Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Wheeler was the leader of the Anti-Saloon League. He was known to exploit people's fears to get them to vote out alcohol. He played a major role in the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment which outlawed alcohol.
|
Career edit
In 1903, Wheeler became acting superintendent of the ASL, its full-time executive director, and in 1904, he was appointed to the post permanently. Wheeler advocated for prohibitionists to enforce laws strictly and unsympathetically, rather than attempting to curb alcohol consumption through treatment and education.
To that end, Wheeler and the ASL campaigned against Myron T. Herrick, who ran for re-election as Governor of Ohio in 1906. Herrick was a Republican and a conservative, and supported a local option bill backed by the ASL but had agreed to some modifications to ensure passage.For his willingness to compromise, the ASL decreed that Herrick was not sufficiently in favor of prohibition, and backed his opponent, Democrat John M. Pattison, a temperance advocate. Pattison won, a result that marked the first significant victory for the Anti-Saloon League.
Wheelerism edit
As the ASL's leader, Wheeler developed a method of activism that came to be called "Wheelerism," which focused on only one issue, and relied heavily on mass media to persuade politicians that there was widespread public support for the ASL's position. Wheelerism also included direct persuasion of those in power with tactics such as threats to withdraw campaign endorsements; endorsing and finance opponents; and revealing embarrassing information to obtain support for restrictions on the liquor trade.
Prohibition edit
In the early 1920s, Wheeler's power was at its zenith.He was involved in drafting the Volstead Act, which provided the means for enforcing the prohibition amendment, as well as federal and state laws that refined Prohibition's enforcement mechanisms. Candidates who ran with ASL backing controlled state governments and the U.S. Congress. In addition, Wheeler's influence extended to the Bureau of Prohibition, which gave him control of a patronage operation that hired the enforcement officers responsible for identifying and apprehending illicit alcohol makers, distributors and sellers.