Robert La Follette Accomplishments

Wisconsin is know for its cheese. But a man named Robert La Follette, who was from Wisconsin, was one of the most influential people of the progressive era. From being a lawyer in his state, to fighting political bosses at the national level, Mr. La Follette did many different things, but he is most well known for pioneering the progressive movement from the 1890s to the 1920s in the United States of America. He was born on June 14, 1855, in Primrose, Wisconsin. His full name was Robert Marion La Follette, and his nickname was “Fighting Bob”. Mr. La Follette was a congressman from southern Wisconsin; he later became governor of Wisconsin. He was a popular leader. This was because he had oratiracal talents, natural charm, and organizational

He was also concerned about the large banks and corporations that practically ran the country at the time, such as Standard Oil and the JP Morgan bank. His progressive ideas got him elected governor of Wisconsin in 1900, 1902, and 1904. He helped make laws to tax railroads on the basis of their property, as well as to regulate them by commission. Mr. La Follette fought for direct primary elections, and surely enough, the Wisconsin legislature enacted the direct primary in 1903. He demand tax reform, corporation regulation, and political democracy. Along with the large banks and corporations, he was known as an enemy of political bosses. His hatred towards them started in 1891 when senator Philetus Sawyer had offered him a bribe, and Mr. La Follette publically exposed him for that. Although it was before he became governor, Mr. La Follette supported the McKinley tariff bill of 1890. In that bill, the tax rate on imports was significantly raised by about 50%. In 1900, he proposed and implemented the “Wisconsin idea”. This was very important to the progressive movement. The “Wisconsin idea” opposed political bosses, included direct primary nomination, railroad regulations, as well as tax

When World War 1 hit, he argued that the only reason we entered into the war was because U.S. businessmen needed protection for their investments. He became the leader of the 1917 Senate filibuster to stop arming American commerce ships and voted against the start of the war. He disapproved of the draft, protected the civil rights of the war's opponents, and urged that rich people and businesses pay for a war that mostly profited them. He never liked it when the United States interfered in foreign governments in the first place, so the war just angered him even more. He also believed that most Americans opposed the war, which was true initially, but eventually, more and more Americans grew enthusiastic for fighting in the war. As he said in his anti-war speech speech, Mr. La Follette disliked the resumption of unrestricted submarine attacks, and he ddn’t like the Zimmerman telegram as well. He believed those actions were responsible for increasing American enthusiasm for fighting in World War 1. In Wisconsin, there were many German-Americans. Robert La Follette, who was once their hero, became censored and disliked in his own state, due to his anti-war efforts. Millions of people supported his anti-war campaign at the same