Governor of Vermont. He graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy and became a farmer, teacher, and school administrator. He was President of the Franklin County Fair Association and a Director of the Enosburg Falls Savings Bank. Gates founded the Franklin Telephone Company in 1895. He served in the Vermont House from 1899 to 1900, in the state Senate from 1901 to 1902, and as a member of the state highway commission from 1904 to 1914. Recognized as a loyal Republican with progressive ideas, in 1914 he was nominated for Governor in an attempt by Republicans to heal the rift between party activists who supported President Taft's reelection in 1912 and Progressives who supported Theodore Roosevelt. Gates served from 1915 to 1917, and during his term Vermont enacted direct primaries for nominating US House and Senate candidates, worker's compensation, a junior and senior high school system, and a public school vocational education program. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican US Senate nomination in 1916, after which he returned to his Franklin County business interests.
No comments:
Post a Comment