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25 W hile the Ferguson household enjoyed a degree of status and privilege , Jim busied himself with promoting the interests of the bank. In February of 1912, he spoke before a group of about one hundred at the Fourth District Bankers’ Association in Waco on the subject of overdrafts. The following day, the Dallas Morning News published this statement in its report on Ferguson’s remarks, “He could sympathize with and appreciate the position of the man who was sometimes forced to take this step, but declared the promiscuous over drafter was as much a parasite as the proverbial chinch bug.”1 Always passionately opinionated and vocal, Jim spoke out against banking reforms that he believed gave the government too much sway in the private sector . His exhaustive work in keeping Bell County free of local-option prohibition further confirmed his interest in politics and his (then) conservative leanings. In 1902 he acted successfully as county campaign manager for Congressman Robert L. Henry of Waco. He took part in the campaign of Robert Davidson for governor in 1910, worked toward Oscar Colquitt’s re-election as governor in 1912, and supported Champ Clark’s bid for the nomination for US President in 1912, all early hints at his own developing political aspirations. 2 Jim was never content to relegate himself to the passive role in life except, perhaps—as Miriam suggested—at church. Whatever forces compelled him to take the leap, by late 1913 Jim Ferguson moved from the periphery squarely into the middle of the political arena. Once committed to enter the political fray, Ferguson, unlike most newcomers, was brash enough to start at the top, setting his sights on the governorship. Sharing his political interest and involvement in campaigns was friend and associate, John G. McKay, a man who harbored his own political ambitions . The two men had worked together in support of Colquitt’s first campaign, Chapter 3 Political Plunge 26 In the Governor’s Shadow among others, while McKay lobbied in hope of securing the position of Texas Secretary of State. Colquitt gave that choice appointment to another, but offered McKay the position of state purchasing agent, a job he accepted in January of 1911 and held for two years. 3 John McKay, like Ferguson, was born and reared in Bell County and had similar leanings toward diverse business interests and an escalating ambition for political attachment. Between 1896 and 1912, he had been a postmaster, druggist , deputy, district clerk, railroad claims agent, and state purchasing agent. On March 23, 1912, he tendered his resignation as purchasing agent to manage a newly formed dry goods establishment called the Texas Store. His partner and financier in that endeavor was James Ferguson. However by 1913, perhaps anticipating a second chance at the position of Secretary of State, McKay was ready to make another move, that of campaign manager for his friend Jim. There was another compelling reason that may have occasioned McKay’s career change: the store the men co-owned, and of which he was president, was not making money. 4 It was a stormy time in the Texas political arena when Ferguson and McKay joined forces to attempt the near-impossible. The harsh memory of Reconstruction, which held a strong association with the Republican Party, had cast the Lone Star State into an unshakable position of allegiance to the Democratic Party. Famed writer O. Henry, while working as a Texas newspaperman in the 1890s, offered this amusing comment, “We have only two or three laws [in Texas], such as murder before witnesses and being caught stealing horses , and voting the Republican ticket.” With this attitude, the Democratic Party had long dominated Texas politics, with a few notable exceptions, but it did not follow that this condition brought harmony to the state’s political atmosphere. 5 The changing landscape of Texas and other factors such as labor unrest, dissatisfied farmers, and the issues of suffrage and prohibition were at the heart of heated political differences that created factions within the party. Since the passage of the Terrell Election Law in 1905, voters selected state, county, and district candidates through primary elections. Primary elections in Democratically dominated Texas often appeared similar to two-party elections with the exception that both candidates were Democrats. Absent a candidate receiving a plurality (later changed to a majority) in the primary, the top two candidates would face a runoff election soon after. Once selected, either absent a Republican or third-party contender...

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