Frank Hanly

Fue elegido miembro del Senado del Estado de Indiana en una elección especial de 1889 para cubrir un escaño vacante en el Senado estatal, derrotando a George W. Cronk, y sirvió allí desde 1890 hasta 1891. En el Senado se ganó la reputación de ser un orador enérgico.

Se postuló como republicano y ganó las elecciones al Quincuagésimo Cuarto Congreso , donde sirvió desde el 4 de marzo de 1895 hasta el 3 de marzo de 1897. Durante su mandato, su distrito fue redistribuido por la Asamblea General de Indiana , controlada por los demócratas, quienes crearon una manipulación electoral que le hizo perder la reelección en 1896. ^{[ 1 ] [ 3 ]}

Lanzó una campaña para la nominación republicana al Senado de los Estados Unidos en 1899, pero fue derrotado en la votación de la legislatura republicana por Albert J. Beveridge . La elección causó una gran división en el partido estatal, y los candidatos progresistas contrarios a la prohibición apoyaron a Beveridge, mientras que el ala conservadora y prohibicionista del partido apoyó a Hanly. Tras perder la nominación, se retiró brevemente de la política. La división se agudizó después de las elecciones, lo que llevó a los progresistas a separarse del Partido Republicano. ^{[ 1 ]} Hanly emprendió una gira de discursos por el estado para conseguir apoyo para otra candidatura. Sus discursos eran apasionados y a menudo citaba a Abraham Lincoln . ^{[ 5 ]}

Hanly regresó a la política en 1904 y ganó la nominación republicana para gobernador de Indiana. Hanly fue elegido gobernador de Indiana , derrotando a John W. Kern por 84.364 votos. ^{[ 6 ]} La elección fue muy reñida para Hanly, quien pronunció discursos mordaces contra el Partido Demócrata, al que se refirió como "impío" y "grande solo por su capacidad de destrucción". Calificó su campaña electoral de "egoísta" y dijo que la llevaron a cabo solo para poder "obtener el poder". ^{[ 5 ]} Hanly era considerado un disidente del partido y, una vez en el cargo, impulsó su propia agenda, en lugar de la plataforma de su partido. Impulsó lo que consideraba importantes reformas estatales, logrando muchas de ellas. Luchó contra el alcoholismo , las carreras de caballos y la corrupción política , llegando incluso a procesar a miembros de su propia administración por malversación de fondos . ^{[ 1 ] [ 5 ]}

Using his popularity, he was able to have the Republican-controlled General Assembly pass legislation to ban gambling on horse races in the state and at the Indiana State Fair. He successfully reorganized most of the state government in an attempt to make the government bureaus non-partisan. He was able to successfully achieve his goal among the state's law enforcement, correctional facilities, and state-run charities.^[1] He also brought considerable improvement to the state's accounting methods. He required detailed expense reports to be created by all state employees seeking reimbursements, began regular audits of all spending, and with the support of the state treasurer, he began to establish new accounts by which the government could better monitor where funds were being spent, and by whom.^[7][8]

In 1907, he signed the Compulsory Sterilization Law, which mandated the sterilization of certain individuals in state custody, making Indiana the first state to adopt eugenics legislation. The legislation was part of the progressive agenda and received broad support at the time.^[9] Governor Thomas R. Marshall later ordered the practice stopped in 1909.^[10] In 1921, the Indiana Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional.^[11]

A major scandal broke shortly after he entered office, when it was found the public officials had been using their expense accounts to pay for gambling debts at the French Lick Springs Hotel, owned by the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Thomas Taggart. Hanly harangued Taggart for breaking the law by establishing a "Monte Carlo." In July 1906 he ordered the state police to raid French Lick and West Baden, and seized several slot machines, roulette wheels, poker sets, playing cards, Klondike tables, gambling records, dice, and a whole host of other gambling implements. He brought suit against the corporations operating the French Lick Springs Hotel and the West Baden Springs Hotel seeking to seize their properties for profiting from illegal activities. John Kerns, who Hanly defeated for governor in 1904, represented the hotels. The case dragged on until after Hanly left office. In 1910 an Orange County jury ruled in favor of the hotels.^[12][13]

Hanly was most concerned about temperance and was known to support a ban on liquor. His stated reason for supporting prohibition was the effect that alcoholics had on their children. He championed a bill that would allow counties to ban the sale of alcohol. The General Assembly had failed to pass the bill during their two normal sessions during his terms, so he called a special session in 1908 to have the body take up debate of the propose bill, which they passed.^[1] Once enacted, 72 of Indiana's 92 counties went dry, banning the sale of all liquors.^[14] The timing of the passage of the bill caused it to become a major election issue, and Hanly had robbed the Republicans of one of the primary plank of their platform and alienated progressives, costing Republicans the election.^[15]

While still governor, Hanly began to make work with the Anti-Saloon League. Early on he discovered the divisions within the prohibitionist movement and was instrumental in unifying the groups and their goal. He was among the first to advocate a constitutional amendment to ban the sale of liquor, and the prohibitionists rallied to that goal.^[16]

Hanly was a prohibition lecturer throughout the United States from 1910 to 1920 and in France in 1919. He organized the Flying Squadron of America (sometimes called Hanly's Flying Squadron), a temperance organization that staged a nationwide campaign to promote temperance. It consisted of three groups of revivalist-like speakers who toured cities across the country between September 30, 1914, and June 6, 1915.^[1][17]

Hanly left the Republican party to join the new Prohibition Party following his term as governor. In 1915 he was nominated to be the party's candidate for governor, but he declined, and instead became the Progressive Party's candidate. He was later nominated at the 1916 Prohibition National Convention to be the Prohibition Party's nominee for president of the United States in the 1916 election.^[1] Hanly was overwhelmingly defeated; the ticket of Hanly and Ira Landrith garnered 221,030 votes, or about 1.2% of the total.^[18]

En abril de 1920, Hanly defendió el caso Hawke v. Smith , una impugnación de la Decimoctava Enmienda, ante la Corte Suprema de los Estados Unidos . El caso se basaba en la creencia de que la enmienda había sido invalidada cuando Ohio revocó su ratificación previa tras un referéndum público. Hanly obtuvo una decisión unánime el 1 de junio de 1920, que confirmaba la prohibición y determinaba que Ohio no podía cambiar su voto una vez realizado el recuento entre los estados. ^{[ 19 ]}