William B. Pine
{{Short description|American politician (1877–1942)}}
{{other people|William Pine}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
|image = William Bliss Pine.jpg
|jr/sr = United States Senator
|state = Oklahoma
|term_start = March 4, 1925
|term_end = March 4, 1931
|predecessor = Robert L. Owen
|successor = Thomas Gore
|birth_name = William Bliss Pine
|birth_date = {{birth date|1877|12|30}}
|birth_place = Bluffs, Illinois, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1942|8|25|1877|12|30}}
|death_place = Okmulgee, Oklahoma, U.S.
|party = Republican
|spouse = Laura M. Hamilton
}}
William Bliss Pine (December 30, 1877{{spaced ndash}}August 25, 1942) was an American businessman who served as United States Senator from Oklahoma. Born in Illinois, he moved to Kansas and finally Oklahoma, where he became a prominent businessman and oil producer. As a senator, he was economically conservative, but considered progressive in his agricultural positions. With the onset of the Great Depression, he and many other Republican politicians were turned out of office.
Early life and career
Born in Bluffs, Illinois, Pine graduated from a high school in Naples, Illinois in 1896 and taught school for three years while selling harvesters during the summer.Hanneman, Carolyn G., "[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PI009 Pine, William Bliss]," [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/encyclopediaonline Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] (accessed March 5, 2015). He became a traveling salesman with the D. M. Osborne Company, which took him to Neosho County, Kansas, where he got caught up in oil fever.
He moved to Chanute, Kansas, and was employed in the oil producing business; he moved to Oklahoma in 1904 and continued in the oil industry. In 1909 he located in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where he eventually became extensively engaged in the production of oil.
Pine married his high school sweetheart, Laura M. Hamilton, in 1912.
He became one of the state's leading independent oil producers and a prominent Okmulgee businessman.
Political career
Pine was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1925, to March 4, 1931; he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930, after which he resumed his former business pursuits.
Called a "regular Republican" for his positions on the economy, the senator sided with the "Progressive" part of his party on matters related to agriculture and foreign affairs. He supported protective legislation for the petroleum industry and fought to bring federal road projects to Oklahoma.
In 1924, William Shelly Rogers, the Cyclops of the Tulsa Klan, travelled to Kansas City to pledge the votes of the Klan to Pines' Senate bid. At the time, many Klansmen identified with the policies of the Southern Democrats and crossed party lines for the first time. The Indian Journal charged him as a "Republican Klansman."
{{main|Ku Klux Klan members in United States politics}}
The Great Depression virtually destroyed the Republican Party in Oklahoma, one of the reasons Pine was not reelected.Gaddie, Ronald Keith, "[http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RE030 Republican Party]," [http://www.okhistory.org/publications/encyclopediaonline Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture] (accessed March 3, 2015).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1934.
Death
Bibliography
= Inline references=
{{reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite news |ref={{SfnRef|Indian Journal, October 9,|1924|p= }} |last1=Indian Journal, The (weekly) |date=October 9, 1924 |title=Walton Addresses 2000 Voters |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/6699828/ |language=en-US |volume=48 |issue=46 |location=Eufaula, Oklahoma |publisher= |page=1 |access-date=November 1, 2017 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access= }} {{nowrap|LCCN {{URL|https://www.loc.gov/item/sn96087901/|sn96087901}}}}; {{OCLC|34998711 |show=all}}.
{{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|||p= }} |date=1950 |chapter=Pine, William Bliss |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire00unit/page/1684/mode/2up |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1949 |language=en-US |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=1684 |access-date=May 24, 2021 |via=Internet Archive }}{{space|1}}{{LCCN| 50061542}}; {{OCLC|312070|show=all}}.
}}
= General references =
{{ref begin|100em}}
- [https://arc.ou.edu/repositories/3/resources/34 William B. Pine Collection] at the Carl Albert Center
- {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|||p= }} |chapter=William B. Pine |chapter-url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/P000360 |editor1-last= |editor1-first= |editor1-link= |title=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress |publisher=United States Congress |type=id: P000360 |language=en-US }}
{{ref end}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=W. B. Johnson}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Oklahoma
(Class 2)|years=1924, 1930}}
{{s-aft|after=Herbert K. Hyde}}
{{s-bef|before=Ira A. Hill}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Governor of Oklahoma|years=1934}}
{{s-aft|after=Ross Rizley}}
{{s-bef|before=Herbert K. Hyde}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Oklahoma
(Class 2)|years=1942}}
{{s-aft|after=Edward H. Moore}}
{{s-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
| state= Oklahoma
| class= 2
| before= Robert L. Owen
| after= Thomas P. Gore
| alongside= John W. Harreld, Elmer Thomas
| years= March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1931 }}
{{s-end}}
{{USSenOK}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pine, William}}
Category:American Ku Klux Klan members
Category:American people of English descent
Category:Republican Party United States senators from Oklahoma
Category:People from Scott County, Illinois