"The most interesting man in America" : folk logic and first principles in the early career of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis

314 Pages·1995·9.2 MB·English

by  Henderson, John

"THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN AMERICA":
FOLK LOGIC AND FIRST PRINCIPLES IN THE EARLY CAREER OF
JUDGE KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS
By
JOHN HENDERSON
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1995
Copyright 1995
by
John Henderson
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank the three principle readers of this dissertation, Bob Zieger,
David Colburn, and, especially my director Kermit Hall, for their close attention to the
early drafts and for the gentle prodding which they used to encourage me to explore other
directions. If there is merit in this work, it is due to their efforts. In addition, John
Sommerville, Jeffrey Adler, and James Twitchell panicipated in the defense procedure and
contributed valuable suggestions. The interlibrary loan department at the University of
Florida, Archie Motley and his crew at the Chicago Historical Society, and the staffs of
numerous other libraries and archives made the difficult process of researching and
obtaining material relatively easy. The department of history, the graduate school, and the
Richard J. Milbauer Foundation of the University of Florida provided much-needed
funding during the pursuit of my doctoral degree. Betty Corwine and the history
department secretarial staff guided me through the stormy seas of bureaucracy which
surrounded this project. Joe Thompson and "The Ducks" deserve mention for contributing
great times and a social outlet, and a special commendation goes to Daniel Stowell for
dragging me kicking and screaming into the computer age.
Finally I would like to thank my two families. My parents, brothers, and sister
have supported me throughout the meandering maze of career changes which have
constituted my adult life and led me to this point. My brother Dan, especially, has served
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as my strongest advocate at every stage, providing constant encouragement and an
occasional can of beer. My step-children, Ben and Kristin Morgan, have repeatedly
reminded me that a very real world of both laughter and tears exists outside the artificial
realm of academia. And, of course, I would like to thank my wife, Kathleen, for
everything else. She provided love and support, exhibited extraordinary patience, served
as my first reader, and even used her grammatical skills to keep me from embarrassing
myselfwith my clumsy prose. Without her, none of this was possible; without her, none
of this matters.
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
iii
ABSTRACT
vii
INTRODUCTION
I
;
Notes 8
CHAPTERS
LITTLE KENNIE 9
1
j
i
Notes 33
I
2 YOUNG MAN ON THE MAKE 40
I
I
(
Notes 60
I
3 "THE BEST FRIEND I EVER HAD" 65
]
Notes 87
4 STATE DEPARTMENT, 1893-1895 94
'
I
I
Notes 115
\
5 CHICAGO LAWYER, 1895-1905 120
j
I
Notes 150 '
I
i
6 IN PURSUIT OF THE BRASS RING 157
i
Notes 186
I
7 THE TWENTY-NINE-MILLION-DOLLAR FINE 193
Notes 223
AFTERMATH
8 231
Notes 264
9 EPILOGUE 271
Notes 280
REFERENCES 284
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 304
VI
Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
"THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN AMERICA":
FOLK LOGIC AND FIRST PRINCIPLES IN THE EARLY CAREER OF
JUDGE KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS
By
John Henderson
May 1995
Chairman: Kermit L. Hall
Major Department: History
This biographical study examines the early career of one of the most fascinating
personalities of the early twentieth century. Landis is perhaps best known for having
served as the first commissioner of baseball, but during the earlier, more intriguing part
of his life, he earned a high degree of popularity and notoriety as a federal district court
judge in Chicago. This study encompasses the years 1866 to 1910, but focuses particularly
on Landis's rise to power as a federal judge and the Standard Oil case of 1907, in which
he dragged the mighty John D. Rockefeller into court and slapped him with a record,
twenty-nine-million-dollar fine. This dissertation looks at that case and its outcome after
first exploring the background that brought Landis to that much-publicized event.
vu
This is the story of an individual, but set within the context of a culture assaulted
by the disturbing changes of rapid industrialization. Landis responded to those changes
by retreating to the comfort of traditional values and ideals previously shared by most
Americans in an earlier, rural society. In doing so, he won the admiration of countless
other Americans who lamented the loss of those values and cheered Landis's efforts to
resist change.
The life of Landis, and the controversy surrounding the Standard case, is thus used
to explore the mentalite of Americans in the first years of this century in regard to what
they expected from the legal system and what they looked for in popular heroes. In the
process, this dissertation probes such issues as popular culture, the relationship between
law and society, and the political nature of the legal system.
vin
INTRODUCTION
On August 3, 1907, United States District Court Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
peered menacingly down from his bench and ordered the Standard Oil Company to "forfeit
and pay to the United States of America a fine . . . amounting in the aggregate to the sum
ofTwenty-nine million two hundred and forty thousand dollars." This fine, unprecedented
in legal history, screamed from headlines around the country, stirred the popular
imagination, and made Landis's name a household word. In the minds of many
Americans, the trusts-which in popular parlance meant any large, consolidated business
concern-had come to symbolize everything that was wrong with the country. By striking
out in such a bold manner against this hated enemy, Landis emerged as a national hero
surpassed in stature only by President Theodore Roosevelt. His very name conjured up
images ofprominence, fonhrightness, and rock-solid stability. One journalist called him,
"The Most Interesting Man in America," while another wrote, "And out of it all comes
Judge Landis, the fearless judge, the incorruptible man encircled by a halo."'
Landis did not enjoy universal approval, however. Many of his critics believed
that he frequently "played to the galleries," more concerned with his admiring public than
the appropriateness of his decisions. To others, he was "America's Erratic Judge,"
difficult to peg, with his judicial opinions seeming to swing from one end of the political
spectrum to the other. Selected as the first commissioner of baseball in 1920 in the wake
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of the Black Sox scandal, he was labeled the "savior" of the game for his prompt and
straightforward actions in removing any taint of gambling from the sport. To fans of Joe
Jackson and Buck Weaver, however, two players banned for life by the autocratic
commissioner, "The name Kenesaw Mountain Landis became synonymous with the
"^
Devil.
Landis repeatedly inspired these sorts of strong and conflicting reactions during a
public career which spanned a half-century, from 1893 until his death in 1944. Today,
he is best remembered for his position as baseball commissioner, and most studies of him
have focused on that last portion of his life. Between 1921 and 1944, a generation of
Americans came to know him as the iron-willed dictator who ruled the baseball world as
if it were his own personal domain. By 1921, however, his personality, his fame, and his
mode of operation were already well established. At the time of his appointment as
commissioner, he was fifty-four years old with the most interesting years of his life behind
him. He had already worked for the secretary of state and the attorney general of the
United States, become a prominent Chicago attorney, and served as a federal judge for
sixteen years. It was as a judge that he gained fame and notoriety while handing down
controversial decisions on some of the most significant issues of the day. In particular,
the Standard Oil case of 1907, in which he dragged the mighty John D. Rockefeller into
court and slapped him with a record fine, stands out as the most publicized event of his
early career.
This study will focus on that case and its outcome, after first exploring the
background which brought Landis to that pivotal moment. This is the story of an