Tillman, Benjamin R

Tillman, Benjamin R(yan)

(born Aug. 11, 1847, Edgefield county, S.C., U.S.—died July 3, 1918, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. He worked as a farmer and in the 1880s was a spokesman for poor rural whites. As governor (1890–94), he introduced populist reforms that expanded public education, shifted the tax burden to the wealthy, and regulated the railroads. He also supported enactment of Jim Crow laws and considered lynching an acceptable law-enforcement measure. In the U.S. Senate (1895–1918), he pressed for agrarian reform. His attacks on his opponents earned him the nickname “Pitchfork Ben.”