Jonathan P. Dolliver
Iowa orator-senator who broke with Cannon and tied his state to railroad regulation.
Overview
Dolliver came to the House in 1889 at 31, gaining fame as a spellbinding orator in the McKinley cause, and was promoted to the Senate in 1900. Initially loyal to the old guard, he converted to Theodore Roosevelt's program, supported the Hepburn Act of 1906 strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in 1910 defied Speaker Cannon's machine in Iowa, defending the insurgent cause at home. He died suddenly in October 1911 amid a fight over tariff revision, and the Senate's response to his death marked how completely the insurgency had captured the middle west.
Related Topics
Henry Cabot Lodge
A Harvard-trained historian and close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, Lodge served in the House from 1887 to 1893 and the Senate fro...
Robert M. La Follette
After reforming Wisconsin's government as governor from 1901 to 1906 with direct primaries, railroad regulation, and expert commis...
Joseph G. Cannon
Cannon represented Illinois from 1873 to 1923 and held the speakership from 1903 to 1911, combining the chair, the Rules Committee...
George W. Norris
A Republican district judge, Norris entered the House in 1903 and wrote the 1910 resolution that removed the Speaker from the Rule...