True to his prohibitionist stance , Beckham supported passage of the Eighteenth Amendment forbidding the import and sale of alcohol in the United States . The amendment was ratified and became effective in January 1920 . Believing women should be protected from involvement in politics , Beckham opposed the Nineteenth Amendment , which granted women 's suffrage . The amendment failed on February 10 , 1919 , but passed on June 4 , 1919 . Beckham voted against it both times .