George Dexter Robinson (born George Washington Robinson; January 20, 1834 – February 22, 1896) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Chicopee, Massachusetts. After serving in the Massachusetts General Court and United States House of Representatives, Robinson served three one-year terms as Governor of Massachusetts, notably defeating Benjamin Franklin Butler in the 1883 election.
After leaving office, his most famous legal client was Lizzie Borden, notoriously accused of killing her father and stepmother. She was acquitted in a highly sensationalized trial.
Born in Lexington and educated at Harvard, Robinson taught high school before becoming a lawyer. He gained a reputation as a fine Parliamentarian while serving in Congress. As governor, he promoted the passage of civil service reform legislation and labor-friendly wage and dispute-resolution laws. He aligned with the state's industrial leaders against public health advocates, and banned discrimination in the issuance of life insurance policies. As a lawyer, he gained notoriety for Borden's defense, and was criticized for defending fraudulent fraternal benefit societies.
Early years
George Washington Robinson was born in Lexington, Massachusetts to Charles and Mary (Davis) Robinson. The son of farmers, he attended Lexington Academy and Hopkins Classical School in Cambridge, and graduated from Harvard University in 1856. While at Harvard he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. In 1855, he had his name legally changed to "George Dexter Robinson", supposedly because someone else in Lexington had a similar name to his.
Although he had intended to study medicine, Robinson entered the teaching profession, serving as the principal of Chicopee High School in Chicopee, Massachusetts from 1856 to 1865. During this time, he engaged in some study of medicine. In 1865, he engaged in the study of law with his brother, and was admitted to the bar in 1866, opening a practice in Chicopee.
Robinson entered politics in 1873, winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a Republican. He was then elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1875, in each case representing Chicopee. He served on judiciary committees in both chambers, as well as a committee on constitutional amendments in the Senate. Robinson was one of a small number of legislators who refused free travel passes offered by the railroads.
In 1876, Robinson was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served most of four terms. He gained a reputation in the chamber as an experienced Parliamentarian and debater. He sat on a number of committees, including the House Judiciary Committee, and was considered a "doer" who moved the business of the body forward.
Governor
While serving in Congress, Robinson was nominated to run for Governor of Massachusetts in 1883, against the colorful incumbent Democrat Benjamin Butler. He ran on a platform of civil service reform (seeking to deal with issues of patronage), and defeated Butler by 10,000 votes. Robinson served three terms, winning by wider margins against other opponents. He was generally regarded as a fiscal conservative. During his tenure, legislation was enacted banning discrimination in the issuance of life insurance policies. He proposed successful legislation to extend free public education to every student, and required that textbooks be provided to each student free of charge. He also signed legislation requiring that corporations pay workers weekly, and established the state's first Board of Arbitration, which resolved disputes between workers and employers. A civil service reform bill, at the time the strictest in the nation, passed in 1884. It required even laborers hired by state and municipal governments to have minimal certification from a civil service commission established for the purpose. This effectively reduced certain types of patronage dispensed by elected officials, and may have been a Republican move to curtail the growing power of predominantly Democratic Irish-American urban party bosses. An attempt to weaken the civil service reform, by exempting veterans from its requirements, was vetoed by Robinson in 1886.