William J. Fields, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

William J. Fields

American politician

Date of Birth: 29-Dec-1874

Place of Birth: Willard, Kentucky, United States

Date of Death: 21-Oct-1954

Profession: lawyer, politician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn


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About 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. 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.

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