William Goebel Totally Explained

Everything about William Goebel totally explained

William J. Goebel (January 4 1856 – February 3 1900) was an American politician who served as Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in. Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to be assassinated while in office.
A skilled politician, Goebel was well able to broker deals with fellow lawmakers, and equally able and willing to break the deals if a better deal came along. His tendency to use the state's political machinery to advance his personal agenda earned him the nicknames "Boss Bill", "the Kenton King", "Kenton Czar", "King William I", and "William the Conqueror".
Goebel's abrasive personality made him many political enemies, but his championing of populist causes, like railroad regulation, also won him many friends. This conflict of opinions came to a head in the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1900. Goebel, a Democrat, divided his party with self-serving political tactics at a time when Kentucky Republicans were finally gaining strength, having elected the party's first governor four years previously. These dynamics led to a close contest between Goebel and William S. Taylor. In the politically chaotic climate that resulted, Goebel was assassinated. The identity of his assassin remains an unsolved mystery to this day.

Early life

Wilhelm Justus Goebel was born January 4 1856, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Augusta Goebel, immigrants from Hannover, Germany. The first of four Goebel children, he was born two months premature, and weighed less than three pounds. While his father served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, Goebel's mother raised the children alone, teaching them much about their German heritage. Wilhelm spoke only German until the age of six, but eventually embraced the culture of his birth country as well, including the adoption of the English spelling of his name. Goebel also helped defeat the bill to abolish the Railroad Commission in the Senate. These actions made him a hero in his district. He ran for a full term as senator unopposed in 1889, and won another term in 1893 by a three-to-one margin over his Republican opponent. which produced the current Kentucky Constitution. Despite the high honor of being chosen as a delegate, Goebel showed little interest in participating in the process of creating a new constitution. The convention was in session for 250 days; Goebel was present for just 100 of them. In response to this, Goebel had written an article in a local newspaper referring to Sanford as "Gonorrhea John".
The duel occurred as Goebel and two of his acquaintances went to cash a check in Covington. Goebel suggested they avoid Sanford's bank, but Sanford, standing outside the bank, engaged the trio in conversation before they could cross the street to another establishment. As Sanford greeted Goebel's friends, he offered his left hand, his right remaining on a pistol in his pocket. Goebel, noticing this and being likewise armed, clutched the pistol in his own pocket. Sanford asked Goebel, "I understand that you assume authorship of that article?" "I do," replied Goebel. Witnesses agree that both men fired their guns, but none could tell who fired first. Goebel was uninjured, the bullet passing through his coat and ripping his trousers, while Sanford was hit in the head. He died five hours later.

Goebel Election Law

Democrats, who controlled the General Assembly, felt that county election commissioners had been unjust in selecting local election officials, and that this injustice had contributed to the election of Republican governor William O. Bradley in 1895 and Republican president William McKinley in 1896. Goebel proposed a bill, known as the "Goebel Election Law," which passed along sharp party lines and over Governor Bradley's veto, created a three-member state election commission, appointed by the General Assembly, to select county election commissioners. This system proved to be just as manipulable as the one it replaced, allowing the Democratically-controlled General Assembly to appoint fellow Democrats to the election commission. Despite rising to the office of President Pro Tempore in 1896, Goebel became the subject of much opposition from constituencies of both parties in Kentucky after the passage of the law.

Gubernatorial election of 1900

Three men sought the Democratic nomination for governor at the 1899 party convention in Louisville — Goebel, Wat Hardin, and William J. Stone. When Hardin proved the front-runner for the nomination, Stone and Goebel agreed to work together against him. Stone's supporters would back whomever Goebel picked to preside over the convention; in exchange, half of the delegates from Louisville, who were pledged to Goebel, would vote to nominate Stone for governor. Goebel would then drop out of the race, but would be allowed to name many of the other officials on the ticket. As word of the plan spread through the convention, Hardin dropped out of the race, believing he'd be bested by the Stone–Goebel alliance. A disgruntled faction calling themselves the "Honest Election Democrats" held a separate convention in Lexington and nominated John Y. Brown for governor. The lone dissension was that of Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan, a Kentucky native.

Trials and investigations

During the ensuing assassination investigation, suspicion naturally focused on deposed governor Taylor, who fled to Indianapolis, Indiana under the looming threat of indictment. The governor of Indiana refused to extradite Taylor, and he was thus never questioned about his knowledge of the plot to kill Goebel. Taylor became a successful lawyer in Indiana, and was pardoned in 1909 by Beckham's successor, Republican Augustus E. Willson. Sixteen people, including Taylor, were eventually indicted in the assassination of Governor Goebel. Three accepted immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony. Only five ever went to trial, two of those being acquitted. Convictions were handed down against Taylor's Secretary of State Caleb Powers, Henry Youtsey, and Jim Howard. The prosecution charged that Powers was the mastermind, having a political opponent killed so that his boss, Governor Taylor, could stay in office. Youtsey was an alleged intermediary, and Howard, who was said to have been in Frankfort to seek a pardon from Taylor for the killing of a man in a family feud, was accused of being the actual assassin. The trials were fraught with irregularities. All three judges were pro-Goebel Democrats, and at one point the juror pool of 368 people was found to have only eight Republicans. Republican appeals courts overturned Powers' and Howard's convictions, though Powers was tried three more times, resulting in two convictions and a hung jury and Howard was tried and convicted twice more. Both men were pardoned in 1908 by Governor Augustus E. Willson.
Youtsey, who received a life sentence, didn't appeal, but after two years in prison, he turned state's evidence. In Howard's second trial, Youtsey claimed that ex-governor Taylor had discussed an assassination plot with Youtsey and Howard. He backed the prosecution's claims that Taylor and Powers worked out the details, he acted as an intermediary, and Howard fired the shot. On cross examination, the defense pointed out contradictions in the details of Youtsey's story, but Howard was still convicted. Youtsey was paroled in 1916 and was pardoned in 1919 by Democratic governor James D. Black. Most historians agree that the assassin of Governor Goebel will never be conclusively identified.Further Information

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