Lee Lightfoot Rhodes

Lee Lightfoot Rhodes
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 100th district
In office January 8, 1895 – January 12, 1897
Preceded by	John Thomas Currey
Succeeded by	John Thomas Currey
Personal details
Born	(1864-03-06)March 6, 1864 Panola County, Mississippi, C.S.A.
Died	December 17, 1936(1936-12-17) (aged 71) Van Zandt County, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Socialist
Other political affiliations	Union Labor (1888 - 1891) Populist (1891-?) Progressive (1924) Democratic (1932-1936)
Spouse	Jennie Presley
Children	5

Lee Lightfoot Rhodes (March 6, 1864 – December 17, 1936) was an American politician who was influential in the Texas state socialist party from its inception until his death in 1936, he served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1895 to 1897 as a Populist.

Early life

Rhodes was born on March 6, 1864, in Panola County, Mississippi, the son of John C. H. Rhodes and J. A. F. Rhodes, he was one of eight children. His family migrated to Van Zandt County, Texas in the early 1870s, where he married Jennie Presley and fathered four daughters and a son.

Early political career

Rhodes political career began in the late 1880s when he joined the Union Labor Party and attended the first of many conventions which aimed to create the Texas State Federation of Labor, where he served on the executive committee. Rhodes first sought elective office in 1890, when he ran a failed campaign for state senator under the Union Labor Party for senate district 7 which included his home county of Van Zandt. Despite being endorsed by the local Republican party, Rhodes lost this election handily, and this marked the beginning of his lifelong opposition to the two party system, especially the democratic party.

In 1891 Rhodes joined the Populist party, he stated that the Democrats and Republicans could not represent the will of the people and claimed that the Democratic party “locates the head of its national ticket in Wall street and the tail in the west” and the republicans “puts [their] head in the west and [their] tail in Wall street.” He became an active member of the party, and attended the 1892 national convention as a delegate.

In 1894 Rhodes defeated incumbent John T. Currey by a margin of 2,022 votes to 1,349 to become the state representative for the 100th district, which consisted of Van Zandt County. In the twenty-fourth legislature he served on four committees: Agricultural Affairs, Mining and Minerals, and Private Land Claims. He also proposed four bills during his term, but like many Populist efforts in the state legislature, none of the bills were passed. Rhodes’s time as legislator defined his ideology as a advocate of farmers and laborers. In 1896 he was defeated for re-election by John T. Currey (the man he had beaten two years earlier) and withdrew from the political scene for the remainder of the 1890s.

Socialist politician

At the turn of the century, as the peoples party began to disintegrate, he joined many former populists and his brother Jake in the newly formed Social Democratic Party (later renamed the Socialist Party). His experience, likeability, and wit served him well and earned him the respect of his colleagues. During this time he also became heavily involved in the Texas Farmers Union and organized new chapters across the state giving stump speeches for the party, which included guests like Eugene V. Debs and attended the Socialist national convention. However, with the onset of World War I his stepped away from the politics as the parties anti-war stances were widely unpopular.

In 1920 he returned on the scene as the Socialist candidate for lieutenant governor, but he was elevated to nominee for governor when the previous nominee dropped out before election day. After losing the election, the statewide socialist party did not run another ticket until 1926. During this time Rhodes briefly jumped ship and joined the progressive party to serve as an elector for Robert M. La Follette. After the election he joined a failed attempt to form a "Texas Labor Party" in 1926 before returning to the socialist party in 1928. In 1928 and 1930 Rhodes was the gubernatorial candidate for the socialist party but posted historically bad returns even for the socialist party (787 and 829 votes statewide respectively). In 1932 Rhodes, spurred on by the pro-union and New Deal policies of F.D.R. joined the Democratic party in order to run in the parties primary for state representative from Van Zandt county once again, but failed to win the nomination.

Death

Lee Rhodes died on December 17, 1936, of an acute intestinal blockage at the age of 71.