JOHNSON, John Albert, American pub lic official: b. Saint Peter, Minn., 1861; d. Rochester, Minn., 21 Sept. 1909. When John son was only 13 years old, his father died in the county poorhouse of alcoholic dementia, and he was forced to leave school in order to support his mother. He was employed by vari ous mercantile establishments and for a time was connected with a railroad construction gang. During all of this time, however, he continued to educate himself by private study. His success in this respect was demonstrated in 1886 when he was made editor of the Saint Peter Herald. He was active in bringing about civic improvements, providing free public lec tures and establishing playgrounds. His at tractive personality and geniality made him ex tremely popular. In 1894 he entered politics as Democratic candidate for the State senate; though then unsuccessful, in 1898 he was elected and served in three successive legisla tures. He became known for his independence of panty partisanship when he opposed Gover nor Lind on the question of withdrawing Min nesota troops from the Philippines. Johnson was a bold advocate of tariff reform and econ omy in the administration of the government. In 1904 he was nominated and elected gover nor. The campaign was extremely bitter, and personalities entered largely into the speeches. The public issue concerned the merging of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, but Johnson was taunted with reference to his family. His popularity with the Scandinavian
element, his public record and the assaults on his family turned public sentiment in his favor, and he was elected by a plurality of 6,000 at a time when Roosevelt carried the State for the Republican national ticket by 146,000. As governor, he achieved immense success, and through his influence legislation was enacted providing for employers' liability, the abolition of railroad passes, schools for delinquent girls, and a reformation of the civil service; he was also instrumental in effecting local and national reforms in insurance laws. He was re-elected governor in 1906 by a plurality of 76,000, and again in 1908 by 20,000, although Taft carried the State for the Republican national ticket by 85,000 votes. In the presidential campaign of 1908 Johnson was frequently mentioned for the Democratic nomination, and he received 46 votes in the Denver Convention. His prestige and success as governor were not diminished by the quiet, though determined, method em ployed by him in dealing with the miners' strike of 1908. He had long suffered from appendicitis, and in 1909 an operation was per formed, but failed to save his life.