John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham (August 5, 1869 – January 9, 1940) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 35th governor of Kentucky and a United States senator from Kentucky. He was the state's first popularly-elected senator after the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment.
Descended from a prominent political family, Beckham was chosen as the running mate of Democratic nominee William Goebel in the 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election. Although Goebel lost the election to Republican nominee William S. Taylor, the Kentucky General Assembly disputed the election results. During the political wrangling that followed, an unknown assassin shot Goebel. A day later, the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give the election to Goebel, who was sworn into office on his deathbed. Taylor claimed the election had been stolen by the Democratic majority in the General Assembly, and a legal fight occurred between him and Beckham over the governorship. Beckham ultimately prevailed and Taylor fled the state. Beckham later won a special election to fill the remainder of Goebel's term and then an election in his own right in 1903.
In 1906, during his second term as governor, Beckham made a bid to become a U.S. senator. His favorable stance of prohibition cost him the votes of four legislators in his own party, and in 1908, the General Assembly gave the seat to Republican William O. Bradley. In 1914, Beckham secured the seat by popular election, but lost his re-election bid in 1920, largely due to his pro-temperance views and opposition to women's suffrage. He continued to play an active role in state politics for another two decades, but never returned to elected office, failing both in his 1927 gubernatorial bid and his 1936 senatorial campaign. He died in Louisville in 1940.
According to one study, Beckham represented “the more liberal elements” of the Kentucky Democratic Party.Divide and Dissent Kentucky Politics, 1930-1963 By John Ed Pearce, 2021
Early life He was born in Wickland, near Bardstown in Nelson County, Kentucky, son of William Netherton and Julia Tevis (Wickliffe) Beckham.Harrison, p. 65 His maternal grandfather, Charles A. Wickliffe, was governor of Kentucky from 1839 to 1840 and served as postmaster general in the administration of John Tyler.Burckel in Kentucky's Governors, p. 137 His uncle, Robert C. Wickliffe, served as governor of Louisiana.
Beckham obtained his early education at Roseland Academy in Bardstown. In 1881, he served as a page in the Kentucky House of Representatives at 12.Burckel in Register, p. 288 Later, he enrolled at Central University (now Eastern Kentucky University) in Richmond, Kentucky, but was forced to quit school at 17 to support his widowed mother.Finch, p. 38 Two years later, he became principal of Bardstown public schools, from 1888 to 1893.
Concurrently, he studied law at the University of Kentucky, where he earned his law degree in 1889. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Bardstown in 1893. He also served as president of the Young Democrats' Club of Nelson County.
Political career Beckham's political career began in 1893, when he was elected without opposition to the Kentucky House of Representatives.Powell, p. 78 He served four consecutive terms and was its Speaker in 1898, his final year in the House. He also served as a delegate to every Democratic National Convention from 1900 to 1920.
Governor of Kentucky Democrat William Goebel chose Beckham as his running mate in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899. Goebel was hesitant about the selection because he wanted someone who could deliver the vote of his home county in the general election, and Beckham's native Nelson County was already committed to a rival candidate. However, friends of Goebel assured him that Beckham would be loyal to Goebel's reform agenda, but the two other men Goebel was considering as running mates would "stack the Senate committees against him." Beckham was not yet 30, the minimum age to serve as governor, at the time of his selection.
Goebel lost a close election to Republican William S. Taylor. When the General Assembly's session opened on January 2, 1900, the election results were immediately challenged.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 94 With Democrats in control of both houses of the Assembly, the results seemed sure to be reversed.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 95 The Assembly was still deliberating on January 30, 1900, when Goebel was shot by an unknown assailant as he entered the state capitol building.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 100 The following day, as Goebel was being treated for his wounds at a local hotel, the General Assembly invalidated enough votes to give him the election.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 105 Goebel was sworn into office from his bed the same day. Three days later, Goebel died, never having risen from the bed.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 108
Legislative chaos ensued, as Taylor refused to acknowledge the Assembly's decision and vacate the governorship. The Republicans in the legislature obeyed Taylor's orders, but the Democrats ignored Taylor and followed the orders of their leadership. Finally, on February 21, 1900, Taylor and Beckham agreed to let the courts settle the matter. The case first went before the Louisville Circuit Court, which found in favor of Beckham. Republicans appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, then the court of last resort in the state. On April 6, 1900, the Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the lower court. Taylor appealed to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case on May 21, 1900. Taylor's only supporter on the court was John Marshall Harlan, from Kentucky.Klotter in William Goebel, pp. 111–114
After the Supreme Court ruling, Taylor fled to Indianapolis, Indiana, fearing he would be implicated in Goebel's assassination.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 114 Beckham remained governor, but because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the election, a special election was held on November 6, 1900, to determine who would complete Goebel's unexpired term. Beckham, now of age, won the election over Republican John W. Yerkes by fewer than 4,000 votes. Shortly afterward, Beckham married Jean Raphael Fuqua, of Owensboro. The couple had two sons.
As governor, Beckham sought to unite his party and the state by supporting changes to the blatantly-partisan Goebel Election Law, which had been authored by his late running mate while the latter was a member of the General Assembly.Burckel in Register, p. 289 He stressed non-controversial issues, such as improvements to roads and the state's educational system. He recommended passage of a law to set uniform school textbook prices, a reform that both he and Goebel had advocated during the gubernatorial campaign.Klotter in William Goebel, p. 45 However, his passive leadership ensured that the General Assembly did little to address his agenda. Nevertheless, a number of positive reforms were realized during Beckham's term as governor. Amongst others,Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor 1903, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.394-397Encyclopedia of Kentucky By Nancy Capace, 1999, P.90 these included a tax increase that added a half million dollars to the state's revenue and a child labor law that forbade children under fourteen to work without their parents' consent.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, p. 205 A bill was also passed that regulated the payment of wages to coal miners, while an administration measure was approved that aimed to improve protections for those employed in the coal mining industry.
While seeking renomination in 1902, Beckham defended the record of the Democrats in Kentucky, arguing that the state was prospering under Democratic administration, and that “No one man is entitled to the credit of this improved condition of affairs, but surely the progressive spirit and liberal policy of the Democratic party has done its part to bring it about.”
Second term Although the Kentucky Constitution prohibited governors from serving consecutive terms, Beckham announced that he would seek a full term as governor in 1903.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, p. 206 His candidacy was challenged in court, but the court ruled Beckham had not served a full first term and so was eligible to run. His record of reconciliation and of supporting non-controversial reforms prevented significant opposition when he won the party's nomination.Burckel in Register, p. 290 His record also deprived his Republican opponent, Morris B. Belknap, of any significant campaign issue in the general election. Beckham defeated Belknap and three minor candidates.
In his message to the legislature in 1904, Beckham again raised the issue of a uniform school textbook law, which had not passed during his first term. The law was one of few significant reforms that passed during the 1904 session. Also during the session, funds were approved for building a new capitol building and a memorial to the late Governor Goebel.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, p. 207
In March 1904, Beckham signed the Day Law, mandating racial segregation of all schools in Kentucky. Berea College, a private college in eastern Kentucky that had been integrated since the 1850s, immediately filed suit to challenge the law. Its substance was upheld in the circuit court and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Berea appealed to the Supreme Court, which, in 1908, which decided, in Berea College v. Kentucky, against the college. Again, only Harlan dissented.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, pp. 153–154
Near the close of the 1904 session, legislators approved the creation of Beckham County from parts of Carter, Elliott, and Lewis Counties. Olive Hill was made the county seat. Soon, the county's existence was challenged in court on grounds that it fell short of the required by the state constitution and that it reduced the counties from which it was carved to less than . Carter County joined the lawsuit, claiming the border of Beckham County passed too close to Grayson, the seat of Carter County, and to Vanceburg, the seat of Lewis County. The state constitution forbade county borders from passing within of a county seat. On April 29, 1904, the Kentucky Court of Appeals found in favor of the plaintiffs and dissolved Beckham County.Harrison, p. 66 However, Beckham County, Oklahoma, was named in his honor at the suggestion of a Kentuckian who was serving as a delegate to Oklahoma's constitutional convention for statehood in 1907.
During the 1906 legislative session, Beckham urged investigation and prosecution of corrupt insurance companies by following the lead of New York attorney Charles Evans Hughes. In particular, he recommended reducing the practice of deferred dividends, which allowed the insurance companies to keep large stores of cash on hand for illegal purposes. He further advocated for insurance companies doing business in the state to be required to invest a certain percentage of their earnings in Kentucky to bolstering the state's economy and to provide policyholders some protection against fraud.Burckel in Register, p. 291
Beckham refused to send troops into the western part of the state to quell the ongoing Black Patch Tobacco Wars.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, p. 60 He cited constitutional reasons for his refusal, but more probably, his reasons were political. The Democrats were dominant in the region, and he wanted to avoid challenging his own party.
By collecting some old US Civil War debts from the federal government, Beckham also virtually eliminated the state's debt.Klotter in Portraits in Paradox, p. 209 Encouraged by the state's improved finances, the General Assembly voted to expand two of the state's normal schools: Western State Teachers College in Bowling Green (later Western Kentucky University) and Eastern State Teachers College in Richmond (later part of Eastern Kentucky University).Burckel in Register, p. 294