Ben Walter Hooper (October 13, 1870 – April 18, 1957) was the 28th Governor of the U.S. state of Tennessee from 1911 to 1915.
Hooper, who was of illegitimate birth, spent part of his childhood in an orphanage, was unofficially "adopted" by members of his rural Baptist church, and was belatedly acknowledged by his natural father, a prominent physician. He was a native of Newport in Cocke County, Tennessee. He was admitted to the bar in 1894, and served in the state legislature. He was a captain of the 6th U.S. Volunteer Infantry in the Spanish-American War of 1898, and nominated by the Republicans for governor in 1910 over Alfred A. Taylor. His initial Democratic opponent, incumbent Governor Malcolm R. Patterson, despite winning the nomination withdrew from race due to diffences among Democrats, which in turn led to the nomination of United States Senator and three-term former governor Robert Love Taylor, younger brother of Alf Taylor.
Then the Prohibition issue badly split the Democrats and a faction of them called "Independents" endorsed Hooper, the challenger for governor, leading to his election. During legislative sessions Hooper's administration employed armed guards. Nonetheless, he was reelected in 1912, but was subsequently defeated for a third term in 1914 by Democrat Thomas C. Rye, a Prohibition advocate. During his terms, early child labor laws were enacted and school attendance was made compulsory for young children provided that they lived within a realistic walking distance of a school. The method of the death penalty was changed from hanging to electrocution.
Hooper continued the practice of law after his time as governor and maintained a keen interest in public affairs and Republican politics until just before his death in 1957. He wrote an autobiography, The Unwanted Boy, and was widely regarded in East Tennessee as an inspirational figure.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Malcolm R. Patterson |
Governor of Tennessee 1911-1915 |
Succeeded by Tom C. Rye |
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