After twelve years of Democratic Governors, the Republicans regained the executive branch with Ralph Gates in the election of 1944. Gates was born and raised in Columbia City and went to the public schools there. He then went to the University of Michigan where he earned his bachelors and law degree in 1917. That was about the time that the U.S. had entered World War I. Gates enlisted in the Navy where he mostly worked with money — serving in a role helping to manage the payroll and then selling bonds to insure government war assets.
He returned home and worked in his father’s law practice and bank. He also served as a municipal attorney (a type of practice near and dear to my heart) for South Whitley, Columbia City, and Whitley County. In the 20s, upon the advice of his father, he managed to steer clear of the Klan. When the Depression hit, his father’s bank was threatened, but — in It’s a Wonderful Life fashion — they managed to convince depositors not to withdraw deposits, and their bank was one of the few in the area that survived. Following in the footsteps of Paul McNutt, Gates became the Indiana Commander of the American Legion in 1931. In 1941, he became the chairman of the state Republican Party which paved the way to his nomination as the party’s candidate in 1944.
In the general election Gates defeated the Democratic nominee, Samuel Jackson (presumably the individual who briefly served in the Senate serving out the term of Senator Van Nuys after his death and not the Samuel Jackson who was challenged by snakes on a plane.)
Early in Gates’ term, the Freeman Field Mutiny took place at Freeman Field near Seymour. On April 5th and 6th, 1945, African American members of the 477th Bombardment Group attempted to integrate an all-white officer’s club.
The first group of three officers was turned away by Major Andrew M. White the officer in charge of the club; but later groups were met by the Officer of the Day, First Lieutenant Joseph D. Rogers who was armed with a holstered .45 caliber weapon and who was stationed there on the orders of Colonel Selway. When 19 of the officers, including Coleman Young, entered the club against the instructions of Lieutenant Rogers and refused to leave, Major White put them in arrest “in quarters.” In response to the arrest order, the 19 officers left the club and returned to their quarters. Seventeen more were placed under arrest later that night, including Second Lieutenant Roger C. Terry, whom Lieutenant Rogers claimed had shoved him. The next night, 25 more officers acting in three groups entered the club and were also placed under arrest. Except for the alleged “shoving” incident, there was no use of physical force by anyone on either side. A total of 61 officers were arrested during the two-day protest.
In 1948, Harry Truman would sign an executive order integrating the armed services.
During his term, “Gates oversaw the creation of the departments of revenue, veterans affairs and commerce, and he approved tax hikes on beer, liquor and cigarettes.” The Republican opposition to federal programs apparently had negative repercussions for Indiana when it came to highway construction, despite Gates’ personal support for that particular program. He could not get the General Assembly to come up with matching funds, resulting in Indiana missing out on highway funds and, consequently, struggling with road quality. This put Gates at odds with Senator William Jenner (about whom more later) who had been behind blocking the money. Gates would retaliate by blocking Jenner’s nomination for governor in 1948.
In general, the rise of the Indiana Republican party in the 40s was characterized by a conservatism focused on rolling back FDR’s New Deal and fighting off communists. The progressive Republicans of the late 19th and early 20th century were not ascendant in Indiana. Jenner was briefly a Senator filling out the term of the Van Nuys seat after his death and then, after a hiatus was elected in his own right to the other Senate seat in 1946, replacing one-term Senator Raymond Willis. In that 1946 race, Jenner defeated former governor Clifford Townsend. (The 1946 elections were good for the Republicans, they took 9 out of the 11 Congressional seats.) Jenner became a great supporter of Joe McCarthy. Jenner was apparently a conspiracist, stating:
Today the path to total dictatorship in the U.S. can be laid by strictly legal means, unseen and unheard by Congress, the President, or the people. Outwardly we have a Constitutional government. We have operating within our government and political system, another body representing another form of government – a bureaucratic elite. We have a well-organized political-action group in this country, determined to destroy our Constitution and establish a one-party state…. The important point to remember about this group is not its ideology but its organization. It is a dynamic, aggressive, elite corps, forcing its way through every opening, to make a breach for a collectivist one-party state. It operates secretly, silently, continuously to transform our Government without suspecting that change is under way…. If I seem to be extremist, the reason is that this revolutionary clique cannot be understood, unless we accept the fact that they are extremist. It is difficult for people governed by reasonableness and morality to imagine the existence of a movement which ignores reasonableness and boasts of its determination to destroy; which ignores morality, and boasts of its cleverness in outwitting its opponents by abandoning all scruples. This ruthless power-seeking elite is a disease of our century…. This group … is answerable neither to the President, the Congress, nor the courts. It is practically irremovable.
In 1950, Jenner would go on to accuse popular World War II general and Secretary of State, George Marshall as being “a front man for traitors.” In 1956, Jenner would say that the Republicans had been “ruined” by the leadership of Eisenhower. Jenner was supported by the Indiana Farm Bureau, the American Legion, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and Eugene Pulliam’s conservative and influential Indianapolis Star and News.
Next time: Sex! (Or, at least the founding of the Kinsey Institute).
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