Spirit of America Bookstore
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
[1855-1925]
![official 1922 portrait of Robert M. 'Fighting Bob' La Follette [1855-1925] by photographer John A. Glander](images/FightingBobbyGlander1922.jpg "official 1922 portrait of Robert M. 'Fighting Bob' La Follette [1855-1925] by photographer John A. Glander") | short profile |  |
"The solution to the problems of democracy is more democracy."
"Every nation has its war party. It is not the party of democracy. It is the party of autocracy. It seeks to dominate absolutely."
"Before the war is ended, the war party assumes the divine right to denounce and silence all opposition to war as unpatriotic and cowardly."
"Free men of every generation must combat renewed efforts of organized force and greed to destroy liberty."
"Democracy is a Life, and requires daily struggle."
"The will of the people shall be the law of the land."
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
Congressman, 1885-91; Governor of Wisconsin, 1901-06; U.S. Senator, 1906-25
founder of "The Nation Magazine" (as "La Follette's Weekly Magazine") in 1909
included in Peter Dreier's 2013 book about 100 Greatest Americans of the Twentieth Century
Robert M. La Follette entry at Wikipedia
Robert M. La Follette partial credits at Internet Movie Database
'Fighting Bob' Festival [Sept 2014 = #13] in Baraboo, Wisconsin
Works by Robert M. La Follette
search for books by/about 'Robert M. La Follette' {returns 100+ titles} at Amazon
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ten-volume "The Making of America"
  | [John D. Morris & Co. 1905, The Making of America Co. 1906] Edited by Robert Marion La Follette, William M. Handy & Charles Higgins book entry at Wikipedia {empty} |
Volume 1: The People and Their Social Life
http://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002MH3YO8/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
Volume 2: Statesmanship and Diplomacy
http://www.amazon.com/making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002YT8R00/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
Volume 3: Industry and Finance
http://www.amazon.com/making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B0037CFG8Y/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
available as free online etext #2 at Internet Archive
Volume 4: Trade and Commerce
http://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002IA0R4E/
Volume 5: Agriculture
Volume 6: Mining and Metallurgy
http://www.amazon.com/making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B003YL3LGW/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
Volume 7: Science and Invention
http://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002KW3RTC/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
Volume 8: Labor
http://www.amazon.com/making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002YIHDYM/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
Volume 9: Army and Navy
http://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002KT3PQ0/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
available as free online etext #2 at Internet Archive
Volume 10: Public Welfare
http://www.amazon.com/Making-America-Robert-M-Follette/dp/B002KT3RY0/
available as free online etext at Internet Archive
¨ ¨
 | "La Follette's Autobiography: A Personal Narrative of Political Experiences" [1911 & 1913] by Robert M. La Follette, Foreword by Allan Nevins or Matthew Rothschild Kindle Centennial Edition from Univ Wisconsin Press [12/2013] for $10.44 Univ Wisconsin Press 8¾x5½ pb [11/60] for $19.76 Nabu Press 9½x7¼ facsimile edition pb [2/2014] for $48.83 {sic} Univ Wisconsin Press hardcover [1963] out of print/scarce available as free online etext at Internet Archive |
 | "The Political Philosophy of Robert M. La Follette: As Revealed In His Speeches and Writings" [self-publd 1920] Edited by Ellen Torelle & Albert O. Barton HardPress Publng 9x6 pb [1/2012] for $25.25 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [9/2010] for $26.60 Kessinger Publng 9x6 hardcover [9/2010] for $37.40 available as free online etext at Internet Archive |
"Where La Follette Stands On Fifty Living Issues" 24-page campaign pamphlet [1924]
from the La Follette for President Committee, Compiled by Basil Maxwell Manly
S p e e c h e s
Movies, Plays, Other Media
"Presidential Possibilities" documentary short [1912] /tt1690512/
Robert La Follette Campaign Speech on "Progressivism" sound short [1924] /tt0491126/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5plfw9dV24 [2:14]
silent newsreel footage of Robert La Follette's Campaign in 1924
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6JzTFwJXV4 [1:33]
there is a "Robert M. La Follette" entry at A&E Biography, but no program/DVD found {2014}
Works About Robert M. La Follette
 | "La Follette's Winning of Wisconsin (1894-1904)" [1922] by Albert Olaus Barton, Introduction by Hon. Louis D. Brandeis Kindle Edition from HardPress Publng [7/2014] for $6.36 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [9/2010] for $28.04 Kessinger Publng 9x6 hardcover [9/2010] for $38.84 available as free online etext at Internet Archive |
"Robert M. La Follette, June 14, 1855 - June 18, 1925, Volumes I and II" [1953]
by Belle Case La Follette & Fola La Follette
http://www.amazon.com/Robert-M-Follette-June-1855/dp/B000O55TFW/
Image Gallery
Robert M. La Follette, Sr. on the cover of TIME Magazine 3 December 1923 |
Robert M. La Follette, Sr. at the radio microphone, circa 1924 (sepia) |
Robert M. La Follette, Sr. in 1924, seated in chair 8"x10" photograph from Amazon for $12.99 + $4.62 s/h |
Robert M. La Follette, Jr. on the cover of TIME Magazine 12 December 1927 |
Robert M. La Follette, Jr. on the cover of TIME Magazine 19 November 1934 |
Family & Friends
Robert Marion La Follette was born in Primrose, Wisconsin in 1925; he was a 3-term Congressman, then Governor of Wisconsin
(1901-06), then U.S. Senator from Wisconsin (1906-25); he died in 1925 at age 70 in Washington, DC.
wife Belle Case La Follette [1859-1931] - married 1881, widowed 1925
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Case_La_Follette
{first child} daughter Flora Dodge 'Fola' La Follette Middleton [1882-1970]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fola_La_Follette
http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=40794 [1908 & 1911]
son-in-law playwright George Middleton [1880-1967] - married 1911
"These Things Are Mine: The Autobiography of A Journeyman Playwright" [The MacMillian Company, 1947]
{4th child} daughter Mary La Follette [1899-??]
 | {2nd child) son Robert M. 'Young Bob' La Follette, Jr. [1895-suicide 1953] Born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1895; private secretary to his father 1919-1925; appointed to his father's vacant Senate seat in 1925, re-elected as Republican 1928, re-elected as Progressive 1934 & 1940; narrow loss in the 1946 Republican primary to a campaign of lies by Joseph McCarthy; died of a self-inflicted gunshot in February 1953. entry at Wikipedia |
son Bronson Cutting La Follette [b. 1936]
son Joseph Oden La Follette []
"Labor, Defense, and Democracy" [1941] by Robert M. La Follette Jr., Elinor M. Herrick,
James B. Carey, Marx Lewis, Walter White & N.A. Zonarich
Workers Defense League 32-page pamphlet [1941] out of print/scarce
 | "Robert M. La Follette, Jr. and The Decline of The Progressive Party In Wisconsin" [1964] by Roger T. Johnson
Archon Books 9x6½ hardcover [1970] out of print/used State Historical Society of Wisconsin hardcover [1964] out of print/used |
 | "Young Bob: A Biography of Robert M. La Follette, Jr., 1895-1953" [1978] by Patrick J. Maney Wisconsin Historical Society Press 9x6 pb [11/2002] for $20.66 Wisconsin Historical Society Press 9x6 hardcover [11/2002] for $34.31 Univ Missouri Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [4/78] out of print/many used |
{3rd child} second son Philip Fox La Follette [1897-1965]
served as Governor of Wisconsin twice: as a Republican (1931-32) and as a Progressive (1935-38)
daughter-in-law Isabel Bacon La Follette [1898-1973] - married in 1923
grandson Robert [c. 1927-??]
granddaughter Judith [c. 1929-??]
granddaughter Sherry [1936-??]
![Fighting Son: A Biography of Philip F. La Follette [] by Jonathan Kasparek](covers/PFLaFolletteFightingSonJK.jpg)
L i n k s
Robert M. La Follette entry at Wikipedia
search for 'Robert M. La Follette' in books {returns 100+ titles} at Amazon
Robert M. La Follette partial credits at Internet Movie Database
'Fighting Bob' Festival [Sept 2014 = #13] in Baraboo, Wisconsin
Robert M. La Follette entry at Wisconsin Historical Society [est. 1846] website
Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs [est. 1967, renamed 1983] at University of Wisconsin - Madison
here on the Robert M. 'Fighting Bob' La Follette [1855-1925] Page
at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of page • short profile • works by Bob La Follette • works about Bob La Follette
movies, plays, other media • image gallery • family & friends • links
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