Roger D. Branigin: Difference between revisions
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==Later life== |
==Later life== |
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After leaving office, Branigin to his Lafayette law firm. In his later years he served as president of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the Harrison Trails Council of the [[Boy Scouts of America]], and a board member of Franklin College, [[Purdue University]], and the [[Indiana Historical Society]]. He died in Lafayette on November 19, 1975 and was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in his hometown of Franklin. In the 1990s, the Branigin Bridge—a state highway bridge in Tippecanoe County—was named in his honor.<ref>Gugin, p. 351</ref><ref>[http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2000/HRESP/HC0018.html Passed House Resolution 0018<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> During his lifetime he had amassed a large library which he left to Franklin College in his will.<ref>Gugin, p. 346</ref> |
After leaving office, Branigin returned to his Lafayette law firm. In his later years he served as president of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the Harrison Trails Council of the [[Boy Scouts of America]], and a board member of Franklin College, [[Purdue University]], and the [[Indiana Historical Society]]. He died in Lafayette on November 19, 1975 and was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in his hometown of Franklin. In the 1990s, the Branigin Bridge—a state highway bridge in Tippecanoe County—was named in his honor.<ref>Gugin, p. 351</ref><ref>[http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2000/HRESP/HC0018.html Passed House Resolution 0018<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> During his lifetime he had amassed a large library which he left to Franklin College in his will.<ref>Gugin, p. 346</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 09:04, 19 December 2010
Roger D. Branigin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 42nd Governor of Indiana | |
| In office January 11, 1965 – January 13, 1969 | |
| Preceded by | Matthew E. Welsh |
| Succeeded by | Edgar Whitcomb |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 26, 1902 Franklin, Indiana |
| Died | November 19, 1975 (aged 73) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Josephine Mardis |
Roger Douglas Branigin (July 26, 1902–November 19, 1975) was the 42nd Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from January 11, 1965 to January 13, 1969. A veteran of World War II, and well known public speaker, Branigin took office with a Democratic General Assembly—the first time since the Great Depression that Democrats controlled both the executive and legislative branches of the state government. Branigin was a conservative Democrat who oversaw the repeal of the state's personal property taxes, greater accessibility to secondary education, and the construction of Indiana's deep water harbor on Lake Michigan. During his term, Branigin exercised his veto power one hundred times, a record number for a single term. In 1968, he ran as a favorite son presidential candidate for Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1968 Indiana Democratic presidential primary, but after Johnson dropped out of the race Branigin continued his campaign in order to control the state's votes at the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. He lost the primary to Robert Kennedy, earning 31 percent of the vote to Kennedy's 42 percent and Eugene McCarthy's 27 percent. After his term ended, Branigin returned to his private law practice. In his later years he became a leader among the state Boy Scouts and served on the board of the Indiana Historical Society, Purdue University, and Franklin College. Branigin was the last democrat to serve as governor until Evan Bayh took office in 1989.
Early life
Roger Branigin was born on July 26, 1902 in Franklin, Indiana, the third of the four sons of Elba and Zula Branigin, schoolteacers. Branigin attended local public schools, graduating from high school in 1919. He then attended nearby Franklin College where he majored in Spanish, French, and history, and was also involved in the school's drama club. He graduated in 1923.[1] He then enrolled in Harvard Law School where he graduated with a law degree in 1926. After returning to Indiana he took a job with the Franklin County prosecutor helping out on cases for three years. He married fellow Franklin College graduate Josephine Mardis on November 2, 1929; the couple had two sons, Roger Jr. and Robert.[2]
In 1930 Branigin took a job as attorney for the Federal Land Bank and the Farm Credit Administration in Louisville, Kentucky. He was soon promoted to general counsel for the Land Bank and was given the task of traveling around the region to give speeches. In 1938, he retired from the bank to become a member of a law firm in Lafayette, Indiana, he soon earned a partnership in a law practice of Stuart, Branigin, Ricks, and Schilling. After the outbreak of World War II, Branigin enlisted in the United States Army. He was quickly assigned to the contract division of the Judge Advocate General's Office in Washington D.C. where he later became head of the legal division of the army's transportation corps. After the war ended, he returned to Indiana.[2]
Branigin was active in local and state politics, and was a popular after-dinner speaker. He chaired the Democratic state convention in 1948. The Democrat gubernatorial candidate carried the election that year, and Branigin was appointed by Governor Henry F. Schricker to serve as chairman of the state conservation commission. He also served as president of the Indiana Bar Association. In 1956, Branigin's name was entered as a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but was defeated in the state convention vote by Ralph Tucker.[2]
Governor
At the state convention in June 1964, Branigin had his name entered again for the gubernatorial nomination, and won on the first ballot. His Republican opponent was incumbent Lieutenant Governor Richard O. Ristine. Ristine, during his term, had cast a tie-breaking vote in the Indiana Senate that allowed the passage of a major increase in the sales tax, property tax, income tax, and certain excise taxes. Branigin attacked Ristine on his tax-raising record. Branigin earned an endorsement from the traditionally Republican Indianapolis Star, and several other state newspapers, helping him win the election. Democrats also swept into power statewide, taking control of the Indiana General Assembly for the first time since 1938.[2]
Once in office, Branigin proved to be more conservative than the leadership in the General Assembly. He vetoed a record one hundred bills, including an abortion legalization bill, a ban on the death penalty, and union protection laws. Despite his disagreement on a host of issues with the Assembly, Branigin was able to have a number of his agenda items passed into law. He successfully advocated the expansion of state-funded scholarships, an expansion of the state's civil rights commission's powers, upgrades for the state prison system, expansion of the state highway system, the abolition of the poll tax, and the creation of a number of new public parks and nature preserves. The Port of Indiana, the state's first deep-water harbor on Lake Michigan, also started during his term. He also oversaw the repeal of the personal property tax.[3]
In early March 1968, Branigin was asked by President Lyndon Johnson to run as a favorite-son candidate in the Indiana Democratic presidential primary. Branigin agreed, and campaigned earnestly as a Hoosier candidate representing Hoosiers. On March 31, however, Johnson announced he would drop out of the race. Branigin decided to continue his campaign, seeking to earn control of the state's votes at the Democratic convention in Chicago later that summer. Despite a hard-fought campaign and early leads in the polls, Branigin lost the election to Robert Kennedy.[4]
Later life
After leaving office, Branigin returned to his Lafayette law firm. In his later years he served as president of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, the Harrison Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a board member of Franklin College, Purdue University, and the Indiana Historical Society. He died in Lafayette on November 19, 1975 and was buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in his hometown of Franklin. In the 1990s, the Branigin Bridge—a state highway bridge in Tippecanoe County—was named in his honor.[5][6] During his lifetime he had amassed a large library which he left to Franklin College in his will.[7]
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Gugin, Linda C. & St. Clair, James E, ed. (2006). The Governors of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press. ISBN 0871951967.
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