control of law and strict enforcement. His administration found initial success despite opposition and successfully conducted antitrust prosecutions, ended gratis railroad passes for state officials, extended bribery statues, improved election laws, required formal registration for lobbyists, made racetrack gambling illegal, and enforced the Sunday-closing law. The latter half of Folk's gubernatorial term found a Democratically controlled General Assembly, in large part due to Folk's reforms. The governor was able to enact further legislation, including an initiative and referendum amendment to the Constitution of Missouri, and further regulation of elections, education, employment and child labor, railroads, food, business, and public utilities. A number of examiner boards and commissions were established during Folk's administration, including many agricultural boards and the Missouri library commission. Later career Following his gubernatorial term, Folk's focus on morality and unwillingness to compromise eventually made him politically unpopular, and his initial attempts for a senate nomination were unsuccessful. He returned to law practice, toured as a Chautauqua speaker, and campaigned for Woodrow Wilson. Wilson appointed Folk as a solicitor for the US State Department, where he investigated major railroad companies. In 1918, he won a Democratic nomination for the US Senate, but lost in the election. After a brief stint at the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, Folk opened a private law office in Washington, D.C. He arbitrated in several international negotiations. Folk experienced a nervous breakdown in March 1922, believed to be from overwork. He died aged 53 in 1923 in New York City, and is buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee. His Washington, D.C., residence is now the Embassy of Mauritania. A 1943 Liberty ship was named in his honor. References External links 1869 births 1923 deaths Democratic Party governors of Missouri Tennessee Democrats Politicians from St. Louis Vanderbilt University alumni People from Brownsville, Tennessee American anti-corruption activists American prosecutors American democracy activists Progressive Era in the United States