Difference between revisions of "William R. Pattangall"
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Revision as of 18:08, November 6, 2021
William Robinson Pattangall (June 29, 1865 – October 21, 1942), also known as Patt or W. R. Pattangall (penname Stephen A. Douglas Smith), was a humorist, sage, and judge from Maine who served as the state's attorney general and judicial court justice. A Democrat for much of his life, he later switched party affiliation to become a Republican due to opposition towards the New Deal.[1][2][3]
Political career
In 1897 and 1901, Pattangall was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, and also served the mayor of Waterville, Maine from 1911 to 1913.[4] Originally a Republican, he later became a Democrat and supported Woodrow Wilson for president.
During the Democrat primaries in the 1920 presidential election, Pattangall favored the nomination of United States Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.[5]
1924 gubernatorial bid, opposition towards Ku Klux Klan
In 1924 amidst the presidential election that year, Pattangall ran for Governor of Maine, and faced Owen Brewster in the general election. Running as an anti-KKK candidate, the Klan subsequently supported Brewster, who stayed quiet.
Pattangall, who campaigned mainly against the Klan's support for Brewster,[6] lost the race by fourteen percentage points, only managing to carry one county.[7][8]
In the concurrent primaries for the presidential election, Pattangall led the effort to place an anti-KKK plank on the party platform.[9] By a margin of only one vote, proposal was defeated in a bitter intraparty fight.
He stated in September 1925:[10]
| “ | The fundamental wrong is in the Klan idea of what makes Americanism. It assumes that this quality can only be born in a man or woman who happens to see the light first on American soil, that it is born in all such, and that no one else can achieve it. It adds the charge that no Catholic or Jew can consistently be a good American, because his religious loyal-ties come first and are hostile.
... Americanism, of course, is really an ideal and a spiritual—faith in freedom, tolerance, humanity. It cannot discriminate because of color, birthplace, or creed; nor can it tolerate caste, class, or religious distinctions in politics, social life, or legal standing; especially it cannot for a moment endure the breeding and exploitation of hatred and prejudice as a means to sway public opinion and win political power. |
” |
—Pattangall, at The Forum | ||
References
- ↑ October 30, 2015. William Robinson Pattangall, Pembroke Genius. The Town Yappah'. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ Bullard, F. Lauriston (December 15, 1935). PATTANGALL GIVES MAINE A NEW STIR; Return to the Republican Fold After Many Years Another Mark of His Independence.. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ Grow, Mary (December 30, 2020). Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Maine Supreme Court Chief Justices from Kennebec Valley – Part 2. The Town Line Newspaper. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ Updated: June 23, 2017 Page 1 of 10 History of Mayors City of Waterville, Maine. City of Waterville, Maine. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ March 31, 1920. Maine Democrats Hail Wilson at Convention. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ September 8, 1924. Heavy Vote Is Likely.. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ ME Governor Race - Sep 08, 1924. Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ September 9, 1924. Fernald Increases Lead.. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ Davis, Elmer (June 29, 1924). Convention, by One Vote, Defeats Plank Naming Klan, Bryan, in Bitter Debate, Pleading for Party Unity; Proposal for League Referendum Wins, Despite Baker. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ↑ THe Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s: Collected Commentary. America in Class. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
External links
- Profile at Maine State Library
- Republican wins Maine Election – The New York Times, published September 9, 1913