Frank Raguse
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 8th district
In office
January 1, 1917 – April 27, 1917
Preceded byAlexander E. Martin
Succeeded byLouis Fons
Personal details
Born(1887-01-31)January 31, 1887
German Empire
DiedJanuary 30, 1966(1966-01-30) (aged 78)
Elkhorn, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeOak Ridge Cemetery, East Troy, Wisconsin
Political partySocialist

Frank Raguse (January 31, 1887 – January 30, 1966) was a German American laborer and Socialist politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was elected to represent Milwaukee in the Wisconsin State Senate, but was expelled after four months due to controversy over comments deemed "unpatriotic".

Background

Raguse was born in Germany in 1887. He came to the United States with his parents in 1892 when he was five years of age and resided in Milwaukee ever since. He attended the Milwaukee Public Schools, dropping out at the age of 13 "to earn his own living... at various occupations" (in the words of his official biographical note).

Senate service

He was a self-described "unskilled laborer" when he was elected to Wisconsin's 8th State Senate district (the 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th and 23rd wards of the city of Milwaukee) in 1916, receiving 4,945 votes against 3,690 for Herbert H. Manger (Democrat), 3,440 for A. E. Martin (Republican) and 150 for S. P. Todd (Progressive).[1]

Expulsion

On April 26, 1917, Raguse became only the second member of the Wisconsin legislature ever to be expelled, when the Senate voted to remove him for contempt of the Senate after he refused to sign a statement that he: claimed to be an American citizen; reaffirmed his allegiance to the United States; and retracted and apologized for comments that were deemed unpatriotic by those opponents.[2] In an April 24 speech on the floor of the Senate, Raguse had specifically accused the McKinley administration of having plotted the sinking of the Maine in order to bring about the Spanish–American War, and stated that the same spirit was present at the current time.[3] He apologized to the Senate for his "tactless" remarks, and offered to put the apology in writing; and volunteered to join the armed forces himself, if an able-bodied non-Socialist senator would agree to join along with him. However, Raguse refused to sign the statement written by his political opponents, which he deemed a virtual retraction of his Socialist principles, and which implied that his status as a citizen was subject to question.[4]

Some press coverage over the years has claimed that Raguse was the first Wisconsin legislator to be expelled; but James Vineyard had been expelled from the council (the predecessor of the State Senate) of the Wisconsin Territory in 1842 for shooting and killing a fellow legislator, Charles C. P. Arndt, on the floor of that body (an incident remarked upon by Charles Dickens).[5]

After expulsion

Raguse later went to work in his brother's welding plant in Rockford, Illinois, to become a mechanic, and was blinded in an industrial accident in which carbide exploded. He attended the Wisconsin School for the Blind, taught himself to type, and opened a small candy store in Milwaukee on National Avenue.[6][7] He nonetheless remained active in politics, and in 1924 was the Socialist nominee for the Wisconsin State Assembly in Milwaukee's 5th district when Socialist incumbent H. G. Tucker did not run for re-election. Raguse received 2,282 votes to 2,506 for former Republican Assemblyman Julius Jensen (who had represented part of the district in the past) and 937 for Democrat F. H. Blank.[8]

References

  1. ↑ The Wisconsin Blue Book: 1917. Madison: The State Printing Board, 1919; p. 507.
  2. ↑ Patrick Marley (2010-03-03). "Wood admits to drunken driving while fighting to stay in the Assembly". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  3. ↑ Colby, Frank Moore and Churchill, Allen Leon, eds. The New International Year Book: A Compendium Of The World's Progress For The Year 1917. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1918; p. 780
  4. ↑ Department of Labor Research, Rand School of Social Science. A Political Guide for the Workers: Socialist Party Campaign Book 1920. Chicago: Socialist Party of the United States, 1920; pp. 119–120.
  5. ↑ "Readbookonline.org".
  6. ↑ "Frank Raguse, Expelled from State Senate During the War, Now Blind; Runs Little Shop". The Capital Times. July 16, 1923. p. 5. Retrieved October 2, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Raguse, Now Blind, to Run For Assembly" The Capital Times July 16, 1924; p. 2, col. 4
  8. ↑ Holmes, Fred L., ed. The Wisconsin Blue Book 1925. Madison: Democrat Printing Company, State Printer, 1925; p. 575, 607
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