We help women historians thrive through events, resources, and community. Unlike federal offices, which require formal charges brought against an individual and in most cases criminal charges, the Texas Constitution does not provide specific grounds for impeachment. The Constitution gives the House power to impeach the president, officials appointed by the president (including cabinet officers), and judges. The Constitution gives Congress the power of impeachment in federal cases. Ferguson was removed from office and deemed ineligible to hold any position of honor, trust, or profit under the laws of Texas by the Court of Impeachment by a vote of twenty-five to three. And this current flap is far from over. [10][11] However, a letter from University chancellor Francisco Cigarroa in February 2014 said that Hall likely requested fewer than 100,000 pages. Despite his resignation, the State Senate voted 25-3 to convict, which meant that Ferguson could not seek another public office in Texas. Scandals of all sorts, from the brazen to the bizarre, have occurred for decades at all levels. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. W. V. Howerton, ed., Facts on Ferguson: A Review of the Impeachment and a Reply to Charges Made by Ex-Governor Ferguson (Austin, 1918). He vilified everything from fraternities to the faculty to the student body. | As a result of his actions, in 1917, Ferguson became the only Texas governor impeached and removed from office. youngest governor in Texas history. Jim Pa Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. The Senate removed Ferguson from office by a vote of 25-3. Despite the Senate's conviction, Ferguson sought to run for governor again in 1924. 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. The Texas Supreme Court disagreed, so he had his wife run in his place. Jessica Brannon-Wranosky concludes with an assessment of the historical memory of Fergusons impeachment throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Please subscribe to keep reading. He left home at 16, traveling and taking odd jobs until he returned to farm in Bell County. An overview by John R. Lundberg offers a comprehensive survey of the impeachment process. In addition, he established Farmers State Bank. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Jim "Pa" Ferguson became the first person in Texas to be impeached. Although he had never held office, he was not a stranger to political problems; he had done much work in keeping local-option prohibition from Bell County, had been one of the Bell County managers in the campaign of Robert L. Henry for Congress in 1902, had helped carry Bell County for Cone Johnson in his contest with Joseph Weldon Bailey in 1908, had served as a campaign manager for Robert V. Davidson in 1910, and had aided Oscar B. Colquitt in his successful gubernatorial campaign (1912). Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. How to vote | In 1925, Miriam became the first female governor of Texas after campaigning as a stand-in for her husband, and James E. Ferguson became the first gentleman of Texas for her two terms. Cities | In 1916 Ferguson's reelection seemed certain. In retaliation, Ferguson vetoed the entire appropriation for the university. The account said Ferguson accused the student protesters of committing treason against him. He only made the ballot in Texas, winning just under 10% of the vote. In 1903, Ferguson was elected as city attorney in Belton, Texas. . He only made the ballot in Texas, winning just under 10% of the vote. In 1917, barely into his second term as governor of Texas, James E. Ferguson was impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Though no Texas official has been impeached and removed from office at the state level since Ferguson, Texas politics has hardly been scandal-free. The accusations, apparently true, were typical of the corruption, graft, and manipulations of American public life. Title 6, Chapter 665 of the Texas Government Code addresses the impeachment and removal of public officers by the state house. These included misappropriation of state funds, falsification of records, unwarranted interference with the control of the University of Texashe directed the board of regents to fire a leading educator and prominent Democrat, A. Carswell Ellisand refusal to divulge the source of a personal loan of $156,500, a huge sum at the time. Hilder submitted the report to the legislative committee. Mrs. Ferguson served as the first lady of Texas during the gubernatorial terms of her husband (1915-17), who was impeached during his second administration. Ballot measures, Who represents me? Ferguson made bond of $13,000 and announced his candidacy for a third term as governor. [18] He added that the investigation was "extraordinary political theater. The State Senate reduced the charges to ten, half of which dealt with the transfer of the $5,600. Basically, he wanted five professors fired, for the unstated reason that they had spoken out publicly against his candidacy for governor. Dictionary of American History. Aside from the act instituting the highway department, the second Ferguson administration was marked by little in the way of important legislation. Barred from state office, he ran for president in 1920 on the American Party ticket. When Ferguson found that he could not have his way, he vetoed practically the entire appropriation for the university. KVUE is looking back at the history of some past Texas governors. Ferguson declared that the legislature constituted little more than a "kangaroo court," but only a few 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 charges were then sent to the state Senate for trial. He was indicted and impeached during his second term, but according to Ferguson technically impeached, after he resigned office. The controversy grew out of the refusal of the board of regents to remove certain faculty members whom the governor found objectionable. The vote was 25-3. He decided that the university president must resign, and when Vinson refused, Ferguson vetoed the universitys entire budget. Its president is in the crosshairs. Laws governing impeachment in Texas are governed by Article 15 of the Texas Constitution. Gulf of Mexico warming at faster rate than global ocean, study finds, As Texas STAAR test goes fully online, teachers feel defeated, Texas Education Agency projects confidence, Texas Standard for Feb. 23, 2023: Why many cotton farmers arent planting as much this year. The policy of state aid to rural schools was begun, and a rather timid law requiring compulsory school attendance was passed. the lieutenant governor James E. Ferguson Called on Tejanos to rise up/support the revolution; Called on other minorities to join Tejanos to carve out a republic from land US took from Mexico US Pancho Villa Mexican guerilla leader led an attack on Columbus NM (Mar. Donations by CCWH members and other patrons support CCWH awards and initiatives. Bruce A. Glasrud is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay, and retired dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Sul Ross State University. Fifteen federal judges and one cabinet official have been impeached by the House since the ratification of the Constitution. He became a lawyer in 1897, married Miriam A. Wallace in 1899, and expanded into real estate, insurance and banking. months before, both the House and the Senate had refused to sustain charges against him, and his removal from office was far from certain when the legislature convened in special session. 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). In the wake of the controversy, issues from Fergusons past campaign for governor in 1916 came back into the spotlight. [15][16] No unelected official in Texas has ever been successfully impeached or removed from office. An argument over spending tax dollars, an attempt to silence political opponents, and charges of a kangaroo court.. Other high-profile librarians voiced their support of Winkler, as did the son of an ex-governor, and a chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Animals talk; all you have to do is listen. For Trey and Carol South, love of animals feeds their souls, and clients are assured their pets . He liked to say he was no city slicker and no college dude. A government doesnt require educated fools to run properly. Instead, the House immediately turned its attention to 21 articles of impeachment. Kay Reed Arnold then follows the Ferguson story into the halls of academia at the University of Texaswhich Ferguson threatened to closesparking a fierce response by faculty, alumni, students, and, especially, the Womens Committee for Good Government. [1] Impeachments in Texas begin in the Texas House of Representatives which must cast a majority vote in favor of impeachment. The day before he was thrown out of office he resigned, saying it didn't count. House Speaker Franklin Fuller called a special session to consider charges of impeachment against the governor. Jordan, Barbara Charline In the United States legal tradition, impeachment is comparable to an indictment in a criminal court. [4], In Texas, two officials have been successfully impeached -- Governor James Ferguson in 1917 and Judge O.P. This independence made him critical of existing policies, earning him sufficient popular support to win office, but also the consequent wrath of the establishment that could have protected him from investigation. Legislators have accused Hall of abusing his power and targeting University of Texas, Austin President Bill Powers, while Hall maintains he was acting as a responsible regent investigating situations of clout and accountability problems within the University of Texas system. The question was eventually carried into the courts, where the judgment of the Court of Impeachment was sustained. [10], After being re-elected in 1916, Ferguson vetoed the appropriations for the University of Texas. Dr. Ken Bridges is a writer, historian and native Texan. Ballotpedia features 395,442 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. And she won. In order for an official to be impeached, articles of impeachment must be brought by the Texas House of Representatives. Lewis L. Gould, Progressives and Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973; rpt., Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1992). If the House adopts articles of impeachment, the Texas State Senate must then sit as the court of impeachment. Both women followed husbands who had served earlier. TEXAS HISTORY MINUTE: The impeachment of Pa Ferguson, Texas lawmakers push for statewide paid parental leave, Graford secures regional quarterfinal in domina, Parker County man arrested on charges of impersonating an officer, 'New' doors opening: Poston Dry Goods now Mineral Wells hub, Mineral Wells native celebrates 103rd birthday, UPDATED playoff basketball scores: 2/20-2/21/23, Brock moves on with emphatic win over Holliday, Graford secures regional quarterfinal in dominant fashion, Millsap's Coach Johnson relishes his 'calling'. Soon the talk of impeachment is echoing through the halls of the Capitol. This led to a special session being called by the Legislature, to press for Fergusons impeachment. During Ferguson's first term, the legislature passed several measures of major importance. Ferguson was so enraged by the demonstrators that he got into a yelling match with one of the student protestors and had to be restrained from climbing out of his window to fight them, according to The Impeachment of Jim Ferguson, a 1983 book by Bruce Rutherford. 2003, The Texas State Historical Association. 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. The excitement that greeted the veto was soon overshadowed by the greater excitement that surrounded the impeachment trial. The actual trial on those charges, and subsequent removal of an official on conviction on those charges, is separate from the act of impeachment itself. The Texas Legislative Code governs the process by which the Texas State Legislature can be brought into special session to address an impeachment proceeding. When James Ferguson failed to get his name on the ballot in 1924, Miriam entered the race for the Texas governorship. Only the governor can do that. In 1935, the Fergusons lost their ranch in Bell County because of financial troubles during the Great Depression. Ferguson's attack against Mayes resulted in a drive by the legislature to impeach Ferguson. Samuel Houston (1793-1863), American statesman and soldier, was the person most responsible for bringing Texas into the Union. And once again, there is talk of impeachment in the Legislature. The fight with the university touched off a massive scandal. Some legislators justified the impeachment on the grounds that Hall did not disclose several lawsuits that he was involved in when he originally completed his Regent background check. He was re-elected in 1916. [8] Hall, as an individual citizen, filed FOIA requests with the University system after his inquiries via his role as a Regent were rebuffed. When the House is not in session, there are three ways that the House may be convened for purposes of impeachment. The legislature passed generous appropriation bills, and the ad valorem tax rate reached the constitutional maximum of thirty-five cents. 9, 1916) Gen. John J. Pershing led US forces in a hunt for Villa from March 14, 1916 to Feb. 7, 1917 Two years later they lost a reelection bid amid new scandals concerning excessive pardons and political patronage abuses. "[19] Texas state legislators have never previously tried to remove an appointed official. Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Ross Phares, The Governors of Texas (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 1976). This might sound like the controversy involving UT System Regent Wallace Hall, an appointee of Gov. He was a popular figure, signing laws protecting sharecroppers and providing state funding for rural schools. James Edward Ferguson, also called Farmer Jim or Pa was born in Bell County in 1871. Impeachment is the power of a legislative body to address charges of impropriety or criminality by a government official, such as a governor or lieutenant governor. He ended up back in the Governors Mansion for a third time when she became the first woman governor in Texas history. After a trial, the Senate voted him out of office by a vote of 25-3 and banned him from holding any state office. Landowners were assured, however, that they need not be alarmed by the proposal, as it would benefit all concerned. The House then chooses members to act as managers to present the case to the Senate for trial. Ma placed a distant fifth. So, he quit ahead of time so he could then turn aroundand he was counting on coming right back and getting reelected. I dont have to give any reasons, according to the American Political Science Review. After he was appointed in 2011, Hall began looking into what he believed to be clout scandals within the University of Texas system. His law practice did not require all of his time, so Ferguson expanded his interests to include real estate and insurance and later turned his attention to banking. James Ferguson. The impeachment process begins with the House of Representatives. Heres where Ferguson made his first greatest legal blunder. He told Vinson that he fought him on this he was in for the biggest bear fight in Texas history. That fairly summarized his attitude about his power. Impeached provides a new examination of the rise and fall of Fergusons political fortunes, offering a focused look at how battles over economic class, academic freedom, womens enfranchisement, and concentrated political power came to be directed toward one politician. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? Eight federal judges have been convicted in the Senate and removed from office. . Similarly, the Texas Constitution gives the lower house of the legislature power to impeach judges, the governor and statewide elected officials. There are 150 members of the Texas State House. He became a lawyer in 1897, married Miriam A. Wallace in 1899, and expanded into real estate, insurance, and banking. Texas History Minute: Jim Ferguson only Texas governor to be impeached, removed. The Senate can call witnesses to testify and vote to convict with a two-thirds majority vote. He started his own newspaper that fall, Ferguson Forum, to promote his views that the impeachment was illegitimate. The chair of the State Library and Historical Commission, Eugene C. Barker, heard talk about these plans and intervened in support of Winkler. At 16, he left home and drifted through the states of the American West, working successively in a vineyard, a mine, a barbed wire factory, and at a grain ranch. 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