Philip La Follette

Philip Fox La Follette (May 8, 1897 – August 18, 1965) was an American politician. He was the 27th Governor of Wisconsin, as well as one of the founders of the short-lived Wisconsin Progressive Party.

Early life
La Follette was born in Madison, Wisconsin, to Wisconsin Congressman, Governor, and U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr., and Belle Case La Follette. The second son, and third child of the couple at the time, he was siblings with Robert Jr. and Fola La Follette. Though in 1899 his parents had another daughter named Mary. During his youth, La Follette enjoyed a relatively middle class upbringing. Due to his father's political prominence, his childhood often had political influences. This often meant he would get to hear his father address the legislature, or debate in Congress. La Follette also often accompanied his father on campaign, which helped give him an idea of what it took to campaign in the field.

At home, Robert Sr. would often include his family in political discourse. Due to their young age, the children often did not understand the political situation around them, but they still increasingly absorbed the information they took in and, over time, began to develop and contribute their own ideas. It was in his youth that La Follette met and befriended many of the figures he would turn to in his later gubernatorial career and attempted presidential bid.

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1924 United States presidential election
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Dane Country District Attorney
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1926 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
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1928 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
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Election
Despite having supported Herman L. Ekern in his successful gubernatorial bid in 1928, the fact that Ekern was seen as a distant and weak candidate worried many of the progressives of the party, and after being unable to find a suitable successor to him, La Follette rallied support behind his own candidacy, much to the displeasure of former governor John Blaine and the Stalwart faction of the WI Republican Party.

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1932 United States presidential election
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Later life
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Family
La Follette married Isabel Bacon (1898-1973) in 1923. They had three children: Robert (c. 1927), and daughters Judith (c. 1929) and Sherry (c. 1936).

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