Hazen S. Pingree | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 24th Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 1, 1897 – January 1, 1901 | |
| Lieutenant | Thomas B. Dunstan Orrin W. Robinson |
| Preceded by | John Treadway Rich |
| Succeeded by | Aaron T. Bliss |
| 43rd Mayor of Detroit | |
| In office 1889–1897 | |
| Preceded by | John Pridgeon Jr. |
| Succeeded by | William Richert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 30, 1840 Denmark, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | June 18, 1901 (aged 60) London, England |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Frances Gilbert |
| Signature |  |
Hazen Stuart Pingree (August 30, 1840 – June 18, 1901) was a four-term Republican mayor of Detroit (1889–1897) and the 24th governor of Michigan (1897–1901). A Yankee who migrated from New England, he was a successful Republican businessman turned politician.
As a businessman turned politician, Pingree was elected mayor in 1889 after a colorful campaign in which Pingree revealed his tolerance by making a circuit of saloons. Pingree added to the old stock Yankee Republican base by making large inroads into the German and Canadian elements. He was reelected in 1891, 1893 and 1895. Warning repeatedly against the dangers of monopolistic corporations, he launched nationally visible crusades against Detroit's streetcar, gas, electric, and telephone companies. He successfully forced rate reductions that won him widespread popularity. He won public approval for a citizen-owned electric light plant and became a national spokesman for municipal ownership and public regulation of utilities and street railways.
When the nationwide Panic of 1893 caused a severe depression, Pingree gained support by opening empty lots to garden farming launching Pingree's "Potato Patch Plan", initially financed by Pingree, who sold his prize horse to pay for the farming tools and seeds. Pingree was a Republican, whose policies competed for support of the Populist Party voters and labor union members. He supported the gold standard in 1896, and worked to carry Michigan for William McKinley over silverite William Jennings Bryan in the intensely competitive 1896 U.S. presidential election.
Pingree was on the ballot too, and was elected governor of Michigan. As governor, he succeeded in forcing passage of the nation's first major statewide reappraisal of railroad and corporate property, with intent on implementing taxes. That led to a rational basis for railroad regulation and other trust busting ideas launched by the Republican Party.[1] A survey of scholars in 1985 ranked Pingree as the third-best mayor in all of American history.[2]
- ^ Melvin G. Holli, Reform in Detroit: Hazen S. Pingree and Urban Politics (1969).
- ^ Melvin G. Holli (1999). The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders. Penn State University Press. pp. 35–43 and 183.