Hiram Warren Johnson Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

HIRAM WARREN JOHNSON (1866-1945) made his reputation by successfully prosecuting San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz and political boss Abe Ruef for corruption (1907), after the preceding federal prosecutor was gunned down in the courtroom. Johnson was elected twice as Governor of California (1911-1917) and to five terms as US Senator (1917-1945). He was Teddy Roosevelt's running mate on the Progressive ("Bull Moose") ticket in 1912, losing to Democrat Woodrow Wilson but outpolling Republican incumbent William Howard Taft. He sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 1920 and 1924. As Governor, Johnson secured passage of most of the progressive agenda: direct election of Senators, women's suffrage, ballot initiative and referendum, and recall of public officials. (As California's numerous ballot initiatives and the 2003 gubernatorial recall election demonstrate, these changes have had a lasting impact on the state's politics.) Elected to the Senate as a progressive Republican, Johnson supported most of Democrat Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, but as an isolationist he strongly opposed FDR's foreign policy. He is the only Senator to have voted against both the League of Nations and the United Nations. Johnson is famous for declaring in 1918 that in war, "truth is the first casualty."