My Story

by Elizabeth J. Hauser, Tom Loftin Johnson

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432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1911

Reviews

[Jay C]

Fascinating autobiography from an author quite famous in his time, though I think little known today. I “discovered” him after I randomly learned that I had passed by and admired his house (“Greeba Castle”) during my 2019 trip to the Isle of Man. This book was in large part a relating of his interaction with many other famous “men of letters” of his time, but enough about himself creeps in as well to make it a autobiography. I’ve read his novel, “The Manxman” and also have another one (“The Deemster”) in my queue. Caine is also mentioned as an example (due to his friendship with the poet Rossetti) in Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

[Frank Stein]

An odd but intriguing autobiography from an urban politician whose name has largely disappeared from history. In the early 20th century, Tom Johnson was the shining hope of municipal reformers across the Western world. As mayor of Cleveland, then the sixth largest city in the country and then still growing rapidly, Tom Johnson struggled against privately-owned utilities, "inequitable" taxation, and, above all, his bete noire, the streetcar companies. His constant battles and stem-winding oratory, which was typically practiced in large tent meetings that resembled religious revivals, was made even more notable since Johnson was himself once a streetcar company owner, or "monopolist" as he termed it. He had been converted upon reading a tract from that forgotten nineteenth-century reformer, Henry George, who believed "monopolies", most notably in land, were the root of all societal ills. His main proposal, for a 100% tax on land values, earning his followers the title "single-taxers," and Johnson was undoubtedly his most prominent and devoted follower. As he reached the end of his life, supporters in New York casted a medal of his bust along with Henry George's as the most fitting commemoration for his work.

The book is interesting on several levels. First, it provides a window into how streetcar companies, which once held such a prominent place in public imagination and political debates, operated, how they bribed city councils and state legislatures, how they used injunctions (never-ending, constant injunctions) to fight over every street and pass. Johnson, as both an company executive and a mayor, is able to tell the story from both sides, the good and the bad. The book is also a window into the mind of Progressive reformers. Johnson's autobiograophy, much like LaFollette's, is filled with splenetic jeremiads against "Privilege." The word itself takes on a kind of omnipotent cast, describing anyone who opposes Johnson, if even for a moment. Finally, the book offers a window into American politics at the turn of the century, for Johnson's battles took him far beyond Cleveland. He spent time in the U.S. Congress, ran for Governor of Ohio, and conducted a tireless campaign against the man he saw as Ohio's un-elected boss, Senator Mark Hanna, who had early brought (or bought, according to some) the Presidency to McKinley.

So, again like LaFollette's autobiography, though there is a notable lack of charity towards enemies here and not a little repetition, the unequaled look at a largely forgotten political world makes this an extremely interesting read