Knowra Robert M. La Follette Robert M. La Follette Robert M. La Follette was a Wisconsin politician who served as governor and U.S. senator, championed progressive reforms, and ran for president in 1924.
Wisconsin Idea : A political philosophy linking university expertise, public service, and democratic government in Wisconsin. La Follette made university scholars and research central to his state’s legislative reform program.
La Follette governorship : Robert M. La Follette’s tenure as Wisconsin governor from 1901 to 1906. As governor, he advanced tax, railroad, and political reforms that defined his Wisconsin program.
Belle Case La Follette : An American lawyer, suffragist, and political activist who supported progressive causes alongside her husband, Robert M. La Follette. She was a political partner and influential public advocate within the La Follette movement.
Political machine : A party organization that maintains power through disciplined control of nominations, patronage, and voter mobilization. La Follette’s direct-primary reforms aimed to break machine control over Wisconsin politics.
Direct primary : An election in which voters choose a party’s candidates directly rather than leaving selection to party conventions. Wisconsin adopted direct primaries under La Follette, weakening party bosses’ control over nominations.
La Follette Committee : A U.S. Senate committee led by La Follette that investigated labor conditions in the railroads during World War I. Its inquiry exposed workers’ long hours and helped establish federal limits on railroad labor.
Theodore Roosevelt : The 26th president of the United States, associated with conservation and the national Progressive movement. Their reform agendas overlapped, but La Follette opposed Roosevelt’s 1912 presidential candidacy.
William Howard Taft : The 27th president of the United States and a Republican leader who opposed several progressive reforms. La Follette challenged Taft’s influence within the Republican Party before leaving it.
Railroad regulation in the United States : Government oversight of railroad rates, services, and business practices in the United States. La Follette’s regulation of Wisconsin railroads became a signature test of progressive state power.
1924 United States presidential election : The U.S. presidential election in which Republican Calvin Coolidge defeated Democrat John W. Davis and Progressive Robert M. La Follette. La Follette’s independent candidacy won nearly five million votes and carried Wisconsin.
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