Arthur Capper

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Arthur Capper (July 14, 1865 - December 19, 1951) was an American politician from Kansas. He was a Quaker and a member of the Republican Party.

Capper was born in Garnett, Kansas. He attended the public schools and learned the art of printing. He became a newspaper publisher, eventually owning several newspapers and two radio stations. The best known of his publications, Capper's Weekly, had an enormous readership among farm families and served as the base of his political support in Kansas.

Capper first entered politics in 1912 when he became the Republican candidate for governor of Kansas. In addition to a reputation built from his newspapers, he was also the son-in-law of former governor Samuel Crawford. He was defeated by Democrat George Hartshorn Hodges. However, Capper was elected governor in the next election in 1914 and served as governor of Kansas from 1915 until 1919, winning re-election in 1916.

Having served two full terms as Governor, Capper was not permitted to run for a third term by the Kansas State Constitution. Instead, in 1918 he ran for election to the United States Senate and won. Capper became a long-serving senator, representing Kansas as one of its two senators for five 6-year terms. He was in the Senate from 1919 to 1949, and prominent among Republicans who supported the relief efforts and other policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration. He did not seek reelection in 1948.

Capper was particularly interested in issues relating to agriculture. Before his time as governor, he served as President of the board of regents of Kansas Agricultural College from 1910 to 1913. While in the Senate, he at times served as chairman of the Committee of Expenditures of the Department of Agriculture and the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. He also at times served as chairman of the Committee on Claims and the Committee on the District of Columbia. He cosponsored the Capper-Volstead Act.

After retiring from the Senate, Capper returned to his home in Topeka, Kansas where he continued the newspaper publishing business until his death. He was buried in Topeka Cemetery in a plot adjacent to governor Crawford.

[edit] Further reading

Arthur Capper: Publisher, Politician, and Philanthropist, by Homer E. Socolofsky (University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, KS 1962)

[edit] External links

• Capper speeches on State Library of Kansas web site

Governors of Kansas

Robinson • Carney • Crawford • Green • Harvey • Osborn • Anthony • St. John • Glick • Martin • Humphrey • Lewelling • Morrill • Leedy • Stanley • Bailey • Hoch • Stubbs • Hodges • Capper • Allen • Davis • Paulen • Reed • Woodring • Landon • Huxman • Ratner • Schoeppel • Carlson • Hagaman • Arn • Hall • McCuish • G. Docking • Anderson • Avery • R. Docking • Bennett • Carlin • Hayden • Finney • Graves • Sebelius