Editing Hiram Johnson (section)

==Governor of California (1911–1917)==
[[File:Hiram Johnson and A.J. Wallace of California.png|thumb|right|Johnson and newly elected Lieutenant Governor A.J. Wallace, right, in the ''Los Angeles Herald,'' November 9, 1910]]
In 1910, Johnson won the gubernatorial election as a member of the [[Lincoln–Roosevelt League]], a Progressive Republican movement, running on a platform opposed to the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]. During his campaign, he toured the state in an open automobile, covering thousands of miles and visiting small communities throughout California that were inaccessible by rail.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Michelson |first1=Marion |title=Hiram Johnson Stumped the State in Automobile Prompt at Every Date |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SN19101119.2.75&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |access-date=September 30, 2020 |work=Sausalito News |issue=47 |date=November 19, 1910|volume=26 }}</ref> Johnson helped establish rules that made voting and the political process easier. For example, he established rules to facilitate recalls. This measure was used to remove Governor [[Gray Davis]] from office in 2003 and to enable an unsuccessful effort to remove Governor [[Gavin Newsom]] in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://app.studiesweekly.com/online/publications|title=Hiram Johnson, California Studies Weekly|access-date=May 27, 2021|archive-url=https://app.studiesweekly.com/online/publications/127820/units/128060/articles/154778|archive-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Californ1913-1.ogv|thumb|left|Hiram Johnson at the 1913 [[California State Fair]]]]

In office, Johnson was a [[populism|populist]] who promoted a number of democratic reforms: the election of U.S. Senators by direct popular vote rather than the state legislature (which was later ratified nationwide by a constitutional amendment), [[cross-filing]], [[Popular initiative|initiative]], [[referendum]], and [[recall elections]]. Johnson's reforms gave California a degree of direct democracy unmatched by any other U.S. state at the time. When he took office, amid rampant corruption, the Southern Pacific Railroad held so much power it was known as the fourth branch of government. "While I do not by any means believe the initiative, the referendum and the recall are the panacea for all our political ills," Johnson extolled in his 1911 inaugural address, "they do give to the electorate the power of action when desired, and they do place in the hands of the people the means by which they may protect themselves."

Johnson was also instrumental in reining in the power of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific Railroad]] through the establishment of a state railroad commission. On taking office, Johnson paroled [[Christopher Evans (outlaw)|Chris Evans]], convicted as the Southern Pacific train bandit, but required that he leave California.

Although initially opposed to the bill, Johnson gave in to political pressure and supported the [[California Alien Land Law of 1913]], which prevented Asian immigrants from owning land in the state (they were already excluded from [[Naturalization|naturalized citizenship]] because of their race).<ref name=Niiya>{{cite web|last=Niiya |first=Brian |url=http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Hiram%20Johnson/ |title=Hiram Johnson |publisher=Densho Encyclopedia |access-date=October 29, 2014}}</ref>

===1912 vice presidential campaign===
{{Main|1912 United States presidential election}}
[[File:Roosevelt and Johnson after nomination LCCN2001697254 Trim.jpg|thumb|right|[[Theodore Roosevelt]] and Johnson shake hands after their nominations as president and vice president, respectively]]
In 1912, Johnson was a founder of the national [[Bull Moose Party|Progressive Party]] and ran as the party's [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidential]] candidate, sharing a ticket with former President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. Roosevelt and Johnson narrowly carried California but finished second nationally behind the Democratic ticket of [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Thomas R. Marshall]]. Their second-place finish, ahead of incumbent Republican President [[William Howard Taft]], remains among the strongest for any [[Third party (politics)|third party]] in American history.

Johnson was [[1914 California gubernatorial election|re-elected governor of California in 1914]] as the Progressive Party candidate, gaining nearly twice the votes of his Republican opponent [[John D. Fredericks]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The only successful progressive leader |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/241/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=November 16, 1914 |access-date=July 24, 2012}}</ref> In 1917, as one of his final acts as governor before ascending to the U.S. Senate, Johnson signed Senate Constitutional Amendment 26, providing health insurance for all in the Golden State. Then it was put on the ballot for ratification. A coalition of insurance companies took out an ad in The Chronicle, warning it "would spell social ruin to the United States." Every voter in the state, as recounted in a recent issue of the New Yorker, "received in the mail a pamphlet with a picture of the Kaiser and the words 'Born in Germany. Do you want it in California?'" The ballot measure failed, 27%-73%.