WISCONSIN'S famed reform Governor (1901-05), Robert M. La Follette, shocked professional politicians in 1905 by pushing a novel measure through his legislature. All Wisconsin delegates to future national conventions of either party, said Fighting Bob's first-of-a-kind law, must be picked by primary elections, not by state party conventions as was then the U.S.-wide custom.
Great-granddaddy of the presidential-preference laws that survive today in 15 states and the District of Columbia, Wisconsin's primary also became the country's biggest burying ground for the hopes of hopefuls. By favoring New York's Thomas Dewey, G.O.P. primary voters...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
