page_title: James Withycombe
section_title: Governorship
hierarchical_section_title: James Withycombe / Governorship
caption_attribution_description: English: James Withycombe crypt in Mt. Crest Abbey Mausoleum in City View Cemetery, Salem, Oregon.
context_page_description: James Withycombe was an American Republican politician who served as the 15th Governor of Oregon.
context_section_description: Withycombe would enter politics in the 1906 Oregon gubernatorial election. He won the Republican nomination in the primary but lost in the general election to incumbent Democratic Governor George Earle Chamberlain. The 1910 election of controversial Democratic Governor Oswald West energized Oregon Republicans, who tapped Withycombe for the 1914 gubernatorial race. He handily defeated challenger Charles Smith; the first Republican Governor to assume office via election since T. T. Geer in 1903.
  As Governor, James Withycombe vigorously promoted agricultural development. A notable proposal from his administration was to ask the Legislative Assembly to subsidize flax production as a prison industry.
  The Withycombe Administration backed the "Good Roads" movement, creating the Oregon Highway Commission while in office. With the new commission in place, a large road-building program was initiated, establishing many of Oregon's modern state routes and highways.
  Upon the U.S. entry into the First World War, Governor Withycombe took a vocal and patriotic position in support of the war effort. He encouraged volunteer military service, and promoted the state's war industries.
  While in office, he took a strong position against labor unions. He spoke out publicly against the Industrial Workers of the World, claiming that it terrorized labor and would cripple industry following several instances of IWW threats to disrupt production in 1917. He organized veterans of the Spanish–American War into an Oregon State Defense force, and encouraged citizens in Eastern Oregon to form self-defence committees to defend the state against violent labor agitators. Withycombe used his powers as Governor to prevent a shipyard strike in Astoria, by calling out the National Guard.
  His 1918 reelection campaign capitalized on his wartime acts, portraying him as a wartime Governor actively protecting the state and aiding the defense of the United States. These efforts gained him a second term, of which he only served two months.
caption: Withycombe's crypt in Salem
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