The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958 Page: 53
591 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Edward M. House and the Governors
tuted House's council or inner circle; to call them a "machine,"
as was occasionally done by their opponents, was exceedingly
inaccurate and farfetched. There were other supporters, of course,
but they constituted variable factors. For instance, House fre-
quently turned to Governor Hogg for advice or for approval of
his ideas, but the two men did not always support the same can-
didates and differed in other respects from time to time.? This
larger group of supporters, or, as House denominated it, "our
crowd," varied in size and strength; but the faithful guard of
Andrews, Burleson, Gregory, Wells, and Jameson worked on. A
measure of the stature of these men is the fact that two of them,
Burleson and Gregory, later served in President Wilson's cabinet.
Colonel House used every available means of attaining for
his candidate, governor-elect, or governor effective political lead-
ership. He controlled party conventions. Long before a conven-
tion was to meet he would select its major officers and secure
their assent to serve.10 Typical is a letter to his friend Wells in
1898. "I get so little out of politics," he wrote, "that I hope you
will not deny me the pleasure of seeing you preside over this
memorable convention-my health forbids my presence but my
friends must be in command."" In fact, if House had a watch-
word it was "My friends must be in command." Men to nominate
the candidate for governor and make seconding speeches were
selected and told what to say. One supporting speech was to
emphasize the candidate's acceptability to West Texas, another to
right arm. House's interest in Texas affairs was declining, and after Jameson's
death he never made any serious effort to elect another Texas governor.
9In 1894, when House managed the gubernatorial campaign of Charles A. Cul-
berson, Hogg supported John H. Reagan for governor. In 1898 House directed
Sayers' campaign and Hogg supported the former attorney general M. M. Crane.
In the House Papers are many documents bearing on these campaigns. See also,
the Culberson Papers ("Private"), Texas State Archives.
loCopies of House's letters to Joe Lee Jameson, July ..., 1898; to W. S. Shaw,
July ..., 1898; to A. S. Burleson, May ..., 1904; and Lanham to House, June
18, 1902 (Microfilm Collection, E. M. House Papers, Archives, University of Texas
Library). Relatively few copies of House's letters for this early period are to be
found in his papers. Generally the copies available consist of penciled notations,
often on an envelope or sheet of the letter being answered, usually not dated and
not signed or initialed. The location of the note in the papers, its context, and the
author's handwriting generally reveal beyond a doubt the authenticity of the item
and the approximate date.
"1House to Wells, July 17, 1898 (MS., James B. Wells Papers, Archives, University
of Texas Library).
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 61, July 1957 - April, 1958, periodical, 1958; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101164/m1/73/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.