Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Mark Frost, Chronicle Editor
Charles Evans Hughes was a great man. I have no doubt about that.
Born in Glens Falls, the son of a Baptist minister, Hughes excelled academically and first became famous in government when he confronted and cleaned up New York’s corrupt insurance industry.
What followed was an astounding career that, among other things, saw him elected governor of New York (over the publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst), appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, then resigning from the Court to run for President in 1916 — losing narrowly to Woodrow Wilson when California surprisingly went Wilson’s way. Then Hughes was reappointed to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice.
His intellect and integrity were unquestioned.
But what I most gained from the current Hughes exhibition (thru Dec. 31) at Crandall Public Library was fresh perspective gleaned from reading a spread on the wall about Hughes from LIFE Magazine.
LIFE celebrated Hughes, but it also made him human. “As a Presidential candidate,” they wrote, “Hughes was thoroughly miscast.
“Unable to dissuade him from touring the country, his advisers persuaded him to jiggle papooses on his knees, but he managed to remain chilly and aloof. People called him ‘Charles the Baptist’ and ‘an animated iceberg.’
“The Republican National Committee hunted desperately for some genial skeleton in the Hughes closet, produced a political movie with Hughes dressed up to inspect a coal mine.
“With war raging in Europe, Hughes tried to please both the pacifists and the militarists, the pro-Germans and the pro-Allies. He tried to conciliate both Capital and Labor.
“His crucial mistake was his August visit to San Francisco. Surround by Old Guard Republicans, he lost the support of Governor Hiram Johnson, a leader of the Bull Moose win who, after an unintentional personal snub on Hughes’ part, refused to see the latter.
“Hughes lost to Wilson by an electoral vote of 254 to 277. Had he carried California’s Bull Moose vote, he would have carried that State and been elected 267 to 264.”
That was 1916, exactly 100 years ago. The centennial prompted the exhibition at the library, and journalist Paul Post launched the Charles Evans Hughes Day celebration that peaks this Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Hyde Collection. Details on page 26 of this Chronicle.
Crandall exhibit on Charles Evans Hughes is definitely worth a visit, now to Dec. 31
Chronicle editor Mark Frost writes: The truth is that while Charles Evans Hughes was born in Glens Falls and is its most illustrious son, most people had little if any idea who he was, and that includes elected officials. I know, because I asked a lot of them. Hughes, who was born on April 11, 1862 and died on August 27, 1948, was elected governor of New York, was twice appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, including as Chief Justice, was U.S. Secretary of State, and exactly 100 years ago, in 1916, very nearly was elected President, losing narrowly to Woodrow Wilson.
Kudos to Todd DeGarmo and Maury Thompson for putting together the Hughes exhibition that continues downstairs in the Crandall Library Folklife Center through Dec. 31. I’d have liked more explanatory text, but they’ve assembled a vast amount of items and if you dig into it, there’s a lot there.
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