Augustus Owsley Stanley

Augustus Owsley Stanley I (May 21, 1867 – August 12, 1958) was an American politician from Kentucky. Being a former member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. From 1903 to 1915, Stanley represented Kentucky's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he gained a reputation as a progressive reformer. Beginning in 1904, he called for an antitrust investigation of the American Tobacco Company, claiming they were a monopsony that drove down prices for the tobacco farmers of his district. As a result of his investigation, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered the breakup of the American Tobacco Company in 1911. Stanley also chaired a committee that conducted an antitrust investigation of U.S. Steel, which brought him national acclaim. Many of his ideas were incorporated into the Clayton Antitrust Act.

During an unsuccessful senatorial bid in 1914, Stanley assumed an anti-prohibition stance. This issue would dominate his political career for more than a decade and put him at odds with J. C. W. Beckham, the leader of the pro-temperance faction of the state's Democratic Party. In 1915, Stanley ran for governor, defeating his close friend Edwin P. Morrow by just over 400 votes in the closest gubernatorial race in the state's history. Historian Lowell H. Harrison called Stanley's administration the apex of the Progressive Era in Kentucky. Among the reforms adopted during his tenure were a state antitrust law, a campaign finance reform law, and several labor laws. In 1918, Stanley was chosen as the Democratic nominee to succeed the recently deceased senator Ollie M. James. Stanley was elected, but did not resign as governor to take the seat until May 1919 and accomplished little in his single term. He lost his re-election bid to Frederic M. Sackett in the 1924 Republican landslide and never again held elected office. He died in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 1958.

Early life Augustus Owsley Stanley was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, on May 21, 1867; he was the eldest of seven children of William and Amanda (Owsley) Stanley. His father was a minister of the Disciples of Christ and served as a judge advocate on the staff of Joseph E. Johnston in the Confederate Army. His mother was the niece of former Kentucky governor William Owsley. He attended Gordon Academy in Nicholasville, Kentucky, and the Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical College (later the University of Kentucky) before graduating with an A.B. from Centre College in 1889. At both Centre and Kentucky A&M, he competed at the State Oratorical Contest, becoming the only such competitor to represent two different institutions. While he held these positions, he studied law under Gilbert Cassiday. He was admitted to the bar in 1894, and opened his practice in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. He continued to practice law in Flemingsburg until March 1898 when he moved to Henderson because of financial hardships. The bill was defeated by extensive lobbying efforts by the American Tobacco Company. The bill passed the House, but the Senate stripped Stanley's provision.

Stanley gained national notoriety for his actions against U.S. Steel. In 1909, he introduced a resolution calling for an investigation of the company, but it died in the House Rules Committee. A second resolution, introduced in June 1910, passed the House, but was ignored by President William Howard Taft. Stanley introduced a stronger resolution later that month, but it was killed in committee. After Republicans lost control of the house in the 1910 congressional elections, Stanley reintroduced his resolution. House Speaker Champ Clark appointed him as chairman of a nine-member committee to investigate U.S. Steel.

The committee's investigation lasted from May 1911 to April 1912. At its conclusion, the committee split along party lines. Stanley authored the majority report which condemned alleged price fixing by U.S. Steel and censured President Theodore Roosevelt for his role in U.S. Steel's purchase of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company. The minority report, authored by Republican Augustus P. Gardner, absolved Roosevelt and downplayed the price fixing charges. Stanley's report also recommended a number of changes to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Though his recommendations were not enacted into law during his time in the House, many of them were eventually included in the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.

1914 senatorial bid J. C. W. Beckham became Stanley's political enemy for the duration of his political career. alt=Black-and-white photo of a cleanshaven man, about 45, wearing a suit and tie. Although he had no serious challengers for his House seat, Stanley declined to seek re-election in 1914, choosing instead to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was one of three Democrats seeking the seat, the others being Governor James B. McCreary and former governor J. C. W. Beckham. McCreary was never a serious challenger, and the primary campaign centered on Stanley and Beckham, the leaders of the two largest factions of the state's Democratic party. Stanley, an opponent of prohibition, criticized Beckham's position as hypocritical, saying of pro-temperance politicians in general and Beckham in particular "They keep full of booze and introduce bills to punish the man who sells it to them." "[Beckham] would sell out the world to go to the Senate," he added. Beckham secured the Democratic nomination by almost 7,000 votes and went on to win the seat in the general election. Stanley was the choice of the anti-prohibition faction of the party, while state superintendent Harry V. McChesney represented the prohibition faction, backed by Beckham. Stanley won the nomination with 107,585 votes to McChesney's 69,722. The Republicans nominated Stanley's close friend Edwin P. Morrow.

Stanley was a powerful orator who used dramatic flourishes to emphasize his points. He would often loosen his tie before he ever started speaking, and by the end of his speech have thrown off his vest and coat. When Stanley took the podium, he remarked, "That just goes to show you what I have been saying all over Kentucky. Ed Morrow plain makes me sick to my stomach."

The election was too close to call on election night. Knowing that a challenged election would be decided by the heavily Democratic General Assembly, Morrow conceded a week later. Official results showed that Stanley won the election by 471 votes, the closest gubernatorial vote in the state's history.

Historian Lowell H. Harrison called Stanley's administration the apex of the Progressive Era in Kentucky. The most significant legislation passed during the 1916 legislative session were a state antitrust law and a ban on railroads offering free passes to public figures. Other accomplishments included initiating the state's first budget program, enacting its first workman's compensation law, and instituting a convict labor law.

Stanley called the General Assembly into special session in February 1917. At issue was reform of the state's tax code, which Stanley felt unjustly burdened agricultural interests. Though Kentucky was in better shape financially than many of its peers, Stanley still sought to balance the budget. Assessments on the value of property, which had typically been evaluated at one-third to one-half of fair market price, rose dramatically. To balance this increase, legislators reduced the tax rates on certain types of property. The amendment failed by a vote of 20–14 in the state senate. In 1919, Kentucky was the first "wet" state to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment, enshrining prohibition into the national constitution. Stanley appointed George B. Martin to finish James' term, which was to expire on March 3 of the following year. His opposition to prohibition cost him the support of pro-temperance voters and Democratic governor William J. Fields. He was also opposed by the Ku Klux Klan, then a powerful organization in the state, because of his opposition to bigotry and secret organizations. His Republican opponent Frederic M. Sackett secured the support of the Beckham wing of the Democratic Party. Despite having his own private stock of liquor, Sackett took a pro-temperance position in the campaign and was endorsed by the Anti-Saloon League.

Later life and death Following his defeat in the Senate, Stanley returned to his legal practice. In the 1927 gubernatorial election, he threw his support to his old enemy, J. C. W. Beckham, hoping to improve his chances of returning to the Senate in 1930. Beckham lost to Republican Flem D. Sampson, greatly diminishing Stanley's chances in the senatorial campaign.