Lee Cruce (July 8, 1863 – January 16, 1933) was an American lawyer, banker and the second
governor of Oklahoma
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ''ex offici ...
. Losing to
Charles N. Haskell in the 1907
Democratic primary election to serve as the first governor of Oklahoma, Cruce successfully campaigned to succeed Haskell to serve as the second governor of Oklahoma. As governor, Cruce was responsible for the establishment of the
Oklahoma Department of Highways and the
Oklahoma State Capitol. He worked hard to enforce prohibitions on alcohol and gambling, going so far as to use the state militia to stop horse racing. He was succeeded by
Robert L. Williams.
Born in Kentucky, Cruce worked as a lawyer, a banker, and a municipal official before his election as governor. After finishing his term as governor, he worked in the private sector and made an unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate. He died in 1933 in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the worl ...
, and was buried in
Ardmore, Oklahoma
Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimated ...
.
Early life and move to Oklahoma
Lee Cruce was born in the city of
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in
Crittenden County, Kentucky
Crittenden County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,990. Its county seat is Marion. The county was formed in 1842 and named for John J. Crittenden, senator and future Governor of Kentucky. I ...
on July 8, 1863.
[Wilson, Linda D.]
CRUCE, LEE (1863-1933)
,
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
. (accessed July 16, 2013) He attended Marion Academy, and subsequently attended
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million e ...
, receiving a law degree from the latter. Though he passed the Kentucky
bar exam
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associ ...
in 1888, he did not practice law until he joined his brother's law firm, Johnson, Cruce and Cruce at
Ardmore in
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign i ...
in 1891.
After ten years of practicing law, Cruce entered the financial world as the first cashier of the Ardmore National Bank, of which he later served as the bank's president. In 1901, Cruce was elected an
alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...
in the local government of Ardmore.
Gubernatorial campaigns
Through his combined positions of power in the Ardmore National Bank and the movement towards statehood in late 1906, Cruce submitted his name on the
Democratic primary for governor of the newly created state of Oklahoma. The popular
Charles N. Haskell defeated Cruce for the nomination, but before Haskell's term ended in 1911, Cruce once again sought the Democratic nomination for governor and was successful. He then defeated his
Republican opponent in the general election.
Governor of Oklahoma
Cruce was inaugurated as the second
Governor of Oklahoma
The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The governor is the ''ex offici ...
on January 9, 1911. Whereas the state's first governor exercised extensive executive control over the
Oklahoma Legislature
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 s ...
through his force of personality, Cruce continually struggled for power against the state legislature throughout his term. Despite the power struggles, Cruce did manage to complete many of the projects he initiated. Cruce's first major success came in the realm of automotives. With the increase in automobiles, the state legislature acted upon Cruce's commendation and established the
Oklahoma Department of Highways in 1911. Roads were improved with funds generated from an annual $1 license fee.
Next on the governor's agenda was the construction of the
Oklahoma State Capitol in the state capital, which Haskell officially moved from
Guthrie to Oklahoma City in 1910. Under the supervision of Cruce, the state legislature established the three member State Capitol Commission in 1913. The commission was charged with purchasing land for the state capitol building. After purchasing the desired property in downtown Oklahoma City, on July 20, 1914, groundbreaking began. Then on November 16, 1915 (Oklahoma's 8th birthday) the cornerstone was laid in Masonic fashion and construction began.
Believing the state needed to take on a greater moral role, Cruce supported enforcement of
blue law
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...
s. Through specific legislation, Cruce and the state legislature closed businesses on Sundays, and declared prize fighting, gambling, bootlegging, and horseracing illegal. This, combined with Haskell's prohibition plan, proved too much for the state to handle. The state legislature did not possess the funds needed to finance the operations and only ended up shifting funds around from one law enforcement agency to another. Cruce, on numerous occasions, in his role as
Commander-in-Chief, called out the state militia to enforce his laws. The most famous of these events occurred when Cruce declared martial law in
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
to prevent a horserace from taking place. The race was brought to a halt as shots were fired over the heads of the jockeys.
Cruce was an avid abolitionist when it came to the use of capital punishment throughout the state. Pioneering the movement to abolish capital punishment, Cruce commuted twenty-two death sentences to life imprisonment and only one execution took place during his administration.
Despite this, he did little to prevent
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
s of non-white people, explaining to the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
;
There is a race prejudice that exists between the white and Negro races wherever the Negroes are found in large numbers ... Just this week the announcement comes as a shock to the people of Oklahoma that the Secretary of the Interior ... has appointed a Negro from Kansas to come to Oklahoma and take charge of the supervision of the Indian schools of this State. There is no race of people on earth that has more antipathy for the Negro race than the Indian race, and yet these people, numbering many of the best citizens of this State and nation, are to be humbled and their prejudices and passions are to be increased by having this outrage imposed upon them ... If your organization would interest itself to the extent of seeing that such outrages as this are not perpetrated against our people, there would be fewer lynchings in the South than at this time ...[''The Crisis'', August 1911]
pp. 153
154
als
here
Congressional reapportionments nearly resulted in the downfall of Cruce's administration. In 1912, Cruce vetoed a bill to reapportion the state into eight congressional districts designed to minimize Republican voting strength. This veto as well as the Governor's attempts to abolish some public institutions for economic reasons, led the legislature to investigate the executive branch. As a result, the State Auditor, State Insurance Commissioner, and State Printer were
impeached
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
. Cruce himself escaped impeachment in the
Oklahoma House of Representatives
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's ...
by a single vote.
By the end of his term in 1915, the voters were, for the most part, ready for a change. Looking for a new governor, the voters looked to
Oklahoma Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma is a court of appeal for non-criminal cases, one of the two highest judicial bodies in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and leads the judiciary of Oklahoma, the judicial branch of the government of Oklahoma. Chief Justice
Robert L. Williams. Elected in 1914 following the end of his only term on the court, Williams became the third governor of Oklahoma.
Late life and legacy
After Cruce left office, he would continue his career as a lawyer and banker through Oklahoma. In 1930, Cruce was defeated in the primary for the United States Senate losing out to
Thomas Gore
Thomas Pryor Gore (December 10, 1870March 16, 1949) was an American politician who served as one of the first two United States senators from Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1931 to 1937. He first entered politics as an activist for t ...
, one of Oklahoma's first Senators. Cruce died January 16, 1933, in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the worl ...
. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in his adopted hometown of Ardmore.
References
Sources
Official State biography of Lee Cruce
External links
First State of the StateSecond State of the State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruce, Lee
1863 births
1933 deaths
Democratic Party governors of Oklahoma
Curce, Lee
People from Marion, Kentucky
American Presbyterians
Vanderbilt University alumni