Johnson, Tom Loftin (1854-1911), was a progressive reformer who served as mayor of Cleveland from 1901 to 1909. Johnson hired experts to manage government offices and improved services for the city’s people, especially the poor. He had made a fortune in business but then used his wealth to support his campaigns and progressive agenda.
As Cleveland’s mayor, Johnson fought for the reduction of transit fares and promoted the construction of a group of government buildings around a spacious open mall in the city’s center. He also pushed for city regulation of such public services as street railways; promoted social services for the poor; and oversaw the reform of the city’s jails and prisons. The American reformer and journalist Lincoln Steffens called Johnson the nation’s best mayor and Cleveland “the best governed city in the United States.”
Johnson was born on July 18, 1854, in Blue Spring, Kentucky. In 1869, he dropped out of school and became an office boy at a streetcar company. By the time of his retirement from business about 30 years later, Johnson owned street railways in Cleveland and Indianapolis and had large holdings in street railways in Detroit and Brooklyn, New York. He had also developed the first transparent coin farebox and a new style of rail for street railways. In the late 1880’s, he established steel mills in Pennsylvania and Ohio to produce the rails and other products.
Johnson was greatly influenced by the American political economist and social reformer Henry George. He read George’s book, Progress and Poverty (1879), in which George suggests that the government impose a type of property tax called a single tax (see Single tax ). In 1885, Johnson met George, who urged Johnson to enter politics.
Johnson ran for the United States House of Representatives from Ohio in 1888 but lost. However, he won election in 1890 and was reelected in 1892. In 1901, he ran for mayor of Cleveland and won the election. He was reelected in 1903. In that year, he was the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio, but he lost the election. Johnson won reelection as mayor in 1905 and 1907 but lost in a bid for a fifth term in 1909. He died on April 10, 1911.
See also Cleveland (Continued growth and progress) .
