John L. Bates

John Lewis Bates
41st Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 8, 1903 – January 5, 1905
Lieutenant	Curtis Guild, Jr.
Preceded by	Winthrop M. Crane
Succeeded by	William Lewis Douglas
38th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
In office January 4, 1900 – January 8, 1903
Governor	Winthrop M. Crane
Preceded by	Winthrop M. Crane
Succeeded by	Curtis Guild, Jr.
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office 1894-1899
Personal details
Born	September 18, 1859 Easton, Massachusetts
Died	June 8, 1946 (aged 86) Boston, Massachusetts
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Clara Elizabeth Smith
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Methodism

John Lewis Bates (September 18, 1859 – June 8, 1946) was a lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. A Republican, he worked to promote East Boston, securing legislative approval of the first tunnel under Boston Harbor, joining the neighborhood to the rest of the city. From 1900 to 1903 he served as Governor of Massachusetts, notably upsetting the Republican establishment with his organizing tactics, and then alienating his own supporters with some of his executive actions. He later served as chair of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917–1918.

Biography

John Bates was born in North Easton, Massachusetts to Rev. Lewis Benton Bates, an itinerant Methodist minister, and Louisa D. (Field) Bates. He attended public school in New Bedford, Chelsea, Taunton, and eventually the Boston Latin School. He then attended the Methodist-affiliated Boston University, earning an A.B. in 1882, and went on to graduate from Boston University School of Law in 1885. Over the next decade Bates practiced law in Boston, residing in its East Boston neighborhood. He married Clara Elizabeth Smith on July 12, 1887.

Bates, a Republican, first served on Boston's Common Council, and then won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1893. He served in that body from 1894 to 1899; from 1897 to 1899 he was Speaker of the House. During this period Bates built a ward-based political support system that was largely independent of the existing party infrastructure; his election to the speakership came without party support.^[1] Bates successfully shepherded legislation authorizing construction of a streetcar tunnel under Boston Harbor; it was the first of the harbor's tunnels, and now carries the MBTA Blue Line.

In 1899 Bates again bucked the Republican party establishment, defeating the expected nominee, Curtis Guild, Jr., for the party nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.^[1] Bates was not highly thought of by the more Brahmin elements of the party establishment, but it ultimately supported his runs for lieutenant governor and governor. Murray Crane, under whom he served, noted that some dislike of Bates within the party was rooted "on the profound idea of a certain element .. 'that he was not our kind'".^[2]

In 1902, Bates was elected the 41st Governor, holding office from 1903 to 1905. At the time, Boston's Police Commissioner was appointed by the Governor. During his first term in office, Bates generated controversy by disregarding city requests and appointing to the position an outsider, Judge Emmons, who promised to reform the department. He won re-election but was defeated in his bid for a third term in 1904. Bates then retired to his private law practice in Boston. From 1917 to 1919 Bates was president of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, which enacted a significant number of changes to the state constitution.

Bates was a member of the American Bar Association, the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and Beta Theta Pi.

See also

• List of Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

References

1. Abrams, p. 95
2. Abrams, p. 96

Sources

• Abrams, Richard (1964). Conservatism in a Progressive Era: Massachusetts Politics 1900-1912. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

External links

• Biographical: Massachusetts (biography of Lewis through 1902)