Eugene Foss

In 1902, Foss ran for U.S. Congress as a progressive Republican.[3] His main issue was a tariff reform platform, calling for "free wool, free coal, free iron, and free hides" and reciprocity with Canada.[4] His campaign was held while there were high coal prices that had badly hurt Massachusetts.[5] While many voters blamed coal prices on the protective tariff, President Theodore Roosevelt attributed it to the ongoing 1902 anthracite coal strike.[5]

Foss narrowly carried the Republican nomination in a September 24, 1902 caucus and started his campaign for control of the state party by submitting his revisionist plank at the October state party convention.[5] His motion was defeated following a speech by Henry Cabot Lodge, urging national party unity in defense of the protective tariff.[5] Foss lost the general election to John Andrew Sullivan.[5]

In 1904, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention.[3] He ran for Congress again in 1904, with an even more embarrassing defeat.[6] He next failed in a bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 1906.[6]

After Governor Eben Sumner Draper was elected in 1908, divisions within the state Republican Party deepened, especially over tariff reform.[7] The party's position on tariffs led Foss to leave the party.[8] In 1909, he bought his way onto the Democratic Party ticket as its nominee for lieutenant governor, but lost to the Republicans by a narrow margin.[8]

In March 1910, Foss won a special election for United States House of Representatives, filling a vacancy caused by the death of William C. Lovering.[9][10] He served until January 4, 1911, when he resigned to become governor of Massachusetts.[1]

Eugene Foss, 1915

Foss then announced his intention to contend for the Democratic nomination for governor.[11] The nominating convention was a contentious affair, with old-line labor Democrats opposing his nomination.[11] Labor agitators criticized Foss for opposing bills that reduced maximum working hours, and supporting pro-business bills such as that authorizing the merger of the Boston and Maine Railroad with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.[11] The convention deadlocked on the second ballot, between Foss and the previous year's nominee, James H. Vahey.[11] There were fistfights on the floor, chairs were thrown, and the convention ended up appointing a committee to choose a nominee.[11]

The committee also deadlocked, this time between Foss and Charles Sumner Hamlin.[11] At this point, Foss announced that he intended to run regardless, and essentially demanded the party ratify his nomination.[11] He won a mail election by a single vote.[12] In the general election, labor Democrats attacked Draper's anti-labor record, while Foss essentially campaigned against the pro-tariff stance of Senator Lodge.[12] The Republicans called in Theodore Roosevelt, in an attempt to paint Draper in a more favorable light.[12] Foss won the election for Governor by 32,000 votes on November 8, 1910.[13][3] He was reelected in 1911 and 1912.[3]

During his three terms as governor, Foss enacted many reform measures.[14] He signed measures covering employer liability and workmen's compensation, but also vetoed bills authorizing the tenure of school teachers and the right to picket.[14] He signed an election reform bill changing primaries to direct elections, a bill setting a minimum wage for women and children, and a bill allowing jury trials for cases involving the violation of strike injunctions.[14] In addition, a pension plan was started for state employees and part-time schooling for working children was also enforced.[3] He also promoted and signed bills that benefited his businesses.[14] In 1911 he led a somewhat quixotic campaign to deprive Senator Lodge of his seat; his campaigning ended up having the opposite effect, essentially killing the chances of either Democrats or progressive Republicans to unseat Lodge.[15]

Foss's tenure included the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which was stimulated by the passage of a law limiting the working hours of women and children.[16][3] Organized by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, or Wobblies), the labor action united numerous immigrant groups and involved more than 20,000 workers in all of the industrial city's mills.[16] Incidents of violence in the strike prompted Foss to call out the state militia, and he applied pressure on the mill owners to settle the action by threatening to withdraw them.[16]

Foss denied clemency for Clarence Richeson for the sensationalized murder of Avis Linell. Richeson had documented bouts of mental problems and was convicted without trial after eventually pleading guilty to the charges. His case prompted calls for reforms in the state's handling and treatment of mental patients.

By 1913 Foss's anti-labor policies had disenchanted the state Democratic leadership, and Lieutenant Governor David I. Walsh announced that he would challenge Foss for the Democratic nomination. Foss received no support from the party but was offered—and declined—the opportunity to contest for the Bull Moose Party nomination. He eventually took out papers for the Republican nomination but failed to qualify for the primary ballot. He ran in the general election as an Independent.[3] It was a Democratic landslide, and Foss trailed far behind the other three candidates. He left office on January 4, 1914.[3]

In 1925, Foss ran for the 5th Congressional District as a "Coolidge-Democrat."[17] He lost by a huge margin and did not win any districts.[17]