Editing James M. Cox (section)

== Governor of Ohio ==
Cox won the 1912 election for Governor of Ohio, in a three-way race gaining 41.5% of the vote.  Cox served three terms; after winning the 1912 election, he served from 1913 to 1915; he lost reelection in 1914, but won the 1916 and 1918 elections, and served from 1917 to 1921. He presided over a wide range of social reform measures,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/progressivedemoc00morr Progressive democracy of James M. Cox by Charles E. Morris, P.73-75]</ref> such as laying the foundation of Ohio's unified highway system, creating a no-fault workers' compensation system, and restricting child labor.<ref name=Stockwell>{{cite book|last1=Stockwell|first1=Mary|title=Ohio Adventure|date=2001|publisher=Gibbs Smith|location=Layton, Utah|isbn=9781423623823|pages=156–157|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJKroULBUpgC|access-date=1 October 2015}}</ref> He introduced direct primaries and municipal home rule, started educational and prison reforms, and streamlined the budget and tax processes.<ref>[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/James_M._Cox James M. Cox], ''Ohio History Central''</ref><ref>[https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/labor-legislation-1912-32-3905/labor-legislation-1914-476851?page=3 Title: Labor Legislation of 1914 : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 166, P.191-195]</ref>

During [[World War I]], Cox encouraged voluntary cooperation between business, labor, and government bodies. In 1918, he welcomed constitutional amendments for [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] and [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]].<ref name=ANBO /> Cox supported the internationalist policies of [[Woodrow Wilson]] and reluctantly supported U.S. entry into the [[League of Nations]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=2007-09-20|title=James M. Cox's Stance on the Issues Facing Democrats in 1920 Election|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB119013476839631205|access-date=2020-10-11|issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Prevention of war|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2016655171/|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Library of Congress}}</ref>

In 1919, shortly after the Great War ended, Governor Cox backed the Ake Law, introduced by [[H. Ross Ake]], which banned the [[German language]] from being taught until the eighth grade, even in private schools. Cox claimed that teaching German was "a distinct menace to Americanism, and part of a plot formed by the German government to make the school children loyal to it."<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jahc/3310410.0001.202/--persecution-of-the-german-language-in-cincinnati-and-the-ake?rgn=main;view=fulltext Persecution of the German Language in Cincinnati and the Ake Law in Ohio, 1917-1919]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160331023154/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jahc/3310410.0001.202/--persecution-of-the-german-language-in-cincinnati-and-the-ake?rgn=main;view=fulltext Archived.]</ref>  Legislation restricting the teaching of foreign languages was declared unconstitutional in ''[[Meyer v. Nebraska]]''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}