William J. Fields
William Jason Fields (December 29, 1874 – October 21, 1954) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Known as "Honest Bill from Olive Hill", he represented Kentucky's Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1923, resigning to become the state's 41st governor.
For other people named William Fields, see William Fields (disambiguation).
William J. Fields
December 29, 1874
Willard, Kentucky, U.S.
October 21, 1954 (aged 79)
Grayson, Kentucky, U.S.
Dora McDavid
Discouraged by an early defeat for a seat in the state legislature, Fields took a job at a grocery store in Ashland, Kentucky that allowed him to travel the state and meet many people in his congressional district. In 1911, he became the first Democrat elected to Congress from the Ninth District in two decades. Elected to seven consecutive terms, he rose to become the ranking member of the House Committee on Military Affairs during World War I. When Democratic gubernatorial nominee J. Campbell Cantrill died unexpectedly two months before the general election, the Democratic Central Committee chose Fields to replace Cantrill as the nominee. In a campaign that featured more name-calling than substantial debate, Fields secured the backing of the powerful Jockey Club political alliance and won a landslide victory over Republican Attorney General Charles I. Dawson.
The first legislative session of Fields' term was marked by infighting within his own party. His agenda was opposed by a Democratic faction led by former governor J. C. W. Beckham, Louisville Courier-Journal publisher Robert Worth Bingham, and political boss Percy Haly. Fields' signature issue, a $75 million bond issue to construct a state highway system, passed the legislature in 1924, but the electorate refused to approve it in November of that year. Among Fields' accomplishments as governor were an increase in the gasoline tax to help fund his highway program, a reorganization of the state's government bureaucracy, and the preservation of Cumberland Falls from industrial development. He never united the factions of his party, however. His political enemies charged him with nepotism and abusing his pardon power, and the Democrats lost the governorship in 1927 to Republican Flem D. Sampson. Following his service as governor, Fields failed in an attempt to return to his former congressional seat. He was appointed to the State Workman's Compensation Board by Governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler, and after his retirement from public service, he practiced law and worked as a real estate agent until his death on October 21, 1954.
Early life[edit]
William J. Fields was born December 29, 1874, in Willard, Carter County, Kentucky.[1] He was the fourth of twelve children born to Christopher C. and Alice (Rucker) Fields.[2][3] He was educated in the local public schools, then matriculated to the University of Kentucky.[1] After graduation, he started a real estate business in Olive Hill, Kentucky and engaged in farming.[2] He also studied law on his own.[4]
On October 10, 1893, Fields married Dora McDaniel; the couple had six children.[2] At age 21, he was elected constable of Carter County, but three years later, he fell short in his bid to capture a seat in state legislature.[3] Following the loss, he took a job at a grocery store in Ashland, Kentucky that would allow him to travel the state more freely, make acquaintances, and better position himself for a run for higher office.[3]
House of Representatives[edit]
Campaigning under the moniker "Honest Bill from Olive Hill", Fields won a narrow victory as a Democrat to represent Kentucky's Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1910.[2] The first Democrat to hold the seat in twenty years, he was re-elected for another six consecutive terms.[5] A member of the Committee on Military Affairs, he eventually became the ranking Democrat on the committee and the ranking member of the subcommittee that controlled appropriations for U.S. operations during World War I.[5]
In September 1923, Democratic gubernatorial nominee J. Campbell Cantrill died, leaving the party without a candidate.[2] Alben Barkley, who Cantrill had defeated for the nomination, refused to be the Democratic candidate, perhaps because he had already decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 1926.[5] The Democratic Central Committee chose Fields as a replacement for Cantrill.[2]