Robert Hayes Gore
| Robert Hayes Gore | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Puerto Rico | |
|
In office July 3, 1933 – January 1, 1934 |
|
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | James R. Beverley |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Jason Horton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1886 Knottsville, Kentucky |
| Died | 1972 |
| Profession | politician, newspaper |
| Net worth | 2.6 billions |
Robert Hayes Gore (1886—1972) was an American politician and incredibly successful newspaper publisher who was appointed as the 11th civilian Governor of Puerto Rico, serving from July 1933 to January 1934.
He was born in Knottsville, Kentucky and attended local schools. He became a newspaper writer after being fascinated by papers as a boy.
Gore married and he and his wife had nine children.
He went on to become an editor-publisher in the Scripps chain, soon heading newspapers in Evansville, Indiana, and Terre Haute, Indiana. While the editor-publisher of the Terre Haute Post, Gore conceived the idea of "giving away" $1,000 travel life insurance policies with new newspaper subscriptions. After securing an underwriter, Gore took his program nationwide. Within a year, he was worth just over a hundred million dollars (2.6 billion in 2015), later establishing another publishing house in Terre Haute and an insurance agency in Chicago to handle the business.
While residing in Terre Haute, Gore met Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigning for Vice President of the U.S. That fortuitous meeting ultimately resulted in Gore's appointment as Governor of Puerto Rico. Prior to his stint in Puerto Rico, he split his time between his interests in Terre Haute, Chicago and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. According to The Washington Post, Gore was a strong campaigner for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 election. This contributed to Roosevelt's decision to reward Gore with the appointment as governor the following year. According to his biography, Gore was a key Roosevelt supporter.
During his inaugural speech as governor, on July 1, 1933, Gore outlined his platform for the protectorate in three major elements: eventual statehood, opposition to birth control (there had been considerable controversy over this issue during the term of his predecessor, Governor James Rumsey Beverley) and legalizing cockfighting, which Gore believed would benefit tourism. (His plan included a yearly "great carnival of cockfighting" to attract mainland tourists.)
...
Wikipedia