Augustus Owsley Stanley

Augustus Owsley Stanley
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office May 19, 1919 – March 3, 1925
Preceded by	George B. Martin
Succeeded by	Frederic M. Sackett
38th Governor of Kentucky
In office December 7, 1915 – May 19, 1919
Lieutenant	James D. Black
Preceded by	James B. McCreary
Succeeded by	James D. Black
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1915
Preceded by	Henry Dixon Allen
Succeeded by	David Hayes Kincheloe
Personal details
Born	(1867-05-21)May 21, 1867 Shelbyville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	August 12, 1958(1958-08-12) (aged 91) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Frankfort Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Susan F. Soaper ​ (m. 1903)​
Alma mater	Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical College Centre College
Profession	Politician lawyer
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Augustus Owsley Stanley I (May 21, 1867 – August 12, 1958) was an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th governor of Kentucky and also represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. From 1903 to 1915, Stanley represented Kentucky's 2nd congressional district in the House of Representatives, where he gained a reputation as a progressive reformer.^[1] Beginning in 1904, he called for an antitrust investigation of the American Tobacco Company, claiming they were a monopsony that drove down prices for the tobacco farmers of his district. As a result of his investigation, the Supreme Court of the United States ordered the breakup of the American Tobacco Company in 1911. Stanley also chaired a committee that conducted an antitrust investigation of U.S. Steel, which brought him national acclaim. Many of his ideas were incorporated into the Clayton Antitrust Act.

During an unsuccessful senatorial bid in 1914, Stanley assumed an anti-prohibition stance. This issue would dominate his political career for more than a decade and put him at odds with J. C. W. Beckham, the leader of the pro-temperance faction of the state's Democratic Party. In 1915, Stanley ran for governor, defeating his close friend Edwin P. Morrow by just over 400 votes in the closest gubernatorial race in the state's history. Historian Lowell H. Harrison called Stanley's administration the apex of the Progressive Era in Kentucky. Among the reforms adopted during his tenure were a state antitrust law, a campaign finance reform law, and a workman's compensation law. In 1918, Stanley was chosen as the Democratic nominee to succeed the recently deceased senator Ollie M. James. Stanley was elected, but did not resign as governor to take the seat until May 1919 and accomplished little in his single term. He lost his re-election bid to Frederic M. Sackett in the 1924 Republican landslide and never again held elected office. He died in Washington, D.C., on August 12, 1958.