeach Ferguson. Three new normal schools were authorized. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, so he had his wife run in his place. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. She was reelected in 1932 and served January 17, 1933 January 15, 1935. Jim Ferguson got in trouble for throwing his weight around, and for using the publics money as a personal slush fund. ex-governor banned from holding state office. StrongJanuary 29, 202010:48 amArts & Culture, Stories From Texas, Bain News Service /Wikimedia Commons [Public domain]. The Arizona House and Senate impeached Mecham, a Republican, in 1988 after a state grand jury convicted him on six felony charges of fraud, perjury and filing false documents. He left home at sixteen and wandered for two years through the states of the Far West, where he lived by accepting any employment offered. we are currently accepting new members. 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. [5], He also became active in the Democratic Party and managed several local political campaigns. Hall investigated the university's forgivable-loans program and admissions policies and preferential treatment to politically-connected individuals. In 1928, for the first time since 1914, Ferguson was not an active participant in a political campaign, but even then he took some interest in the race for the governorship and gave his support to Louis J. Wardlaw. Seven of the charges related to misapplication of public funds, one to embezzlement, and one to the diversion of a special fund. He later ran anyway, claiming that he had resigned before he was convicted. Ferguson was indicted on nine charges in July 1917. Low 54F. He was associated with the Farmers State Bank of Belton for several years and was a member of the Texas Bankers Association. Dictionaries thesauruses pictures and press releases. U.S. Congress | The day before he was thrown out of office he resigned, saying it didn't count. Counties | Only two elected officials in the history of Texas have ever been successfully impeached. Her most recent publications include contributions to Texas Women: Their Histories, Their Lives and Discovering Texas History. Carrillospent three years in a federal penitentiary. When James Ferguson failed to get his name on the ballot in 1924, Miriam entered the race for the Texas governorship. Similarly, the Texas constitution gives the lower house of the legislature power to impeach judges, the governor, and statewide elected officials. He told the UT president, Dr. Robert E. Vinson, that he wanted them fired. In 1924, unable to run under his own name, he Mr. Ferguson, known as "Pa", ran his wife's campaign for the governorship against Judge Felix Robertson, the candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. At the same time, officials had begun looking into Fergusons finances. Impeached. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. On July 21, 1917, in the midst of the excitement, Ferguson appeared before the Travis County grand jury, and several days later it was announced that he had been indicted on nine charges. Three others dealt with the veto of university funding as an abuse of power and official oppression. 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. by Nicole Shealy [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." Eight governors have been removed from office through impeachment. Dictionary of American History. Preliminary investigations failed to uncover any charge that would merit impeachment, and for a time the incident seemed closed. The convention did not endorse Ferguson, but the other anti-prohibition candidates withdrew from the race. They then sent the charges to the State Senate for trial. James Ferguson. Two years later they lost a reelection bid amid new scandals concerning excessive pardons and political patronage abuses. The Court of Impeachment, by a vote of twenty-five to three, removed Ferguson from office and made him ineligible to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under the state of Texas. 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. Impeachment is the equivalent of an indictment. [17] Governor of Texas Rick Perry's spokesperson said the investigations send a "chilling message" to gubernatorial appointees. To impeach, the House simply needs a majority vote on the different charges involved. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than two dozen books, most recently Anti-Black Violence in Twentieth-Century Texas. Ferguson declared that the Legislature was nothing more than a kangaroo court," resigned a day before the official conviction, and was steadfast in his beliefs that the judgment didnt apply to him, according to Rutherford. . ." She would serve one more term as governor from 1933 to 1935. Even during the workday Christina De La Cruzs family is rarely far away. The following sections are outlined in Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. Jordan, Barbara Charline Their campaign slogan: Two governors for the price of one.. FERGUSON IMPEACHMENT FERGUSON IMPEACHMENT. She served two nonconsecutive two-year terms as governor: January 20, 1925 January 17, 1927. 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 . The colleges were permitted to begin building programs, and the educational appropriation bills were more generous than usual. Ross Phares, The Governors of Texas (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1976). There were . During Ferguson's first term, the legislature passed several measures of major importance. 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