William Knowland
William Knowland | |
---|---|
16th district | |
In office January 7, 1935 – January 2, 1939 | |
Preceded by | Arthur Breed Sr. |
Succeeded by | Arthur Breed Jr. |
Member of the California State Assembly from the 14th district | |
In office January 2, 1933 – January 7, 1935 | |
Preceded by | Frank Israel |
Succeeded by | Charles Wagner |
Personal details | |
Born | William Fife Knowland June 26, 1908 Suicide by gunshot |
Political party | Republican |
Spouses | Helen Davis Herrick
(m. 1926; div. 1972)Ann Dickson (m. 1972) |
Children | 3, including Joe, and 2 stepchildren |
Relatives | Joseph R. Knowland (Father) |
Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1942–1945 |
Rank | Major |
Unit | Forward Echelon Communications Zone Fifteenth United States Army |
Battles/wars | World War II |
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in the United States |
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William Fife Knowland (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Leader from August 1953 to January 1955 after the death of Robert A. Taft, and would be the last Republican Senate Majority Leader until Howard Baker in 1981.
As one of the most powerful members of the Senate and with his strong interest in foreign policy, Knowland helped set national foreign policy priorities and funding for the Cold War, the policy regarding Vietnam, Formosa, China, Korea and NATO, as well as other foreign policy objectives. He opposed sending American forces to French Indochina and was a sharp critic of Communist China under Mao Zedong. Knowland represented the right wing of the party and considered some of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's policies too liberal.[1]
After the Republicans lost their majority in the
Background
Knowland was born in the City of Alameda, Alameda County, California.[4] His father, Joseph R. Knowland, was serving his third term as a US Representative. He was the third child, with an older sister, Elinor (1895–1978), and a brother, Joseph Russell "Russ" Knowland Jr. (1901–1961).
His grandfather Joseph Knowland (1833–1912) had made the family fortune in the lumber business. William F. Knowland was also a scion of The Oakland Tribune fortune.[5] His mother, Elinor Fife Knowland, died on July 20, 1908, less than a month after his birth. His father's second wife, Emelyn S. West, raised Knowland as her own son.
A young Knowland made campaign speeches for the 1920 Republican ticket of
Early political career
Knowland, the president of the student body, graduated from Alameda High School in the Class of 1925. He graduated with a political science degree in three and a half years from the University of California, Berkeley in 1929. He was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity and the Order of the Golden Bear. California Governor C. C. Young and University of California President William Wallace Campbell praised Knowland's political activities as a university student.
Knowland attended the 1932 Republican National Convention. From the gallery, he watched the California delegation which included his father, Earl Warren, Louis B. Mayer and Marshall Hale. The delegates renominated President Herbert Hoover and Vice President Charles Curtis.
In November 1932, he was elected to the State Assembly, where he served for two years. In 1934 he won election to the
World War II
In June 1942, Knowland was
Military awards
Knowland received the following military awards:
American Campaign Medal | |
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
| |
World War II Victory Medal | |
Army of Occupation Medal |
U.S. Senate
Knowland was sworn in as a freshman Senator of the
In 1946, in a special election for the last part of Johnson's term, Knowland defeated Democrat Will Rogers Jr. by 334,000 votes. The special election featured a blank ballot, whereby electors had to write in the name of their choice.[7] He also defeated Rogers in the general election by nearly 261,000 votes, winning a full term in the Senate in his own right.
Knowland became a caustic critic of the Harry S. Truman administration. He was publicly critical of the actions in the loss of China to Communism and the Korean War. However, Knowland admired the former Senator from Missouri personally. A firm believer in legislative authority under the US Constitution, Senate leader Knowland sometimes also was at odds with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower wrote that Knowland "means to be helpful and loyal, but he is cumbersome" and described the Senator's foreign policy views, particularly on Red China, as "simplistic."[8] In his diaries, the publicly avuncular Eisenhower felt free to confide more critical assessments of his political acquaintances. "Knowland has no foreign policy, except to develop high blood pressure whenever he mentions 'Red China' ... In his case, there seems to be no final answer to the question, 'How stupid can you get?'"[9] Fellow conservative Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater described Knowland as "a very determined man, and a very highly principled one, and as long as he and Eisenhower agreed on the legislation that Ike wanted, Bill would fight his head off for it."[10] In 1954, for example, Knowland voted in support of Eisenhower's initiatives 91 percent of the time.[11]
For his strong support for
At the 1948 Republican National Convention, Knowland made the nominating speech for Warren as the vice presidential candidate, and he was seen on the podium with presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey.
In the June 1952 primary election, Knowland "cross-filed," running for both the Republican and Democratic nominations. He got 2.5 million votes to 750,000 for his Democratic opponent, Clinton D. McKinnon, and won both nominations. In the general election, he was opposed only by an "Independent Progressive." He won with 88% of the vote and carried 57 of the 58 counties.
The
When Taft died on July 31, 1953, Knowland was chosen to succeed him as Senate Republican Leader (majority leader from 1953 to 1955, minority leader from 1955 to 1959). At age 45, he is the youngest senator to occupy the position of majority leader. The Republican majority during Knowland's stint as majority leader was tenuous. Taft's Senate seat was filled by a Democrat, which gave Democrats 48 seats compared to the Republicans' 47. One Senator, Wayne Morse of Oregon, who dropped his Republican affiliation to become an independent, pledged to vote with the Republicans on organizing the Senate in 1954 and brought the Republican tally to 48 seats. The constitutional provision for the Vice President to cast a tie-breaking vote gave Republicans a working majority to organize the Senate.
Knowland's Democratic counterpart was
Knowland called the Senate the "most exclusive club of 96" (there were 48 states at the time). He was slow to criticize its most infamous member, Wisconsin's Republican junior Senator Joseph McCarthy. In 1953, McCarthy questioned the "integrity and good faith" of US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, which led Knowland to denounce McCarthy publicly.[17] McCarthy was later condemned by the Senate for "conduct contrary to Senate traditions" in his vehement investigation of alleged communist infiltration of the US government.[18][19]
Amid speculation that Eisenhower might not run for re-election, Knowland briefly floated his candidacy for president in 1956, but he withdrew when Eisenhower decided to seek a second term.
Knowland was Temporary Chairman of the 1956 Republican National Convention in the San Francisco Cow Palace. On appointing Knowland as delegate to the Eleventh General Assembly of the United Nations in 1956, Eisenhower wrote: "Knowland brings to his leadership post an absolute, unflinching integrity that rises above politics. In the councils of government, he inspires faith in his motives and gives weight to his words."
Knowland had a long-running battle with Nixon, with whom he served in the Senate from 1951 to 1953, for influence in
Campaign for the governorship
In 1958, Knowland decided to run for
Knowland secured the Republican nomination for governor after a brutal contest with incumbent
A critical issue in the campaign was Proposition 18, an initiative to enact a right-to-work law in California. Knowland endorsed Proposition 18 in excessive language, but Proposition 18 was highly unpopular, and the endorsement hurt Knowland. He was soundly defeated in the
Among Joseph R. Knowland's protégés, Representative
After politics
The 1964 Republican National Convention, again in San Francisco's Cow Palace, nominated Barry Goldwater for president. Knowland backed the Goldwater-Miller ticket and spoke for the Arizona Senator across the country.
Knowland was the titular head of the California Republican Party from 1959 to 1967, when he passed the party leadership to the new governor, Ronald Reagan. In the 1966 California gubernatorial campaign, Reagan ran on a law-and-order message, while Knowland and his old California Republican rival Richard Nixon worked tirelessly behind the scenes, enabling Reagan to win two thirds of the primary vote over George Christopher, the moderate Republican former mayor of San Francisco. The momentum from Reagan's successful primary win carried over to the general election, where he defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Brown in a landslide.
Russ, Knowland's brother, died on October 6, 1961. Knowland became the sole successor to his father and to control of the Oakland Tribune. Knowland became president, editor, and publisher of the Oakland Tribune in 1966, after the death of his father. Knowland was typically called "Senator" by the staff after his return to the paper from Washington. He kept the editorial pages of the Tribune solidly Republican.
However, he took steps to add a bipartisan bent to the news pages, including the appointment in 1969 of a political editor with Democratic Party leanings.[22] His son, Joseph W. Knowland, was Assistant Publisher with the position of Assistant General Manager.
In a cost-cutting move that ultimately hurt the Oakland Tribune, the Southern
As editor and publisher, Knowland took an interest in local affairs along with the job and was less concerned with national and foreign policy. During his tenure as newspaper executive,
He offered a $100,000 reward for the conviction of those responsible for the 1973 murder of
The Tribune turned 100 years old on February 21, 1974. Knowland spoke on the occasion: "For 100 years this newspaper has participated in the growth of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.... Now as we look into the future it becomes ever more important that newspapers here and in other cities keep the public adequately informed." He went to all departments on that Thursday. At the banquet at Goodman's Hall, Governor Ronald Reagan praised the Tribune and the Knowland family.
The Oakland Tribune was sold in 1977 by the Knowland family. After four ownership changes, it is now a daily newspaper of the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.
Personal life
William F. Knowland was married to Helen Davis Herrick, whom he had met in the sixth grade. They were married on New Year's Eve in 1926. They were divorced on March 15, 1972, citing irreconcilable differences, a quiet reference to his affairs. Knowland then married Ann Dickson on April 29, 1972, but the two were estranged by the end of that year.
He and Herrick had three children: Emelyn K. Jewett,
Suicide
On February 23, 1974, Knowland died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an apparent suicide, at his summer home near Guerneville, California. His personal life was in a shambles; heavy gambling took all his money and he died owing over $900,000 (equivalent to $5,560,000 in 2023) to banks and impatient mobsters.[23]
Remains
At the Main Mausoleum of the Mountain View Cemetery, in Oakland, California on Floor I, M8J, N2, TI, Knowland is with his first wife, Helen Knowland Whyte (1907–1981) and her mother, Estelle Davis Herrick (1881–1963). Also contained are the remains of Ruth Lamb Caldwell Narfi (1909–2003) and her first husband, Hubert A. Caldwell (1907–1972) and second husband, Gaetano "Tani" Narfi (1905–1996)
At the Chapel of Memories in Oakland, California, two tiers down from his father, Joseph R. Knowland in the Serenity Section Tier 4 Number 6, a double book urn has only one side inscribed, "U.S. Senator William F. Knowland, 1908–1974."
Further reading
- Montgomery, Gayle B. and Johnson, James W., One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1998. ISBN 0-520-21194-4. Online at UC Press.
- Wyatt, Daniel E., Joseph Russell Knowland: The Political Years, 1899–1915. San Francisco: D. Wyatt. 1982.
References
- ^ Gayle B. Montgomery, and James W. Johnson, One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (1998) pp 166-80
- ^ "Senate – August 7, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (10). U.S. Government Printing Office: 13900. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
- ^ "Senate – August 29, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (12). U.S. Government Printing Office: 16478. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Senate: Senate Leaders". www.senate.gov. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-5381-8725-8.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ Washington Post, "Murkowski appears to make history in Alaska", Debbi Wilgoren, November 3, 2010 (accessed November 3, 2010)
- ISBN 9781586480158.
- ISBN 978-0316217279.
- ISBN 9780688035471.
- ^ Montgomery, Gayle; Johnson, James (1998). One Step From the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland. Berkeley, CA: University of California. p. 172.
- ^ "World: Menon's War". TIME. December 29, 1961. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ Montgomery, Gayle (1998). One Step From the White House. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 281.
- ^ "Curbing the Filibuster". The New York Times. January 10, 1957.
- ^ Caro, Robert (2003). Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Vintage Books. p. Ch. 37–41.
- ^ Branch, Taylor Parting the Waters p. 221
- ^ White, William S. (March 26, 1953). "BITTERNESS MARKS DEBATE ON BOHLEN; TAFT DEFERS VOTE: Knowland Assails McCarthy--Foes of Nominee Question Integrity of Dulles Again". No. Page 1. The New York Times.
- ^ "The Censure Case of Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin". U.S. Senate. Retrieved May 24, 2015.Senator Knowland, along with half of the 44 Republicans voted for McCarthy, against the censure.
- ISBN 978-0671499013.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ "Vice Presidential Inaugurations". Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Montgomery, Gayle; Johnson, James (1998). One Step From the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William Knowland. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 267.
- ^ Montgomery, Gayle (1998). One Step From the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 280.
- ^ Montgomery and Johnson, One Step from the White House: The Rise and Fall of Senator William F. Knowland (1998) pp 283-305
External links
- United States Congress. "William Knowland (id: K000292)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-09
- "William Knowland". Find a Grave. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
- Oakland Tribune Archives
- William F. Knowland Papers Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
- Knowland Family California at Political Graveyard
- William Knowland Political History
- Oral history interview [1]