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James M. Cox

James Middleton Cox (born James Monroe Cox; March 31, 1870 – July 15, 1957) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the United States at the 1920 presidential election, he lost in a landslide to fellow Ohioan Warren G. Harding. His running mate was future president Franklin D. Roosevelt. He founded the chain of newspapers that continues today as Cox Enterprises, a media conglomerate.

James Cox

James Monroe Cox[1]

(1870-03-31)March 31, 1870
Jacksonburg, Ohio, U.S.

July 15, 1957(1957-07-15) (aged 87)
Kettering, Ohio, U.S.

Mayme Simpson Harding
Margaretta Parker Blair

6, including James, Anne, and Barbara

Born and raised in Ohio, Cox began his career as a newspaper copy reader before becoming an assistant to Congressman Paul J. Sorg. As owner of the Dayton Daily News, Cox introduced several innovations and crusaded against the local Republican Party boss. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1909 to 1913 before being elected as Governor of Ohio. As governor, Cox introduced a series of progressive reforms and supported Woodrow Wilson's handling of World War I and its aftermath.


He was chosen as the Democratic nominee for president on the forty-fourth ballot of the 1920 Democratic National Convention. Running on a ticket with future President Franklin D. Roosevelt as his vice presidential running mate, Cox suffered the worst popular vote defeat (a 26.17% margin) since the unopposed re-election of James Monroe in 1820.


Cox retired from public office after the 1920 presidential election to focus on his media conglomerate, which expanded into several cities. By 1939, his media empire extended from Dayton to Miami. He remained active in politics, supporting Roosevelt's campaigns and attending the 1933 London Economic Conference.

Governor of Ohio[edit]

Cox won the 1912 election for Governor of Ohio, in a three-way race gaining 41.5% of the vote. Cox served three terms; after winning the 1912 election, he served from 1913 to 1915; he lost reelection in 1914, but won the 1916 and 1918 elections, and served from 1917 to 1921. He presided over a wide range of measures such as laying the foundation of Ohio's unified highway system, creating a no fault workers' compensation system and restricting child labor.[7] He introduced direct primaries and municipal home rule, started educational and prison reforms, and streamlined the budget and tax processes.[8]


During World War I, Cox encouraged voluntary cooperation between business, labor, and government bodies. In 1918, he welcomed constitutional amendments for Prohibition and women's suffrage.[5] Cox supported the internationalist policies of Woodrow Wilson and reluctantly supported U.S. entry into the League of Nations.[9][10]


In 1919, shortly after the Great War ended, Governor Cox backed the Ake Law, introduced by H. Ross Ake, which banned the German language from being taught until the eighth grade, even in private schools. Cox claimed that teaching German was "a distinct menace to Americanism, and part of a plot formed by the German government to make the school children loyal to it."[11] Legislation restricting the teaching of foreign languages was declared unconstitutional in Meyer v. Nebraska.

James M. Cox (D), 31,539

George R. Young (R), 18,730

Harmon Evans (Socialist), 6,275

Richard E. O'Byrne (Prohibition), 286

[23]

Family[edit]

Cox was married twice. His first marriage to Mayme Simpson Harding lasted from 1893 to 1912, and ended in divorce.[5] He married Margaretta Parker Blair in 1917 and she survived him.[5][25] Cox had six children, three by Mayme Harding, sons James McMahon and John William and a daughter Helen Harding,[26][27][28] a son who died in infancy, and two daughters by Margaretta Blair: Anne Cox Chambers and Barbara Cox Anthony.[5][25] His son James M. Cox Jr., who took over the business after his death, was chairman of Cox Enterprises, Cox Communications, and Cox Media Group in Atlanta.[26][29] His daughter Helen died in 1921 and her husband Daniel Joseph Mahoney was president of Cox Newspapers. His descendants through Chambers and Anthony, including billionaires Blair Parry-Okeden, James C. Kennedy, James Cox Chambers, Katharine Rayner and Margaretta Taylor, are major shareholders in Cox Enterprises.

Legacy[edit]

Cox practiced a variety of trades throughout his life, being a farmer, reporter, Congressional staff member, newspaper publisher and editor, politician, elected official and finally, a regional media magnate.[30]


In Ohio, Cox is remembered as a crusading publisher of the Dayton Daily News and progressive governor; the newspaper's editorial meeting room is still referred to as the Governor's Library. The James M. Cox Dayton International Airport, more commonly referenced simply as Dayton International Airport, was named for Cox as well.


Cox is credited with words, "If there is anything in the theory of reincarnation of the soul then in my next assignment, if I be given the right of choice, I will ask for the aroma of printers ink."[6]


The Cox Fine Arts Building at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair in Columbus, Ohio, is named in honor of Cox.

Ohio gubernatorial elections

List of governors of Ohio

Bagby, Wesley M. The Road to Normalcy: The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1920. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1962.

Brake, Robert J. "The porch and the stump: Campaign strategies in the 1920 presidential election." Quarterly Journal of Speech 55.3 (1969): 256–267.

Cebula, James E. James M. Cox: Journalist and Politician. New York: Garland, 1985.

Morris, Charles E. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1920. (From Project Gutenberg, full text.)

The Progressive Democracy of James M. Cox.

Warner, Hoyt L. Progressivism in Ohio, 1897-1917. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1964.

United States Congress. . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

"James M. Cox (id: C000835)"

James Middleton Cox Papers, Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University, Dayton, OH

at Internet Archive

Works by or about James M. Cox

Archived 2018-12-11 at the Wayback Machine

1920 Presidential Election Links