[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4449-S4455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         INDIANA SENATE HISTORY

  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, during my campaign for reelection in 1994, 
a number of Indiana papers published articles describing the fourth-
term jinx that had afflicted Indiana Senators and speculating whether I 
would be fortunate enough to overcome that jinx. Although five of my 
predecessors had each won three Senate elections, all of them had been 
defeated in their fourth race. Some of the most prominent and 
accomplished names in Indiana politics, including James Watson, Homer 
Capehart, Vance Hartke, and Birch Bayh had fallen victim to the fourth-
term jinx.
  The independent-minded voters of Indiana have never been shy about 
expressing their dissatisfaction with an incumbent. In fact, the 
average length of service among all Indiana Senators is just a little 
more than 8 years. Five Hoosier Senators held office less than a year. 
The shortest Senate service was that of Charles William Cathcart, who 
served less than 2 months of an unexpired term. Only 10 of the 43 
Hoosier Senators served more than 2 terms.
  One reporter--Mary Dieter, who covers Indiana politics for the 
Louisville Courier-Journal--added a twist to the fourth-term jinx 
story. She noted that even if I broke the jinx, I would not become the 
longest serving Indiana Senator upon being sworn in. That distinction 
would still belong to Daniel Wolsey Voorhees, who had served more than 
a year of an unexpired term before winning three of his own. He served 
in this body from November 1877 until March 1897.
  As a consequence of Voorhees' long tenure, not until today has this 
Senator passed the previous record for length of service by a Senator 
from Indiana. This day marks my 7,059th in office, passing the 7,058-
day record set by Voorhees.
  I am enormously grateful to the people of Indiana for granting me the 
opportunity to serve them; to my family for supporting my endeavors in 
public service; and to all my past and present colleagues in the Senate 
who have made my service here so rewarding and enjoyable.
  I would like to commemorate this occasion by paying homage to the 
important record of Hoosier service to the U.S. Senate. I regret that 
legislative history is a topic that rarely receives adequate attention, 
either in our schools or during deliberations in this body. So often 
our work in the Senate would improve with a greater understanding of 
the history that lies behind us and of our role as stewards of an 
institution that will survive long after all of us are gone.
  I have attempted in a small way to resist the erosion of Hoosier 
Senate history by asking my summer interns during the last few years to 
research Indiana Senators. Invariably my interns are surprised and 
bemused by the

[[Page S4450]]

parallels between our present legislative labors and the actions of 
long forgotten Senators. One wrote after researching the life of the 
venerable Oliver P. Morton: ``One of the greatest Hoosiers of all time 
has been forgotten. Let us recall him and learn from his experiences.''


                             Frontier Years

  Mr. President, although few Hoosiers have had long Senate careers, 
many of my predecessors made indelible contributions to the Nation. 
Curiously, only 16 of the 43 Indiana Senators--37 percent--were born 
within the State: 10 were born in neighboring Ohio; 4 were born in New 
York; 2 each were born in Pennsylvania and Virginia; 2 were born in 
foreign lands; and the remaining 8 came from assorted Eastern States.
  No Indiana Senator has ever been born west of the Mississippi River. 
For my Indiana Senate predecessors, the trek westward stopped at the 
Wabash River. In Indiana they found land that brought abundance, the 
confluence of great waterways, and a brand of frontier politics that 
proved irresistible to many young lawyers, farmers, and businessmen 
seeking to make names for themselves.


                              James Noble

  Ironically, one of Indiana's original Senators, James Noble, might 
have set an insurmountable record of service had he not died at the 
young age of 45. Elected by the Indiana Legislature in 1816 as a 
Democratic-Republican, he took office 5 days before his 31st birthday. 
He died during his third term on February 26, 1831. Noble's 14 years of 
service in the Senate would stand as a Hoosier record for three 
decades.
  Noble was a prominent lawyer who had played a central role in 
Indiana's constitutional convention and was a natural choice for 
appointment to the Senate by the Indiana Legislature. In the Senate he 
was a leading advocate for using Federal funds to improve the Nation's 
roads and waterways, and he was instrumental in securing appropriations 
to extend the Cumberland Road westward from the town of Wheeling, in 
Virginia at that time. He argued against the view held by some of his 
contemporaries that Federal spending on infrastructure improvements was 
unconstitutional. For Noble, building roads and waterways to bind the 
States together was a vital activity of the Federal Government.
  Noble and other early Hoosier Senators had been settlers of the 
Indiana Territory and had weathered the rigors of frontier life. 
Befitting a frontier Senator, Noble always insisted on traveling to and 
from Washington on horseback, rather than by stagecoach.
  Several Hoosier Senators participated in military campaigns against 
Tecumsah's Shawnees and other Indian tribes. Noble served as a colonel 
in the Indiana militia. Senator Waller Taylor, who was Indiana's other 
original Senator, served as Gen. William Henry Harrison's aide-de-camp 
during the War of 1812. Senator Robert Hanna, who replaced Noble, was a 
general in the Indiana militia.


                              John Tipton

  But the Hoosier Senator who epitomized the rugged life in a frontier 
State was John Tipton, an unschooled Tennessee native, who served in 
the Senate from 1832 to 1839. Tipton's father was killed by Indians 
when the boy was just 7 years old. By the time he crossed the Ohio 
River into Indiana at the age of 21, Tipton was already the breadwinner 
of his household. He settled his mother and siblings in Harrison 
County, where he earned a living as a gunsmith and farmhand.
  Tipton served under General Harrison during the Tippecanoe campaign, 
rising to the rank of brigadier general. After his military service, 
Tipton would become a justice of the peace, sheriff of Harrison County, 
Indian agent, and State legislator. He helped select the site for a new 
State capital that would become Indianapolis. He also did an official 
survey of the Indiana border with Illinois. Tipton strenuously but 
unsuccessfully maintained that a port on Lake Michigan called Chicago 
rightfully belonged within Indiana's borders.
  As Senator, Tipton continued to focus on frontier issues. He served 
on the Military Affairs and Indian Affairs Committees. Later in his 
term, he became chairman of the Committee on Roads and Canals, taking 
over from fellow-Hoosier William Hendricks. Like his predecessors in 
the Senate, Tipton fought for appropriations to build roads connecting 
Indiana with the East.

  As these roads were built and the Ohio River and Great Lakes were 
developed, the frontier pushed westward. By the 1840's, Indiana had 
developed from a frontier State into a burgeoning crossroads of 
commerce and travel. With this transformation, the men representing 
Indiana in the Senate tended to be better educated and more motivated 
by national political ambitions than their pioneer predecessors.


                            Edward Hannegan

  Senator Edward Hannegan, who served in this body from 1843 to 1849 
provides a good example. He was a renowned orator who sought 
unsuccessfully the Democratic nomination for President in 1852. The 
legendary Daniel Webster said of him: ``Had Hannegan entered Congress 
before I entered it I fear I never should have been known for my 
eloquence.''
  Hannegan's mix of rhetorical fire and elegance was demonstrated on 
one occasion when he took to the Senate floor to denounce President 
Polk for his offer to Great Britain to set the northern border of the 
Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel. Hannegan was a leading proponent 
of the expansionist view that was represented by the battlecry: ``54, 
40, or fight.'' Said Hannegan of Polk:

       So long as one human eye remains to linger on the page of 
     history, the story of his abasement will be read, sending him 
     and his name together to an infamy so profound, a damnation 
     so deep, that the hand of resurrection will never drag him 
     forth. . . . James K. Polk has spoken words of falsehood with 
     the tongue of a serpent.


                          Political Turbulence

  In any event, Mr. President, Indiana's position as a crossroads of 
the Nation was not limited to commerce and travel. Up to the present 
day it also has been a crossroads for American subcultures, economic 
forces, and political ideas. In his 1981 bestseller ``The Nine Nations 
of North America'', Joel Garreau conceptually divided the North 
American Continent into nine subregions according to their economic, 
social, and cultural identity. It is not surprising that Garreau placed 
Indianapolis at the very intersection of three of these regions: the 
industrial Midwest centered on the Great Lakes, the broad grain growing 
region of the plains, and the South.
  As a result, through much of its history, the cauldron of Indiana 
politics has been characterized by its swirling unpredictability. 
Viewed from a broad historical perspective, political parties in 
Indiana have never been able to dominate the landscape for long before 
they were toppled by their rivals. For example, only one time since 
1863 has the seat that I hold been passed between members of the same 
party. In the entire history of Indiana, the two Hoosier Senate seats 
have never been occupied by members of the same party for longer than 
16 consecutive years.
  The most turbulent time in Indiana politics was the Civil War era. In 
many counties, residents had considerable sympathy for the southern 
cause, while other Hoosiers were ardent abolitionists. Democrats who 
opposed the war and supported the South were known as ``Copperheads.'' 
Another group of Democrats opposed abolition, but wished to hold the 
Union together. Before the war, these Constitutional-Union Democrats 
backed political concessions to the South in the hope of preserving the 
Union without war. When war began, however, many Constitutional-Union 
Democrats reluctantly supported the northern war effort.


                              jesse bright

  Throughout the era of the Civil War and Reconstruction, at least one 
of the two Hoosier seats was occupied by a Democratic Senator with 
sympathies for the southern point of view. In 1862, one of these 
Senators, Jesse Bright of Madison, became the only Senator from a 
nonslave State to be expelled by the Senate for supporting the 
rebellion. The expulsion was all the more notable because Bright had 
served as President pro tempore from 1854 to 1856 and again in 1860. 
The catalyst for the expulsion was a letter from Bright to his friend 
Jefferson Davis written on March 1, 1861--more than a month before the 
attack on Fort Sumter. The letter introduced another friend, Mr. Thomas 
Lincoln, formerly of Madison, IN, to Davis.
  It read:


[[Page S4451]]


       My Dear Sir: Allow me to introduce to your acquaintance my 
     friend, Thomas B. Lincoln, of Texas. He visits your capital 
     mainly to dispose of what he regards [as] a great improvement 
     in fire-arms. I recommend him to your favorable consideration 
     as a gentleman of the first respectability, and reliable in 
     every respect.
           Very truly yours,
                                                     Jesse Bright.

  The discovery of the letter late in 1861 provided an opening to 
Republican Senators seeking to expel Bright for his southern leanings. 
The Senator not only voted against many wartime provisions, he owned 
slaves and a plantation in Kentucky.
  On December 16, 1861, Senator Morton Wilkinson of Minnesota 
introduced a resolution to expel Bright. Wilkinson contended that the 
letter and Bright's addressing of Davis as ``His Excellency Jefferson 
Davis, President of the Confederation of States'' amounted to a 
recognition of the legitimacy of the secession of Southern States. 
Bright responded that in the days before the war began, many leaders in 
the North continued friendly correspondence with acquaintances in the 
South and that his method of addressing Davis was nothing more than the 
polite use of a title.
  Although the Judiciary Committee recommended against expulsion, the 
Senate debate ran strongly against Bright. He was harshly denounced by 
Indiana's Republican Senator Henry S. Lane and by future President, 
Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. On February 5, with the Senate Gallery 
filled with onlookers, the Senate expelled Bright by a vote of 32 to 
14. His Senate career came to an end 1 month short of 17 years. Since 
the Indiana Legislature was under the control of the Democratic Party 
in 1862 when Bright would have been up for reelection, his expulsion 
denied him an almost certain fourth term.


                            Oliver P. Morton

  During the Civil War, Indiana was administered by Gov. Oliver P. 
Morton, the spiritual leader of the Indiana Republican Party. Morton 
went on to become one of the most important Senators of the era of 
Reconstruction and a national spokesman for the Republican Party. His 
likeness can be viewed today a few hundred feet away in Statuary Hall.
  Originally a Democrat, Morton broke with his party in 1854 over the 
Kansas-Nebraska Act. His views on the slavery question developed in 
much the same manner as those of Abraham Lincoln. Beginning in the late 
1850's, he was an outspoken critic of slavery. In one 1860 speech he 
denounced it as ``a moral, social, and political evil * * * a curse to 
any people, a foe to progress, the enemy of education and intelligence, 
and an element of social and political weakness.'' Like Lincoln, 
however, Morton carefully avoided advocating outright abolition, 
instead focusing on stopping the extension of slavery. But after the 
South seceded and the fighting began, Morton was a key ally of Lincoln 
in prosecuting the war and supporting the Emancipation Proclamation.
  Within a week of Lincoln's call for troops on April 15, 1861, Morton 
had organized 12,000 Hoosier recruits--a number three times Indiana's 
quota. Over the course of the war, Governor Morton continued to be one 
of the most effective troop organizers for the Union. Indiana 
contributed more than 200,000 soldiers to the Union war effort; all but 
17,000 of these were volunteers. Morton was revered by Hoosier troops 
because he used State funds to ensure that Indiana's soldiers were well 
clothed and equipped and to care for the widows and orphans of fallen 
Hoosiers. Like Lincoln, Morton was not timid about using the power at 
his disposal. He declared martial law in parts of southern Indiana to 
quell subversive activities by Copperhead groups. When the State ran 
low on funds, Morton bypassed the Democratic legislature, financing the 
war effort by borrowing from private bankers and soliciting 
contributions from citizens and businesses.

  In 1867 Morton began 10 years of service in the Senate. In 1865 he 
had suffered an apparent stroke that left him partially paralyzed. 
Despite his infirmity, he was a vigorous debater and party organizer 
who reveled in the political combat of the Senate. He became chairman 
of the Manufactures Committee and the Privileges and Elections 
Committee. He also served on the Foreign Affairs and Military Affairs 
Committees.
  But the central issue during Morton's time in the Senate was, of 
course, Reconstruction. Though he had supported Lincoln's magnanimous 
gestures toward the South immediately after the war, Morton gradually 
became convinced that an uncompromising and complete reconstruction of 
the South was necessary. He led the fight for passage and ratification 
of the 15th amendment which granted blacks the right to vote. To gain 
ratification by the necessary three-fourths of the States, he proposed 
a floor amendment requiring several Southern States to ratify the 15th 
amendment as a condition for reclaiming their seats in Congress. His 
hardball tactics ultimately prevailed, but they brought accusations 
that he was overly vindictive toward the South. To these charges, he 
replied: ``I want peace in the South. I want it as earnestly as any man 
can, but I want peace in the South on correct principles. I am not 
willing to purchase peace by conceding that they were right and we were 
wrong.''
  Morton died in 1877 before the end of his second term. With his 
passing, his seat fell into Democratic hands for almost 20 years. For 
it was the long-serving Daniel Voorhees who was appointed by the 
Democratic-controlled legislature to replace Morton.


                            Daniel Voorhees

  Voorhees, who was known as the Tall Sycamore of the Wabash was a 
prominent Terre Haute lawyer who shared Jesse Bright's sympathy for the 
South and Edward Hannegan's passionate speaking style. During the 
entirety of the Civil War, Voorhees served in the House of 
Representatives where he frequently criticized President Lincoln. As a 
fervent believer in States rights, he saw the North's prosecution of 
the war as unconstitutional. After Lincoln issued the Emancipation 
Proclamation Voorhees declared:

       Ten days before he issued it he said that he had not the 
     power to promulgate such a document and that it would do no 
     good if he did. In that he was right for once. But I suppose 
     he gave way to pressure. Yes, pressure. He was pressed. By 
     whom? By Horace Greeley, that political harlot, who appeared 
     in a praying attitude in behalf of 20 millions of people.

  Lincoln's reelection in 1864 was a great disappointment to Voorhees, 
who hoped that the President's defeat would allow for a compromise that 
would reestablish both the Union and the rights of States to make their 
own decisions on slavery. After the war, Voorhees adopted a softer view 
of Lincoln because of the President's intentions to implement a 
magnanimous reconstruction program.
  As a Senator, Voorhees was a prominent forefather of the populist 
movement headed by William Jennings Bryan at the end of the century. 
Voorhees devoted much energy to defending the agrarian interests of the 
Midwest and South. He opposed protectionist tariffs designed to benefit 
eastern manufacturers, and he advocated a liberal monetary policy that 
would expand currency to benefit farmers. He denounced the U.S. 
financial system as ``an organized crime against the laboring, tax-
paying men and women of the United States.''
  In 1893, Voorhees became chairman of the powerful Finance Committee. 
That year, a major financial panic caused President Cleveland to call a 
special session of Congress to consider the repeal of the mildly 
inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act. To pass the repeal, he needed 
the support of Voorhees. The issue divided Democrats, many of whom, 
like Voorhees, strongly supported silver purchases. But Voorhees set 
aside his natural inclinations to help the President from his party 
respond to the financial panic. Voorhees considered passage of the 
repeal of the Silver Purchase Act his greatest legislative 
accomplishment, although the measure actually did little to remedy the 
country's financial crisis.


                      Hoosiers in National Office

  Mr. President, Senator Vorhees had the distinction of defeating a 
future President--Benjamin Harrison--in his first Senate election and 
being unseated by a future Vice President--Charles Fairbanks--in his 
last. In fact, the late 18th and early 19th centuries saw Indiana 
become a frequent supplier of candidates for national office. 
Circumstances had positioned Indiana to play a leading role in national 
politics. Indiana had grown to become the seventh largest State in the 
Union by the

[[Page S4452]]

1870's, and it had become a swing State where party control changed 
from election to election. Both parties, therefore, had strong 
incentives to put Hoosiers on their national tickets.
  Of the 20 individuals who served as either President or Vice 
President between 1870 and 1920, five were Hoosiers. Only New York, 
with six, placed more individuals in Executive Offices during this 
period. Each of these Hoosiers was connected to the Senate, either as a 
former Member or in performing their Vice Presidential duties as 
presiding officer.


                            Schuyler Colfax

  This succession of Hoosiers was begun by the unfortunate Schuyler 
Colfax, who was President Grant's first Vice President from 1869 to 
1873. Colfax, whom Lincoln described as a ``friendly rascal,'' never 
held a seat in the Senate. His political career was brought to a close 
by revelations that he had participated in a financial scandal that 
occurred during his earlier tenure as Speaker of the House. He avoided 
impeachment proceedings largely because the scandal was not revealed 
until his Vice Presidential term was about to expire.


                            Thomas Hendricks

  Thomas Hendricks, a Democrat and lawyer from Shelbyville, IN, became 
the second Hoosier Vice President, and the first to serve a previous 
term in the Senate. He was elected by the Indiana Legislature in 1863 
to the term that could have been the expelled Jesse Bright's fourth. In 
the Senate, Hendricks was a sharp critic of President Lincoln. He voted 
for appropriations to pay for troops, weapons, and supplies, but he 
opposed the Emancipation Proclamation, the draft, and the 13th, 14th, 
and 15th amendments. Hendricks lost his seat after just one term when 
the Indiana Legislature fell into GOP hands in 1869.
  In 1876, after a term as Governor, Hendricks got his first shot at 
the Vice Presidency when he ran on the Democratic ticket with ill-fated 
Presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden. In the most controversial 
Presidential election in American history, Tilden and Hendricks 
seemingly had won the election by a 203 to 166 count in the electoral 
college and by 260,000 popular votes. The Democrats were denied 
victory, however, when Republicans disputed the results of voting in 
several Southern States. An election commission that favored the 
Republicans ruled in favor of the GOP Presidential candidate Rutherford 
B. Hayes.
  Hendricks again was the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1884. 
This time he was successful, as the Democratic ticket headed by Grover 
Cleveland came out on top for the first time since before the Civil 
War. As Vice President, Hendricks would preside over only a 1-month 
session of the Senate before his death in November 1885.
  Hendricks' untimely death left the country without a Vice President, 
President pro tempore, or Speaker of the House for the second time in 
the decade. Under the 1792 Succession Act, this was the line of 
succession in the event of the President's death. No other official was 
mentioned. Had Cleveland died before Congress convened later in the 
year, the country would have been left temporarily without a President.
  Hendricks' death prompted Congress to pass a revision of the 
Succession Act in 1886. It removed the President pro tempore and the 
Speaker of the House from the line of succession and substituted the 
President's Cabinet officers in the order the departments were created 
beginning with the Secretary of State. In 1947 at President Truman's 
urging, Congress again revised the succession order, returning the 
Speaker and the President pro tempore to the line, but reversing their 
order so the Speaker ranked second behind the Vice President and 
the President pro tempore ranked third, followed by the Cabinet 
Secretaries.


                           Benjamin Harrison

  Indianapolis Republican Benjamin Harrison, who would become our 23d 
President, also had the good fortune to gain experience in the Senate. 
He served in this body from 1881 until 1887. During that time he 
chaired the Committee on Territories and was a strong advocate for 
protecting and expanding the pensions of Civil War veterans. Harrison 
was turned out of his Senate seat after only one term by a newly 
elected Democratic State legislature.
  Nevertheless, Harrison retained his national prominence and defeated 
President Cleveland in the 1888 Presidential election, despite losing 
the popular vote. Harrison's narrow victory in New York brought him 
that State's 36 electoral votes and a 233 to 168 triumph in the 
electoral college.
  As President, Harrison implemented much of his economic program, 
including a high tariff. He signed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 
while resisting the far more inflationary proposal for free coinage of 
silver that was supported by Daniel Voorhees. In a rematch of the 1888 
election, Grover Cleveland easily defeated Harrison, who would return 
to his law practice in Indianapolis.


                           Charles Fairbanks

  Another Indianapolis Republican, Charles Fairbanks, served in the 
Senate before attaining the vice presidency. A close friend and staunch 
ally of President McKinley, Fairbanks' Senate tenure ran from 1897 
until 1905. Fairbanks was under consideration for the 1900 GOP Vice 
Presidential nomination, but he took his name out of contention. He 
planned to run for President in 1904 when McKinley's second term 
expired, and he believed that the Senate offered a better position from 
which to seek the GOP Presidential nomination. After all, no Vice 
President since Martin Van Buren had been elected to succeed his 
President.
  This turned out to be a colossal miscalculation. In September 1901, 
Fairbanks was cut off from a possible Presidential run by the tragedy 
of President McKinley's assassination. Vice President Theodore 
Roosevelt was elevated to the Presidency, ensuring that he would be the 
Republican nominee in 1904. Fairbanks had to settle for the Republican 
Vice Presidential nomination on the ticket with Roosevelt. This time he 
did not pass up the opportunity, and he became Vice President in 1905 
after the GOP ticket swept to victory.
  Fairbanks attempted to gather support for the GOP Presidential 
nomination in 1908, but Roosevelt's endorsement of William Howard Taft 
again blocked the Hoosier's path to the White House. Once more in 1916, 
Fairbanks was a candidate for Vice President on the ticket with Charles 
Evans Hughes. But they were defeated by incumbents Woodrow Wilson and 
Hoosier Thomas Marshall.


                            Thomas Marshall

  Marshall never served in the Senate, but he presided over this body 
for 8 years as Vice President from 1913 until 1921. He was the first 
Vice President to serve two full terms since Daniel Tompkins had done 
so under James Monroe.
  During his time of presiding over the Senate, Marshall gained a 
reputation for his dry Hoosier wit. After listening to a long speech by 
Senator Joseph Bristow of Kansas on the needs of the country, Marshall 
remarked in a voice audible to many in the Chamber: ``What this country 
needs is a really good five-cent cigar.'' This line was widely reported 
in newspapers and became his most famous utterance. Marshall would 
frequently poke fun at his own role as Vice President. He told a story 
of two brothers: ``One ran away to sea; the other was elected Vice 
President. And nothing was ever heard of either of them again.''
  Ironically, though Marshall was considered a good Vice President, his 
most notable action perhaps was something that he did not do. After 
President Wilson suffered a stroke in October 1919, many leaders 
advised him to assume the Presidency while Wilson was incapacitated. At 
the time, however, there was no provision in the Constitution governing 
this situation. Marshall refused to replace the President, fearing that 
it would divide the country and create a precedent that could be used 
mischievously against future presidents. With the ratification of the 
25th amendment in 1967, which was sponsored by Senator Birch Bayh of 
Indiana, the Constitution provided a legal procedure for dealing with 
the difficult situation of an incapacitated President.


                            The New Century

  Mr. President, just as Marshall's decision affected the future of the 
Vice Presidency, several Hoosier Senators deeply affected the 
operations and customs of the Senate during the early 20th century.

[[Page S4453]]

                            Albert Beveridge

  One such Senator was Albert J. Beveridge of Indianapolis. Beveridge 
began his service in March 1899 at the age of 36. He had never held a 
political office prior to his election to the Senate. He served two 
terms, gaining a reputation for his energy and intelligence, as well as 
his ambition.
  Beveridge is the patron saint of freshman Senators seeking to resist 
the constraints of the Senate's seniority system. In his excellent 
collection of addresses on the history of the Senate, Senator Robert 
Byrd of West Virginia offers an enlightening account of Beveridge's 
vigorous, but largely unsuccessful efforts to secure desired committee 
assignments as a freshman.
  Beveridge ventured across the sea for a 6-month trip to the 
Philippines, China, and Japan after his election by the Indiana 
Legislature in January 1899. Upon returning to Indiana in September of 
that year, he was praised in the press for investigating an important 
issue firsthand. Up to this point, Senators had rarely ventured 
overseas on factfinding trips. When he traveled to Washington, DC, 
later in the year for the opening of the congressional session, he was 
summoned to the White House to brief President McKinley on his 
observations.
  Believing that his experience in the Philippines had made him the 
preeminent expert on the newly acquired islands, Beveridge campaigned 
to be appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on the Philippines. He 
also sought a seat on Henry Cabot Lodge's powerful Foreign Relations 
Committee. Among other steps, Beveridge visited Gov. Theodore Roosevelt 
in New York, who recommended him to Lodge. But Beveridge would be 
granted neither the Philippines chairmanship nor a seat on Foreign 
Relations. Lodge wrote back to Roosevelt explaining: ``Beveridge is a 
very bright fellow, well informed and sound in his views. I like him 
very much, but he arrived here with a very imperfect idea of the rights 
of seniority in the Senate, and with a large idea of what he ought to 
have.'' Beveridge had to settle for an ordinary seat on the Philippines 
Committee.
  In March 1900, freshman Beveridge again scandalized the Senate by 
delivering his second major floor speech just 3 months into his first 
session. For many of his senior colleagues, Beveridge was flouting the 
unwritten Senate rules governing the behavior of new members. In 
response to this transgression against his elders, Beveridge was the 
recipient the next day of a subtle but stinging parody of his speech by 
Senator Edmund W. Pettus of Mississippi. According to a report in the 
New York Times the performance caused Senators to roar in laughter at 
the expense of Beveridge.
  Beveridge survived and learned from his hazing. Though still 
boisterous and aggressive for a freshman, he focused his attention on 
committee work, eventually becoming chairman of the Committee on 
Territories and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
  During his time in the Senate, Beveridge's political philosophy 
transformed from the standard conservatism of his party to 
progressivism. Beveridge became a leader of the nationwide progressive 
movement and worked to construct a foundation for progressive 
legislation such as the first National Child Labor Law, the Meat 
Inspection Act, and the Pure Food and Drug Act. This shift toward 
progressivism, however, weakened his support among Republicans and 
contributed to his defeat for re-election to a third term in 1910.
  On April 8, 1913, the 17th amendment was ratified, forever 
transforming the nature of Senate elections. The amendment transferred 
the power to choose Senators from the State legislatures to popular 
elections.


                            Benjamin Shively

  In Indiana, Senator Benjamin Shively's election was at the heart of 
the debate over the amendment. In 1908 as Democrat State legislators 
met to choose their nominee, Shively was matched against John W. Kern. 
Kern was the favorite among the people of Indiana, but Shively 
prevailed by two votes in a secret ballot. Since the Democrats 
controlled the State legislature, Shively was elected Senator.
  Given the closeness of the balloting, State legislators were asked by 
reporters and constituents to reveal their votes. When informal tallies 
of the legislators' announced votes had Kern winning by as many as 
eight votes, it was clear that many State legislators were lying about 
how they had voted. This fueled public cynicism in Indiana with the 
method of electing Senators and helped build support in the State for 
ratification of the 17th amendment.
  In 1914, after the amendment had been ratified, Shively demonstrated 
that he did have popular support. He became the first Indiana Senator 
to be elected by popular vote, a distinction of which he was enormously 
proud. Shively also became chairman of the important Pensions 
Committee. Unfortunately, he did not survive his second term, dying in 
1916 after serving only a year.


                               John Kern

  Shively's rival in 1908, John Kern, went on to place his own 
extraordinary mark on the Senate. He defeated Albert Beveridge in the 
1910 Senate election, the last Senate race held before ratification of 
the 17th amendment. But it was the 1912 election that brought Kern to 
Senate prominence.
  That election resulted in a sweeping victory for the Democratic 
Party. With Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose candidacy splitting 
Republicans, Woodrow Wilson rolled to victory. Democrats strengthened 
an already huge majority in the House, and seized control of the Senate 
for the first time in 18 years.
  The majority party's prospects for enacting its legislative program 
rested, as they so often do, on the Senate. Democrats held just a 51 to 
44 seat majority. Up to that time Senate party caucuses had chosen 
their leader largely on the basis of seniority. In 1913, however, 
Democrats broke with this practice in an effort to make the most of 
their legislative opportunities. They decided that their caucus leader 
should be the Senator who would be the most effective legislative 
leader.
  The man they chose by unanimous vote was John Kern, who had been 
elected to the Senate 2 years before in 1910. Thus a freshman, with 
just 2 years of Senate experience, was entrusted with shepherding one 
of the most ambitious legislative plans in American history through the 
Senate. Kern was no political neophyte. He was a respected politician 
who had been the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1908 on the 
ticket with William Jennings Bryan.
  Historians often regard Kern as the first modern majority leader, 
although he did not formally have that title. Kern established numerous 
precedents during his 4 years as the head of the Democratic caucus. He 
conferred closely with the administration on its program, frequently 
visiting Wilson at the White House to discuss strategy. He demanded 
party unity and employed threats, compromises, and personal entreaties 
to achieve it. He established the post of Democratic whip to assist him 
in maintaining discipline. He also used the prerogative to grant 
committee assignments as an enforcement mechanism. In his 4 years as 
caucus leader, Kern's energy and organization failed only once to 
deliver Senate passage of a major Presidential legislative initiative. 
This was Wilson's ship purchase bill, that was blocked by a 1915 
filibuster.
  Despite Kern's power in the Senate and his close relationship with 
President Wilson, he was defeated by Republican Harry S. New in the 
1916 election. New garnered 51 percent of the vote to Kern's 49 
percent. Wilson won his re-election bid but lost Indiana by an even 
narrower margin to Charles Evans Hughes.


                              James Watson

  In 1929, another Hoosier was chosen to be majority leader. That year 
Senate Republicans elected, James Eli Watson, who served as majority 
leader during the 4 years of Herbert Hoover's Presidency. Watson began 
his Senate career when he was elected to complete the unexpired term of 
Senator Benjamin Shively in 1916. He was reelected in 1920 and 1926.
  Watson had been one of President Hoover's major rivals for the GOP 
Presidential nomination in 1928. As a result, they did not develop the 
close working relationship that had existed between Wilson and Kern. As 
Republican leader, Watson's primary tactic was to build majorities 
through careful compromises. Like Kern, Watson's status in the Senate 
did not insulate him from electoral defeat back home. He

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lost his quest for a fourth Senate election victory when he was turned 
out of office by the national Democratic landslide of 1932.


                             Sherman Minton

  Like John Kern, Sherman Minton played a prominent role in the Senate, 
despite serving only one term. Elected as a Democrat in 1934, Minton 
was an ardent New Dealer and loyal Senate ally of President Franklin 
Roosevelt. In January 1937 Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson named 
Minton to the new position of assistant Democratic whip. Minton, who 
was an aggressive legislator, relished this responsibility. Two years 
later, Minton was promoted to majority whip.
  Minton had the bad luck of running for reelection in 1940. That year 
his Republican opponent, Raymond Willis of Angola, IN, got a big boost 
from the presence of Hoosier favorite son Wendell Willkie at the top of 
the ticket. Minton's support for the 1940 Selective Service Act and 
other defense preparations also cost him votes. Willis defeated Minton 
by a narrow 25,000-vote margin.
  During his career in public service, Minton had the distinction of 
serving in all three branches of the Federal Government. After Minton's 
Senate defeat, Roosevelt brought him to the White House as an 
administrative assistant to the President. Roosevelt used him primarily 
as his liaison with Congress.
  In May 1941, however, Roosevelt appointed Minton to the Seventh 
Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He served there until President Harry 
Truman appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1949. Minton spent 7 years 
on the High Court until illness forced his retirement in 1956. A number 
of former Senators have served on the Supreme Court during its history, 
including James Francis Byrnes and Hugo Black. Since Minton's 
appointment in 1949, however, no former Senator has been appointed to 
the High Court.


                               Modern Era

  Since the end of World War II, seven individuals have been elected to 
the Senate by the people of Indiana. Several of my colleagues served in 
Congress with William Jenner and Homer Capehart, two Republicans whose 
careers significantly impacted my early political development in 
Indiana. And, of course, many of my colleagues had close and productive 
associations with the three distinguished former Hoosier Senators who 
often visit with us: Birch Bayh, Vance Hartke, and Dan Quayle.
  Hopefully, those of us who have served Indiana in the Senate during 
recent years have upheld the tradition of achievement established by 
our Hoosier predecessors. It may be premature to make historical 
judgments on the most recent seven Hoosier Senators, and I will resist 
the temptation to do so.
  Our Nation and our world have changed profoundly since James Noble 
and Waller Taylor came to the Senate in 1816. Noble's horseback 
journeys to Washington, DC, are said to have taken him about 17 days. 
Today we can travel to Indiana in less than 2 hours. Indiana's 
population has grown from about 150,000 in 1820 to almost 6 million 
people today.
  As our world has become more complex, so has our job here in the 
Senate. We have more constituents, more Members, more issues, more 
bills, more staff, and more floor votes than our early predecessors 
could likely have imagined. The 7 most recent Hoosier Senators have 
cast more floor votes than the previous 36 Hoosier Senators combined. 
The second session of the 14th Congress--the 1st in which Indiana was 
represented --lasted just 92 days. Today the Senate is in session 
almost year round.
  But even as this body has grown and developed, the fundamentals of 
being a good legislator have always remained the same. Down through 
history, this has been an institution that has depended on honesty, 
civility, hard work, thoughtfulness, an understanding of the people we 
represent, and a willingness to stand on conviction. When these 
elements have been present, the Senate has succeeded.
  Mr. President, I would encourage each of my colleagues, if they have 
not done so, to explore the service of their Senatorial ancestors from 
their own States. Inevitably they will find both triumphs and 
tragedies; heroic acts and embarrassing mistakes. But as I have 
surveyed the unbroken line that stretches from Waller Taylor and James 
Noble to Senator Dan Coats and myself, I have gained an even stronger 
appreciation of the character of my State and the performance of the 
U.S. Senate.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
two tables relating to Indiana Senators.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                   Indiana Senators: Dates of Service

       James Noble--Dec. 11, 1816-Feb. 26, 1831.
       Waller Taylor--Dec. 11, 1816-Mar. 3, 1825.
       William Hendricks--Mar. 4, 1825-Mar. 3, 1837.
       Robert Hanna--Aug. 19, 1831-Jan. 3, 1832.
       John Tipton--Jan. 4, 1832-Mar. 3, 1839.
       Oliver Smith--Mar. 4, 1837-Mar. 3, 1843.
       Albert White--Mar. 4, 1839-Mar. 3, 1845.
       Edward Hannegan--Mar. 4, 1843-Mar. 3, 1849.
       Jesse Bright--Mar. 4, 1845-Feb. 5, 1862.
       James Whitcomb--Mar. 4, 1849-Oct. 4, 1852.
       Charles Cathcart--Nov. 23, 1852-Jan. 11, 1853.
       John Pettit--Jan. 11, 1853-Mar. 3, 1855.
       Graham Fitch--Feb. 4, 1857-Mar. 3, 1861.
       Henry Lane--Mar. 4, 1861-Mar. 3, 1867.
       Joseph Wright--Feb. 24, 1862-Jan. 14, 1863.
       David Turpie--Jan. 14, 1863-Mar. 3, 1863.
       Thomas Hendricks--Mar. 4, 1863-Mar. 3, 1869.
       Oliver Morton--Mar. 4, 1867-Nov. 1, 1877.
       Daniel Pratt--Mar. 4, 1869-Mar. 3, 1875.
       Joseph McDonald--Mar. 4, 1875-Mar. 3, 1881.
       Daniel Voorhees--Nov. 6, 1877-Mar. 3, 1897.
       Benjamin Harrison--Mar. 4, 1881-Mar. 3, 1887.
       David Turpie--Mar. 4, 1887-Mar. 3, 1899.
       Charles Fairbanks--Mar. 4, 1897-Mar. 3, 1905.
       Albert Beveridge--Mar. 4, 1899-Mar. 3, 1911.
       James Hemenway--Mar. 4, 1905-Mar. 3, 1909.
       Benjamin Shively--Mar. 4, 1909-Mar. 14, 1916.
       John Kern--Mar. 4, 1911-Mar. 3, 1917.
       Thomas Taggart--Mar. 20, 1916-Nov. 7, 1916.
       James Watson--Nov. 8, 1916-Mar. 3, 1933.
       Harry New--Mar. 4, 1917-Mar. 3, 1923.
       Samuel Ralston--Mar. 4, 1923-Oct. 14, 1925.
       Arthur Robinson--Oct. 20, 1925-Jan. 2, 1935.
       Fredrick Van Nuys--Mar. 4, 1933-Jan. 25, 1944.
       Sherman Minton--Jan. 3, 1935-Jan. 2, 1941.
       Raymond Willis--Jan. 3, 1941-Jan. 2, 1947.
       Samuel Jackson--Jan. 28, 1944-Nov. 13, 1944.
       William Jenner--Nov. 14, 1944-Jan. 2, 1945.
       Homer Capehart--Jan. 3, 1945-Jan. 2, 1963.
       William Jenner--Jan. 3, 1947-Jan. 2, 1959.
       Vance Hartke--Jan. 3, 1959-Jan. 2, 1977.
       Birch Bayh--Jan. 3, 1963-Jan. 2, 1981.
       Richard Lugar--Jan. 3, 1977-
       Dan Quayle--Jan. 3, 1981-Jan. 2, 1989.
       Daniel Coats--Jan. 3, 1989-
       Indiana Senators: Length of Service
       1. Richard Lugar--19 Years 4 Months--(1977- )
       2. Daniel Voorhees--19 Years 4 Months--(1877-1897)
       3-5. Homer Capehart--18 Years--(1945-1963)
       3-5. Vance Hartke--18 Years--(1959-1977)
       3-5. Birch Bayh--18 Years--(1963-1981)
       6. Jesse Bright--16 Years 11 Months--(1845-1862)
       7. James Watson--16 Years 4 Months--(1916-1933)
       8. James Noble--14 Years 2 Months--(1816-1831)
       9. William Jenner--12 Years 2 Months--(1944-45; 1947-59)
       10. David Turpie--12 Years 2 Months--(1863; 1887-99)
       11-12. William Hendricks--12 Years--(1825-1837)
       11-12. Albert Beveridge--12 Years--(1899-1911)
       13. Fredrick Van Nuys--10 Years 11 Months--(1933-1944)
       14. Oliver Morton--10 Years 8 Months--(1867-1877)
       15. Arthur Robinson--9 Years 2 Months--(1925-1935)
       16. Waller Taylor--8 Years 3 Months--(1816-1825)
       17-18. Charles Fairbanks--8 Years--(1897-1905)
       17-18. Dan Quayle--8 Years--(1981-1989)
       19. Daniel Coats--7 Years 4 Months--(1989-)
       20. John Tipton--7 Years 2 Months--(1832-1839)
       21. Benjamin Shively--7 Years--(1909-1916)
       22-23. Oliver Smith--6 Years--(1837-1843)
       22-33. Albert White--6 Years--(1839-1845)
       22-33. Edward Hannegan--6 Years--(1843-1849)
       22-33. Henry Lane--6 Years--(1861-1867)
       22-33. Thomas Hendricks--6 Years--(1863-1869)
       22-33. Daniel Pratt--6 Years--(1869-1875)
       22-33. Joseph McDonald--6 Years--(1875-1881)
       22-33. Benjamin Harrison--6 Years--(1881-1887)
       22-33. John Kern--6 Years--(1911-1917)
       22-33. Harry New--6 Years--(1917-1923)
       22-33. Sherman Minton--6 Years--(1935-1941)
       22-33. Raymond Willis--6 Years--(1941-1947)
       34. Graham Fitch--4 Years 1 Month--(1857-1861)
       35. James Hemenway--4 Years--(1905-1909)
       36. James Whitcomb--3 Years 7 Months--(1849-1852)
       37. Samuel Ralston--2 Years 7 Months--(1923-1925)

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       38. John Pettit--2 Years 2 Months--(1853-1855)
       39. Joseph Wright--11 Months--(1862-1863)
       40. Samuel Jackson--10 Months--(1944)
       41. Thomas Taggart--7 Months--(1916)
       42. Robert Hanna--4 Months--(1831-1832)
       43. Charles Cathcart--2 Months--(1852-1853)

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