Charles Martin ( Oregon politician ) Charles Henry Martin ( October 1 , 1863September 22 , 1946 ) was an American Army officer and later politician in the state of Oregon . A native of Illinois , he had a 40 - year career in the military including serving in conflicts from the Spanish - American War to World War I before retiring as a major general . A Democrat , he was the U . S . Representative for Oregon ' s 3rd congressional district from 1931 to 1935 and then was the state ' s 21st Governor from 1935 to 1939 . Early life . Charles Martin was born near Albion , Illinois , on October 1 , 1863 . He attended Ewing College ( Ewing , Illinois ) for two years until he was appointed to the U . S . Military Academy . He would actively serve in the Spanish - American War , Philippine - American War , and Boxer Rebellion after graduating from West Point in 1887 . In 1920 , when the army ' s authority to maintain Jim Crow regulations seemed threatened , Martin wrote that " . . . the negro is of very little importance . . . the average negro is not by any means equal to the average white man . " Martin was later a division commander of the famous Blackhawk Division and the U . S . V Corps in the Argonne during World War I and served as the U . S . Army Assistant Chief of Staff from 1922 to 1924 . He was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal and two citations for bravery in action and retired from the Army as a major general on October 1 , 1927 , after commanding the Panama Canal department for three years . Politics . Martin embarked on his second career after retiring to Portland , Oregon with his wife . From March 4 , 1931 , to January 3 , 1935 , he served as a conservative Democratic Representative to the U . S . Congress from Oregon ' s Third Congressional District . Martin was elected governor in 1934 , during a time of intense labor turmoil and the middle of the Great Depression , earning a reputation for restoring state finances . The major issues that Martin dealt with during his time in office were economic recovery from the Great Depression , reconstruction of the Oregon State Capitol , the planning and construction of the Bonneville Dam , and the development of statewide port and highway infrastructures . When the Depression eased , he opposed the full restoration of wage levels for state employees , who had suffered a 50 percent pay cut . Martin became known as a pro - business governor in early May 1935 when timber workers began to strike , declaring , " These pestiferous peewees would go to any lengths to embarrass me and my administration . " In private correspondence and public appearances he railed against the National Labor Relations Board , declared union organizers to be gangsters and Bolsheviks , and considered Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to be the head " red " in the Roosevelt administration . Martin threatened to fire Columbia County Sheriff Oscar Weed for not responding harshly enough to striking workers , instructing the state ' s sheriffs to " beat hell out of ' em ! " and " crack their damn heads ! Those fellows are there for nothing but trouble – give it to them ! " On May 23 , 1935 , Martin ordered the state police and National Guard to protect strikebreakers at the Stimson Mill strike in the Washington County town of Gaston . The National Guard was again called out to harass , intimidate , and arrest striking longshoremen in 1937 . Martin grew in his vocal opposition to Roosevelt ' s New Deal , especially to the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB ) and the President ' s labor policy . In 1937 , the NLRB failed to settle a jurisdictional dispute between the Congress of Industrial Organizations ( CIO ) and the American Federation of Labor ( AFL ) that had closed all Portland sawmills . Martin stepped in and held his own elections , which led to the reopening of the mills . He made himself the enemy of what many saw as corrupt labor leaders , particularly by his appointment of Assistant Attorney General Ralph E . Moody to prosecute many union people accused of arson and assault . He was often quoted for his rephrasing of President Roosevelt ' s famous pronouncement on fear , saying , " We have nothing to fear from the future except our own foolishness and slothfulness . " His criticism of President Roosevelt , however , cost Martin a bitterly contested bid for the Democratic Party of Oregon ' s gubernatorial nomination in 1938 . After losing the nomination , Martin retired from active politics to his Portland home . He died , on September 22 , 1946 , and was interred at River View Cemetery in Portland .