Rice W. Means

Rice William Means (November 16, 1877 – January 30, 1949) was an American soldier, lawyer, and Ku Klux Klan leader. For three years, he was a Republican United States senator from Colorado - serving the remainder of his predecessor's term. He was defeated in the 1928 Republican primary by Charles W. Waterman on a wave of anti-KIan sentiment in the state.

Early life, education, and military service

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, he moved with his parents to Yuma County, Colorado in 1887. He settled in Denver in 1889, and attended the public schools and Sacred Heart College of Denver (now called Regis University).

During the Spanish–American War, he commanded a company in the Philippine campaign of 1899, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Means "distinguished himself before the fall of Manila by swimming the Singalon river to reconnoiter the Spanish works", escaping capture when he was spotted.

Returning from the war, he expressed a desire for the United States to permanently incorporate the Philippines, envisioning Manila surpassing Hong Kong as a trading center.

Means was elected commander-in-chief of the Army of the Philippines in 1913, and of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1914. He served during the First World War as a lieutenant colonel and commandant of the Fortieth Division School of Arms. He commanded the 4th Infantry in the Meuse–Argonne offensive.

Means was one of several candidates to have ties to the state's Ku Klux Klan organization. He served in the Senate from December 1, 1924, to March 3, 1927, chairing the Committee on Claims (Sixty-ninth Congress). During his tenure, he authored legislation deeming Armistice Day (later called Veterans Day) a national holiday in the United States.

In 1926, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection, as he was again defeated in the Republican primary, this time by Charles W. Waterman, who "rode to victory on the wave of anti-Klan sentiment". In 1927, he became president of the National Tribune Corporation and publisher of the National Tribune and Stars and Stripes in Washington, D.C. Means fiercely criticized the FDR administration in response to the enactment of the initial New Deal measures in 1933, declaring them to be the product of "ruthless, vicious propaganda" and "a stain upon the honor of the United States".

Means retired in 1937, and died in Denver on January 30, 1949, following a six-month bout with heart problems. He was interred in Denver's Fairmount Cemetery.