By Frank Russo
www.californiaprogressreport.com

Hiram Johnson’s most famous quote was "The first casualty of war is the truth." Here we will hold scoundrels accountable for the Orwellian thinking that every proposal advancing pay or working conditions, or making this state more healthy to live in, is a "job killer" and other abuses of the English language.

There is an epidemic of the misuse of the word "reform," a term from the progressive era that has a cleansing aura about it, to disguise what is in reality "deform."

Webster's Dictionary defines "reform" as:
Verb: 1. "To make better by removing faults and defects; to correct."
2. "To make better by putting a stop to abuses or malpractices or by introducing better procedures, etc."
Noun: 1. "in sociology, action by individuals or groups aimed at preventing crime or at eliminating poverty by means of new laws."

Who was Hiram Johnson?
Hiram Johnson, Governor of California from 1911 to 1917, was a real reformer and a Progressive. He gave us the initiative, referendum, and recall "to return government to the people." He also fought for women's suffrage, a minimum wage for women and children, the 8 hour work day, Workers' Compensation, pure food and drug acts, free textbooks in public schools, pensions for retired teachers, and other real reforms that were ahead of his time.

He battled the big corporations, including the railroads who had dominated state government. He wasn't afraid to use the power of the state to regulate these powerful interests, something that had never been done before. He established the railroad commission which had to approve rates for transportation of people and goods. He didn't stop there and also regulated the public utilities, considered radical in his day.

Although Johnson was a Republican, he joined the Progressive Party and didn't support the incumbent Republican, William Howard Taft, for President in 1912. (Contrast that with our current governor who made a special trip to Ohio to campaign for George Bush). On March 11, 1912, Hiram opened the California campaign for Teddy Roosevelt, the Bull Moose candidate, saying "this battle is the age-long battle of privilege against the common welfare."

Johnson had the courage to say "Neither morally nor equitably is Taft the nominee of the Republican party… The Republican party of California is progressive and in the state the party was redeemed and made respectable by progressives."

He also respected labor and those working for a living. John I. Nolan, the representative of the San Francisco Labor Council, praised him, saying: "The present Governor of this State is entitled to and should receive the unanimous support, with any exception, of the entire labor movement of the State of California, and it is to be hoped that labor, when the time comes, will show that they appreciate the square deal accorded to them at the hands of Governor Johnson."

His later years.
Johnson was re-elected governor in 1914 and in 1916 ran successfully for the U.S. Senate, taking office on March 16, 1917. It was this year that he spoke the words that he is best remembered for today: "the first casualty when war comes, is truth", referring to the United States's entry into World War I.

Following Roosevelt's death in January 1919, Johnson was regarded as the natural leader of the Progressive Party. In 1920, however, he did not attempt to revive the Progressive Party, but ran for President as a Republican. He was defeated for the Republican presidential nomination by Warren Harding. He received ten votes for the nomination against Calvin Coolidge in 1924. As a senator, Johnson proved extremely popular. In 1934, he was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the popular vote.

During the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, Johnson supported the president's economic recovery package, the New Deal, frequently crossing the floor to aid the Democrats and even backing FDR in the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections, although he never switched party affiliation. As a staunch Isolationist (he was the only senator to vote against both the League of Nations and the United Nations), Johnson was much less supportive of Roosevelt on foreign policy than domestic policy. He achieved senate seniority as Chairman of the Committee on Cuban Relations in the Sixty-sixth Congress; he was also a member of the Patents, Immigration, Territories and Insular Possessions and Commerce Committees.

Having served in the Senate for almost thirty years, Johnson died in the Naval Hospital at Bethesda, Maryland, on August 6, 1945. News of his death, however, was overshadowed by the nuclear bomb attack on Hiroshima, Japan, which occurred that same day.

Johnson gained some recognition in the media and general public during the 2003 California recall election because he was the most important person behind the introduction of the law that allowed state officials to be recalled.