Tillman Act
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| Long title | An Act to prohibit corporations from making money contributions in connection with political elections. |
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| Nicknames | Corporate Donations Abolition Act of 1907 |
| Enacted by | the 59th United States Congress |
| Effective | January 26, 1907 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 59-36 |
| Statutes at Large | 34 Stat. 864b |
| Legislative history | |
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The Tillman Act of 1907 (34 Stat. 864) (January 26, 1907) was the first legislation in the United States prohibiting monetary contribution to national political campaigns by corporations.
Following the presidential election of 1904, charges were made against the victor, Theodore Roosevelt, regarding his acceptance of corporate contributions to his campaign. In response, Roosevelt in his annual address to Congress in 1905 called for the prohibition of such contributions:
All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any political purpose should be forbidden by law; directors should not be permitted to use stockholders' money for such purposes; and, moreover, a prohibition of this kind would be, as far as it went, an effective method of stopping the evils aimed at in corrupt practices acts. Not only should both the National and the several State Legislatures forbid any officer of a corporation from using the money of the corporation in or about any election, but they should also forbid such use of money in connection with any legislation save by the employment of counsel in public manner for distinctly legal services.
Roosevelt repeated his call in the report to Congress for 1906, saying "I again recommend a law prohibiting all corporations from contributing to the campaign expenses of any party. Such a bill has already passed one House of Congress. Let individuals contribute as they desire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from making contributions for any political purpose, directly or indirectly."
In response to Roosevelt's call, Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina sponsored the bill that became known as the Tillman Act. The bill passed the Senate on June 9, 1906. On June 17, 1906, The New York Times reported that "One 'great financial authority who is a Republican' gave assurance that 'he and all the financial men with whom I have talked have welcomed this legislation with very much the same emotions with which a serf would hail his liberation from a tyrannous autocrat'." The article further stated that if the bill passes the House, "it will not bring about the millennium, but will lessen a very mean and sordid practice of blackmail... the great number of corporations that have suffered extortion through weakness and cowardice will have their backbones stiffened, and parties will be put to it to fill their coffers by really voluntary contributions."
The Senate bill was subsequently amended to add a minimum fine provision and the possibility of a prison term for officers and directors. It was signed into law by President Roosevelt on January 26, 1907. The Act provided in full as follows:
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