Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette was a long-term senator and the founder of the Progressive Party. In his career, he put in place some of the first laws that imposed federal regulations on business and also supported other laws that would help average people: middle-income families and farmers. He was a Republican but would decide to shape his career around his personal ideals instead of the party's ideas after witnessing rampant political dishonesty.
La Follette was inspired by other political ideas of the era, like the Grange movement or Populism. He believed that the issue of political corruption could only be remedied by the dissolution of the caucus system. In the caucus system, party members meet to choose the party's next candidates. He thought that the caucus system allowed only a few people to keep political power. He fought to change to a direct primary system, in which voters voted to choose candidates from a list of both Republican and Democratic contenders. He managed to win over many Wisconsin voters, and the primary system would soon come to be adopted by most states. His idea would become one of the Progressive Era's most longstanding accomplishments.
La Follette was inspired by other political ideas of the era, like the Grange movement or Populism. He believed that the issue of political corruption could only be remedied by the dissolution of the caucus system. In the caucus system, party members meet to choose the party's next candidates. He thought that the caucus system allowed only a few people to keep political power. He fought to change to a direct primary system, in which voters voted to choose candidates from a list of both Republican and Democratic contenders. He managed to win over many Wisconsin voters, and the primary system would soon come to be adopted by most states. His idea would become one of the Progressive Era's most longstanding accomplishments.
He was a strong advocate of transforming the Bureau of Labor into a cabinet-level Department of Labor in 1913. He also supported overseeing telephone rates and was an early leader of women's and civil rights.
In 1924, he ran for presidency as an independent, on the Progressive Party ticket. His platform proposed revolutionary ideas, such as the government takeover of railroads, getting rid of privately-owned utility companies, and also the passage of laws which protected workers' rights to organize unions.
His political ideals and movement later would contribute to the formation of liberal parties in Midwestern states. More significantly, it helped to shift the Democratic party to become more progressive and a greater advocate of change. Party leaders soon recognized that his ideas had great popular support from the working masses, they soon changed their ideals to better match La Follette's ideas.
Part of this legacy is during the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. During this time, Democrats in Congress enacted many reforms that would protect worker's rights and regulate big business as well as the financial markets.
In 1924, he ran for presidency as an independent, on the Progressive Party ticket. His platform proposed revolutionary ideas, such as the government takeover of railroads, getting rid of privately-owned utility companies, and also the passage of laws which protected workers' rights to organize unions.
His political ideals and movement later would contribute to the formation of liberal parties in Midwestern states. More significantly, it helped to shift the Democratic party to become more progressive and a greater advocate of change. Party leaders soon recognized that his ideas had great popular support from the working masses, they soon changed their ideals to better match La Follette's ideas.
Part of this legacy is during the Great Depression and Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. During this time, Democrats in Congress enacted many reforms that would protect worker's rights and regulate big business as well as the financial markets.