How Rep. Needham's friendship with president backfired

After a parade to welcome Republican delegates to Modesto, the group gathered on the lawn of the county courthouse building -- a practical way to escape the late August heat -- and nominated James Carson Needham to run for re-election to United States House of Representatives.

The 1908 election would see Needham returned to the House and to his spot on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. But the 44-year-old native of Carson City, Nev., was already planning for for 1910, when he would call upon his friendship with then-President Taft.

That plan, however, would turn against him and Needham's political fortunes would change not long after.

Arriving at age 3 with his parents at Banta, near Tracy, Needham grew up on his father's homestead and spent summers working on the farm. He graduated from the College of the Pacific in 1886, then studied law at the University of Michigan before moving to Modesto in 1889 to open a practice.

Until then, Stanislaus County's Republican Party had been a political nonentity, thanks to the stranglehold Democrats had on county offices. Needham ran and lost his bids for the state Senate and district attorney, but learned some valuable lessons. In 1894, as chairman of the county's Central Committee, Needham expanded the ticket by nominating Republicans from outside Modesto to broaden the party's appeal. He succeeded by breaking the Democrats' hold on local offices.

In 1898 he ran for California's 7th Congressional District seat. The 7th District included Modesto, Merced, Fresno and San Diego. It was a big district.

Despite it being a good election year for Democrats, who picked up 37 House seats, and despite the fact that Needham was running against Curtis H. Castle, whose Populist party was going into eclipse, losing 17 of its 22 House seats, Needham won by just 113 votes.

Needham would win his next five re-election campaigns with ease; in 1908, he won by 13 percent.

Before the 1910 election, Needham invited Taft to tour the district. During his California visit in 1909, Taft stopped in Modesto where he praised Needham's work in Congress and urged his listeners to re-elect their congressman. But in the ensuing year, Taft and his polices became increasingly unpopular; his chief critic was his predecessor and former friend, Theodore Roosevelt. Needham won re-election in 1910, but by only 3 percent, or roughly 1,300 votes.

In 1912, the Republican Party split between Roosevelt and Taft, and on Election Day the president embarrassingly finished third behind the winner, Democrat Woodrow Wilson, and Roosevelt. Association with Taft hurt Needham, who lost by 758 votes to Fresno District Attorney Denver S. Church.

Needham retired to San Diego where he practiced law until business interests called him back to Modesto. In 1919, he was appointed a Superior Court judge. He would continue in that position until 1935.

Source: George H. Tinkham, "History of Stanislaus County."

McAndrews is a docent and board member of the Great Valley Museum. E-mail him at columns@modbee.com.

This story was originally published August 27, 2008 at 9:40 PM with the headline "How Rep. Needham's friendship with president backfired."