Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 – August 6, 1945) was a leading American progressive and later isolationist politician from California; he served as Governor from 1911 to 1917, and as a United States Senator from 1917 to 1945, in the Republican Party. He ran for Vice President on former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt's Progressive "Bull Moose" ticket in 1912. This breakaway party comprised Republicans who did not support President William Howard Taft; both Taft and Roosevelt were defeated by Democratic Party candidate Woodrow Wilson. Johnson later became one of the most vocal Senate opponents of Wilson's foreign policy.
Johnson supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in the 1932 election, but by the end of 1936 had become hostile to Roosevelt, whom he viewed as a potential dictator.
Hiram Johnson was a Socialist politician from California, serving as Vice President of the United States from 1929-1933. He was selected in 1928 to run with candidate Hosea Blackford in a successful move to capture the considerable voting block California represented, and thus win the election.[1]
However, the stock market crash came less three months into Blackford's term. Blackford was unable to deal with the resulting depression in any tangible way. The outbreak of the Pacific War with Japan in 1932 didn't help Blackford's popularity.
In an attempt to build support for the ticket as it sought re-election, Johnson arranged for Blackford to visit Los Angeles.[2] As Blackford was in the middle of a speech, Japanese bombers attacked the city. Blackford and Johnson lost their re-election bid that November.