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JFK at the Podium, 1960

A campaign speech by presidential candidate John F. Kennedy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Field House. View the original source document: WHI 8118

Did you know that the excitement we associate with presidential primaries is a modern thing?

In fact, before 1912 you couldn't even vote in a presidential primary. Instead, candidates were chosen behind closed doors by party bosses who traded favors, political appointments, and cash to put friends on the ballot.

"Wherever there was a close contest in a nominating convention," recalled Sen. Irvine Lenroot," those who were willing to bribe delegates seldom failed to find some who were willing to be bribed."

Robert M. La Follette (1855-1925) made eliminating this corrupt system a centerpiece of his progressive reforms. He called for direct primary elections in which voters would choose their own candidates, but for years he was thwarted by incumbents in his own party who profited from the smoke-filled rooms. Finally, when his supporters gained control of the Legislature in 1903, lawmakers forced a referendum on the issue, to be held in November 1904.

The Republican convention that summer was scheduled for the University of Wisconsin's Red Gym in Madison. Learning that his opponents planned to pack the convention and seize control of the party, La Follette hired UW football players and wrestlers to work security. Every delegate had to show legitimate credentials and run a gauntlet of tough guys to get in.

Reform carried the day, and that November the question of primary elections or corrupt machines went to the voters, who endorsed primaries. In its first incarnation, the law only applied to state-level offices and not presidential elections.

When the system was used for the first time in 1906, La Follette got a rude surprise. He had hand picked Irvine Lenroot to succeed him as governor and aligned progressive Republicans behind him. The voters, however, chose acting governor James O. Davidson to be the Republican candidate instead.

In 1911 Wisconsin's primary law was expanded to include presidential candidates. Our first presidential primary was held in April 1912, women won the vote in 1920, and since then we've all had a voice in presidential primaries. This week's appearances by senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama echo the 1960 campaign, in which senators John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey also visited Wisconsin.

For more on the history of primaries in Wisconsin, view the excellent page prepared by WisPolitics.com.