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Joseph W. Bailey

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For his son, see Joseph Weldon Bailey Jr.
Joseph W. Bailey
Joseph Bailey c. 1910 to 1915
United States Senator
from Texas
In office
March 4, 1901 – January 3, 1913
Preceded byHorace Chilton
Succeeded byRienzi M. Johnston
House Minority Leader
In office
March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byJames D. Richardson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1901
Preceded bySilas Hare
Succeeded byChoice B. Randell
Personal details
Born
Joseph Weldon Bailey

(1862-10-06)October 6, 1862
Crystal Springs, Mississippi, C.S.A.
DiedApril 13, 1929(1929-04-13) (aged 66)
Sherman, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeFairview Cemetery in Gainesville, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materUniversity of Mississippi
OccupationLawyer and politician

Joseph Weldon Bailey Sr. (October 6, 1862 – April 13, 1929), was a United States senator, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, lawyer, and Bourbon Democrat who was famous for his speeches extolling conservative causes of his time, such as opposition to woman suffrage or restrictions on child labor. He served as a Congressional Representative between 1891 and 1901, and as the House Minority leader from 1897 until 1899. In 1901, he was elected to the Senate, serving until 1913. Historian Elna C. Green says that Bailey "was known in Texas as a rigorous defender of states' rights, constitutional conservatism, and governmental economy. His opponents considered him the symbol of privilege and corruption in government."[1]

Biography

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Born in Crystal Springs in Copiah County outside Jackson, Mississippi, Bailey attended the University of Mississippi at Oxford, where in 1879 he joined the prestigious Delta Psi fraternity (AKA St. Anthony Hall). He graduated with a law degree from Cumberland University in 1883 and was admitted to the bar in Mississippi that same year.[2] He moved to Gainesville, Texas, in 1885, where he continued to practice law.

He had been politically active as a Democrat in both Mississippi and his new home and had a reputation as an excellent public speaker who promoted Jeffersonian democracy. He was elected to the House in 1891 and quickly distinguished himself as leading advocate for free silver, which contributed to his election as Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives in 1897.[3] He exerted considerable influence on his colleagues, but also struggled to unify his divided caucus.[4] On April 14, 1897, some House Democrats, led by David A. De Armond sought to block a three day adjournment, a maneuver understood as a repudiation of Bailey's cooperative relationship with Republican Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed.[5]

Bailey's most severe disappointment as minority leader came in 1898, when he argued that congressmen who had accepted commissions to serve in the army without resigning from Congress had violated the Ineligibility Clause of the Constitution.[6] Despite Bailey's advocacy, a majority of Democrats opposed a motion to consider a resolution which would have removed several members from Congress who had simultaneously held commissions during the Spanish–American War.[6] The next day, Bailey declared that he would not be a candidate for minority leader in the next Congress.[6]

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1901. His political career was tarnished by an assault against Senator Albert J. Beveridge, an Indiana Republican. Subsequent investigations brought to light suspicious income and financial ties that Bailey had to the burgeoning oil industry. Nevertheless, financial allegations against Bailey in 1906 threatened his reelection to the Senate, a task then the prerogative of the Texas legislature, rather than party voters.[4] His tenure ended on January 3, 1913 when he resigned his Senate seat.[7]

After his defeat by Pat M. Neff in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1920, Bailey moved to Dallas to practice law. On April 13, 1929, he died in a courtroom in Sherman, Texas, having just sat down after completing an argument.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Green, Elna M. (1999). "From Antisuffragism to Anti-Communism: The Conservative Career of Ida M. Darden". Journal of Southern History. 65 (2): 291. doi:10.2307/2587365. JSTOR 2587365.
  2. ^ "TSHA | Bailey, Joseph Weldon". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  3. ^ Holcomb, Bob Charles (June 1968). Senator Joe Bailey, Two Decades of Controversy (Thesis). Texas Technical College. p. 86.
  4. ^ a b Caro, Robert A. (1990). The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power. Vintage Books. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-679-72945-7.
  5. ^ Holcomb 1968, p. 118.
  6. ^ a b c Holcomb 1968, p. 166.
  7. ^ "BAILEY, Joseph Weldon, (1862 - 1929)". Library of Congress. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  8. ^ "J. W. Bailey dies trying a lawsuit". The New York Times. Associated Press. 14 April 1929. p. 29. Retrieved 5 January 2023.

Further reading

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  • Acheson, Sam Hanna. Joe Bailey, The Last Democrat (New York, 1932)
  • Gould, Lewis. Progressives and Prohibitionists: Texas Democrats in the Wilson Era (U of Texas Press, 1973),
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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
New Title
 House Minority Leader
1897–1899 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 5th congressional district
1891–1901 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Texas
1901–1913 		Succeeded by
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