As a senator, Hardwick co-sponsored the Immigration Act of 1918, which was enacted in October of that year. Aimed at radical anarchists who had immigrated to the U.S., the new law enabled deportation of any non-citizen who belonged to an anarchist organization or who was found in possession of anarchist literature for the purpose of propaganda.
On April 29, 1919, as a direct result of his sponsorship of the Immigration Act, Senator Hardwick was targeted for assassination by adherents of the radical anarchist Luigi Galleani, who mailed a booby trap bomb to his residence in Georgia. The bomb exploded when Ethel Williams, a house servant of the Hardwicks, attempted to open the package, blowing off her hands and severely injuring Hardwick's wife, Maude.[5][6]
Governor (1921–1923)
Hardwick then served as Governor of Georgia from 1921 to 1923, and due to his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, lost to Clifford Walker in the subsequent election.[7][8] He ran unsuccessfully for election to the Senate in 1922 and 1924, and then retired from politics. He spent the rest of his life practicing law, with offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, and Sandersville, Georgia.
One of Hardwick's most notable actions as governor of Georgia was his appointment of Rebecca Latimer Felton to the United States Senate as a temporary replacement for Tom Watson, who had died. Though Felton only served for one day, she was the first woman to serve in the Senate.
Death
Hardwick died of a heart attack on January 31, 1944, in Sandersville.[1] Hardwick was interred in Old City Cemetery in Sandersville.[9]