Daniel Webster Turner
Encyclopedia
Daniel Webster 'Dan' Turner (March 17, 1877 April 15, 1969), a lifelong Republican
, was elected the 25th Governor of Iowa, and served only one term from 1931 to 1933.
. As a boy, he did farm chores and clerked at the general store owned by his father, a civil war veteran. Graduating from the Corning Academy in 1898, he enlisted in the Army and served in the Philippines
during the Spanish American War. He boxed in the division championship fights and won, but suffered a broken nose that became a permanent facial feature. Returning from the war, he joined the National Guard and rose to the rank of major. In 1903, at age 26, he was elected to the Iowa Senate
. His political activism and boxer’s nose led the press to dub him, “Fighting Dan Turner.”
As a representative of the progressive wing of the Republican Party during the era of “prairie populism,” when the Midwest was a font of radicalism, Turner advocated for many reforms. In a 1912 address to the Republican State Convention, he defended the anti-trust law and called for direct election of U. S. senators, income and corporate taxes as more equitable than property taxes, and an end to corrupt leadership, saying, “We must cleanse our party of complacent plutocrats and corpulent freebooters, masquerading as Republicans.” Elected to the Governorship in 1931, he attacked lobbyists in his inaugural address and demanded fair congressional districts, measures to promote child welfare, and establishing a state conservation commission:
“The professional lobbyist . . . should be ejected from the presence of honest men . . . . He is not interested in the well being of the people we represent.”
“Our streams are rapidly degenerating into open sewers, receiving the waste drainage of private industry and municipalities. We must terminate this practice.”
In a prelude to the Great Depression
, the farming economy collapsed during the 1920s, with many related bank failures. Turner, as a "Son of the Wild Jackass" and one of four speakers at the Republican National Convention of 1928, urged the party to support farm relief. He traveled twice to Washington to unsuccessfully plead the same cause with President Hoover during the 1930s.
of 1931. To keep people from contracting bovine tuberculosis, a State law mandated testing of dairy cows and destroying diseased animals. Farmers across Iowa responded with suspicion and hostility. When some banded together near Tipton, Iowa
to prevent the tests from taking place and violence broke out, Turner as governor restored peace by calling out the Iowa National Guard
. This act earned him the enmity of many farmers and may have contributed to his re-election defeat in 1932 by Democrat
Clyde L. Herring
, though this was the year of the Roosevelt-led Democratic sweep, when Republicans were removed from office nation-wide.
, but turned against Eisenhower after a meeting with the President yielded disappointment on farm-related matters. In the election of 1956
, he crossed party lines and supported Democrat
Adlai Stevenson for president. Still advocating for farmers’ interests at age 78, he was active in founding the National Farmers Organization
, recalling Thomas Jefferson when he cited the “yeoman farmer, who has been the bulwark of our nation.”
At the end of his life, remembering his part in the Spanish American War, Turner was heard to say, “They gave us the Springfield rifle
. I wish I had never learned to shoot it. They said we were fighting for liberty, but it was cruel, it was cruel.” He died in Corning at age 92 and is buried there in Walnut Grove Cemetery.
of Toad The Wet Sprocket is a great-great-nephew of Gov. Turner.
Republican Party of Iowa
The Republican Party of Iowa is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is led by Chairman Matt Strawn and Co-Chairman Bill Schickel...
, was elected the 25th Governor of Iowa, and served only one term from 1931 to 1933.
Biography
Daniel Webster Turner, named after the famed antebellum senator and orator, was born on a farm near Corning, IowaCorning, Iowa
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,783 people, 803 households, and 452 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,132.3 people per square mile . There were 880 housing units at an average density of 558.9 per square mile...
. As a boy, he did farm chores and clerked at the general store owned by his father, a civil war veteran. Graduating from the Corning Academy in 1898, he enlisted in the Army and served in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
during the Spanish American War. He boxed in the division championship fights and won, but suffered a broken nose that became a permanent facial feature. Returning from the war, he joined the National Guard and rose to the rank of major. In 1903, at age 26, he was elected to the Iowa Senate
Iowa Senate
The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 members of the Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 59,500 per constituency. Each Senate district is composed of two House districts...
. His political activism and boxer’s nose led the press to dub him, “Fighting Dan Turner.”
As a representative of the progressive wing of the Republican Party during the era of “prairie populism,” when the Midwest was a font of radicalism, Turner advocated for many reforms. In a 1912 address to the Republican State Convention, he defended the anti-trust law and called for direct election of U. S. senators, income and corporate taxes as more equitable than property taxes, and an end to corrupt leadership, saying, “We must cleanse our party of complacent plutocrats and corpulent freebooters, masquerading as Republicans.” Elected to the Governorship in 1931, he attacked lobbyists in his inaugural address and demanded fair congressional districts, measures to promote child welfare, and establishing a state conservation commission:
“The professional lobbyist . . . should be ejected from the presence of honest men . . . . He is not interested in the well being of the people we represent.”
“Our streams are rapidly degenerating into open sewers, receiving the waste drainage of private industry and municipalities. We must terminate this practice.”
In a prelude to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the farming economy collapsed during the 1920s, with many related bank failures. Turner, as a "Son of the Wild Jackass" and one of four speakers at the Republican National Convention of 1928, urged the party to support farm relief. He traveled twice to Washington to unsuccessfully plead the same cause with President Hoover during the 1930s.
Governorship and Cow War
Turner played a decisive role in the Iowa Cow WarIowa Cow War
The Iowa Cow War of 1931 involved violent disputes over the testing of cows for tuberculosis. After distrustful farmers tried and failed to repeal the testing program, they gathered in numbers to block tests from taking place. Such confrontations sometimes led to violence...
of 1931. To keep people from contracting bovine tuberculosis, a State law mandated testing of dairy cows and destroying diseased animals. Farmers across Iowa responded with suspicion and hostility. When some banded together near Tipton, Iowa
Tipton, Iowa
Tipton is a city in Cedar County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,155 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cedar County.-Geography:Tipton is located at ....
to prevent the tests from taking place and violence broke out, Turner as governor restored peace by calling out the Iowa National Guard
Iowa National Guard
The Iowa National Guard consists of the:*Iowa Army National Guard and the*Iowa Air National Guard-External links:* compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History*...
. This act earned him the enmity of many farmers and may have contributed to his re-election defeat in 1932 by Democrat
Iowa Democratic Party
The Iowa Democratic Party is the local branch of the Democratic Party in the state of Iowa.-Current elected officials:Iowa Democrats are in control of the Iowa Senate, one of the state's United States Senate seats, and three out of the state's five United States House of Representatives seats. ...
Clyde L. Herring
Clyde L. Herring
Clyde LaVerne Herring , an American politician and Democrat, served as the 26th Governor of Iowa, and then one of its U.S. Senators, during the last part of the Great Depression and the first part of World War II....
, though this was the year of the Roosevelt-led Democratic sweep, when Republicans were removed from office nation-wide.
Later years
Returning to the race for governor of Iowa in 1934, Turner was defeated a second time by Herring. He did not run for office again but remained active in politics. He supported fellow Republican Dwight Eisenhower in the presidential race of 1952United States presidential election, 1952
The United States presidential election of 1952 took place in an era when Cold War tension between the United States and the Soviet Union was escalating rapidly. In the United States Senate, Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had become a national figure after chairing congressional...
, but turned against Eisenhower after a meeting with the President yielded disappointment on farm-related matters. In the election of 1956
United States presidential election, 1956
The United States presidential election of 1956 saw a popular Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully run for re-election. The 1956 election was a rematch of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Democrat Adlai Stevenson, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier.Incumbent President Eisenhower...
, he crossed party lines and supported Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Adlai Stevenson for president. Still advocating for farmers’ interests at age 78, he was active in founding the National Farmers Organization
National Farmers Organization
The National Farmers Organization is a producerist movement founded in the United States in 1955. Its greatest notoriety came in 1967 when it organized milk farmers to engage in a “holding action” to drive up the price of milk....
, recalling Thomas Jefferson when he cited the “yeoman farmer, who has been the bulwark of our nation.”
At the end of his life, remembering his part in the Spanish American War, Turner was heard to say, “They gave us the Springfield rifle
Springfield Rifle
The term Springfield Rifle may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces....
. I wish I had never learned to shoot it. They said we were fighting for liberty, but it was cruel, it was cruel.” He died in Corning at age 92 and is buried there in Walnut Grove Cemetery.
Notable Relatives
Singer-songwriter Glen PhillipsGlen Phillips
Glen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...
of Toad The Wet Sprocket is a great-great-nephew of Gov. Turner.