Robert Emory Pattison (December 8, 1850August 1, 1904) was an American attorney and politician serving as the
19th Governor of
Pennsylvania from 1883 to 1887 and 1891 to 1895. Pattison was the
only Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania between the start of the
American Civil War and the start of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
Life and career
Robert E. Pattison was born at
Quantico in
Somerset County, Maryland on December 8, 1850.
He moved with his family to
Philadelphia when he was five. He practiced law from 1872 to 1877 and was elected
Controller of the city of
Philadelphia in 1880. He was the
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
candidate for governor at the young age of 32, and, with little experience in public office, took the governor's office back from a succession of
Republican administrations. Under the
constitution of 1874, Pennsylvania governors, now serving a 4-year term, were prevented from seeking two consecutive terms. Pattison's opponent in the
1882
Events
January–March
* January 2
** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates.
** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...
election,
James Addams Beaver
James Addams Beaver (October 21, 1837 – January 31, 1914) was an American attorney, recruiter and field commander of Pennsylvania Infantry who was wounded four times during the American Civil War, and politician who served as the 20th governor ...
, held the post for a term before Pattison sought the office once again in
1890
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa.
** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River.
* January 2
** The steamship ...
. During his second term, he ordered state
militia to halt the
Homestead Strike.
A key to Pattison's success was his close relationship with the Democratic leader of Philadelphia, retired General
Lewis Cassidy. He studied law under Cassidy, and was admitted to the bar at the age of 21. Although he campaigned as an anti-
political machine
In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
reformer, he appointed Cassidy as
Attorney General of Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro.
On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kath ...
. He did constant battle with machine interests, and in his second term enacted legislation providing for a
secret ballot
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
for voters in all elections.
Pattison's feat of being elected to a state governorship at the age of 31 was matched in the 20th and 21st centuries only by
Harold Stassen, elected
governor of Minnesota in 1938.
Bill Clinton was elected
Governor of Arkansas
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
at the age of 32.
Pattison's success at a young age led him to be promoted for other offices. He was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia
in 1895, an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination at the
Democratic National Convention in 1896, and an unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial nominee for a third term as governor in
1902
Events
January
* January 1
** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...
.
He died at his home in the
Overbrook neighborhood of Philadelphia on August 1, 1904. The ''New York Times'' obituary of Pattison credited the stress of his final gubernatorial campaign against
Samuel W. Pennypacker with leading to his death.
He is buried at
West Laurel Hill Cemetery in
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Legacy
Pattison Avenue in
South Philadelphia is named after him. In the late 1970s, an award to a graduating senior at
was established in his honor. Pattison graduated from Central High School and was the valedictorian for his class.
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pattison, Robert
Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni
Candidates in the 1904 United States presidential election
20th-century American politicians
Democratic Party governors of Pennsylvania
1850 births
1904 deaths
People from Somerset County, Maryland
Politicians from Philadelphia