Joseph Taylor Robinson was an American politician from Arkansas born on 26. 08. 1872. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Majority Leader of the United States Senate and as the 23rd Governor of Arkansas.
Background
Joseph Taylor Robinson was born in a log house on a farm northwest of Lonoke, Arkansas, United States the ninth child and fourth son in a family of eleven children. His father, James Madison Robinson, a country physician, Baptist minister, and landowner, was a native of New York State who had moved to Arkansas in 1844. His mother, Matilda Jane (Swaim) Robinson, who was part Indian, was born in Columbia, Tennessee
Education
Though he had little formal education, Robinson received a teacher's certificate at seventeen and taught school for two years. He then attended the University of Arkansas for two years, leaving after 1892 to study law with Judge Thomas C. Trimble in Lonoke. He was admitted to the bar in 1895.
Career
Robinson began his public career in 1894 by winning election to the state legislature, where during his one term he joined the forces favoring railroad regulation. He left office to practise law, until he won election to Congress from the 6th Arkansas district in 1902. During his five terms as Congressman (1903 - 13), Robinson generally aligned himself with the moderately progressive elements. He favored federal regulation of railroads, of child labor, and of trading in cotton futures; he supported the income tax and woman suffrage amendments to the Constitution, the maintenance of a large navy, the establishment of parcel post service and postal savings banks, and restriction of immigration by means of a literacy test. In 1912 Robinson was elected governor of Arkansas, defeating George W. Donaghey, who was seeking a third term. When Senator Jeff Davis died early in January 1913, Robinson demonstrated his power in Arkansas politics by having himself elected by the legislature to Davis's seat (January 28, 1913). He did not, however, resign the governorship until March 10; during the interim he directed an active session of the Arkansas legislature, aiding in the enactment of a corrupt practices act, the establishment of a bureau of labor statistics, revision of the state banking laws, and authorization for the building of dams across non-navigable streams for hydroelectric power. Robinson preferred a local option policy for liquor regulation, but he signed the state prohibition bill passed during that session. Although he had backed Champ Clark for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912, Robinson consistently supported President Wilson's policies in the Senate, and he took sharp issue with those Senators who opposed the declaration of war in 1917. He favored the League of Nations and loyally fought to gain senatorial ratification of the Treaty of Versailles without reservations. By 1920 Robinson had become a leading figure in the Senate. Although his name was not connected with any piece of major legislation, he had won the confidence and respect of party leaders by his effective behind-the-scenes work. His election as Senate Democratic leader in 1923, succeeding Oscar W. Underwood, reflected his stature. Although an able leader of men and spokesman for party policies, Robinson rarely took the lead in the formulation of those policies. He had few criticisms of the American business system, and chambers of commerce and manufacturers' associations found him a congenial and agreeable speaker at their conventions. But as Democratic leader during the 1920's he spearheaded the attack against the Republican administrations, opposing high tariffs, the tax-cutting program of Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, and exorbitant campaign expenditures; and he fought for increased veterans' benefits and for flood control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Although he was later to guide the passage of the New Deal's Tennessee Valley Authority Act, during the twenties Robinson refused to support Senator George Norris's plan for federal power development at Muscle Shoals. A strong internationalist, Robinson was often a delegate of the United States at international meetings, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (1921, 1923, and 1934) and the London Naval Conference (1930). He fought continuously for American membership in the World Court. He believed the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact to be a good gesture, although he warned of its limitations. At the same time, he was known as a "big navy" man. Robinson reached a high point in his political career when he was nominated for vice-president in 1928. He was an ideal choice to counteract the strong anti-Catholic, anti-wet, and anti-Tammany sentiment in many parts of the country directed against Democratic presidential nominee Al Smith. Because of his loyal and earnest efforts during the campaign Robinson emerged from the defeat in a stronger position among Democratic leaders. After the depression broke in 1929 he announced that he and the Democrats would cooperate with the Hoover administration's emergency program; however, he soon broke with Hoover over the latter's primary concern with economy and over drought and farm relief. Although Robinson was not among Franklin D. Roosevelt's original backers, as Senate majority leader he became the spokesman for his administration on almost every issue. Only once, when he joined with others to override Roosevelt's veto of the Patman (Soldiers' Bonus) Bill in 1936, did he break with the President on a major issue. Robinson's loyalty to the administration is perhaps best exemplified by his efforts to push through the Senate the Judiciary Reorganization Bill providing for the appointment of an additional Supreme Court justice for each septuagenarian remaining on the bench. This measure was not popular, and many leading Democrats deserted the President. It was in the midst of this "court fight" that Robinson was fatally stricken with a heart attack at his apartment in the Methodist Building in Washington. It had been widely reported that Robinson was to be rewarded for his work with a Supreme Court seat, and President Roosevelt seems actually to have offered him such an appointment, through Postmaster-General James A. Farley, shortly before Robinson's death. Robinson's work in the Senate was often spectacular and sometimes dramatic. Although the only major piece of federal legislation which bears his name is the Robinson-Patman Act of 1936, which was designed to eliminate price discrimination tending to promote monopoly or reduce competition, many other legislative accomplishments are concealed behind the names of other men, who acknowledged his part in drafting and passing scores of bills. He was recognized as an able parliamentarian and a keen and vigorous debater. Although he was generally known, during the New Deal administration, as a southern conservative, his earnest work on behalf of two progressive Democratic administrations served the liberals' cause well.
Politics
Democratic leader during the 1920's he spearheaded the attack against the Republican administrations, opposing high tariffs, the tax-cutting program of Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, and exorbitant campaign expenditures; and he fought for increased veterans' benefits and for flood control of the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Connections
Robinson was married to Ewilda Gertrude Miller of Lonoke on December 15, 1896. They had no children of their own, but they contributed to the education and welfare of many young people.