Martin Davey

Martin Luther Davey (born July 25, 1884 in Kent , Ohio ; † March 31, 1946 ibid) was an American politician and from 1935 to 1939 the 53rd governor of the state of Ohio.

Early years and political advancement

Martin Davey attended Oberlin Academy until 1906 and then Oberlin College . Then he got into his father's nursery business. In 1909 he became manager and in 1923 president of the Davey Tree Export Company . He also participated in the real estate business.

As a member of the Democratic Party , he was Mayor of Kent between 1913 and 1918 and a member of the US House of Representatives in Washington between 1918 and 1921 . From 1923 and 1929 he was again a member of the Congress . In 1932 and 1940 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention , at which Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated as a presidential candidate. In 1928 he ran unsuccessfully against Myers Y. Cooper for the office of governor of Ohio. In the gubernatorial elections of 1934 he managed to win the election against the Republican Clarence J. Brown with 51.1 percent of the vote .

Governor of ohio

Martin Davey took up his new office on January 17, 1935. After re-election in 1936, he was able to exercise it until January 9, 1939. His reign was overshadowed by conflicts with the legislature ( House of Representatives and Senate from Ohio ) and the federal government under President Roosevelt. The dispute with the legislature was sparked by the governor's special requests for luxury items to furnish the governor's villa or the purchase of an expensive limousine. The MPs and Senators disapproved of funding these posts as unnecessary and excessive. The governor obtained the rejected items anyway and settled them through the National Guard budget . As their commander-in-chief, he believed he had the right to do so. When a prison guard was released, he had his house evacuated by the National Guard and put his furniture in the street. Despite these negative circumstances, Davey managed to be re-elected in 1936, defeating John W. Bricker . The reason for this was the abolition of taxes on food, which the legislature opposed, but which was well received by the population.

The conflict with President Roosevelt began just six weeks after he took office in 1935. Davey described the President's New Deal policy for Ohio as cruel, inhuman and wasteful. The federal government then accused the governor of wasting federal funds. The conflict dragged on through Davey's entire term in office, resting only during the governor's election campaign in 1936. Regardless of these events, Davey's tenure provided better financial support, improved pension systems, and unemployment insurance. Nevertheless, the quarrels with the Roosevelt government in 1938 resulted in the Democratic Party of Ohio, supported by the federal party and the federal government, no longer nominating Davey for another term. As a result, he had to resign from his office in January 1939. The Democrats nominated Charles W. Sawyer as their candidate. Davey refused to support him and did not officially support Republican candidate John W. Bricker.

Another résumé

In 1940 he was once again nominated by the Democrats for another term as governor. Many Democrats, however, had not forgiven him for his behavior towards the federal government and towards Charles Sawyer and largely voted for the Republican Bricker. Davey suffered one of the highest electoral defeats to date in the Ohio gubernatorial elections. Then he retired from politics and devoted himself to his private business. He died in Kent in 1946. Martin Davey was married to Berenice Chrisman, with whom he had three children.

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personal data
SURNAME	Davey, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Davey, Martin Luther (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	July 25, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kent , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH	March 31, 1946
Place of death	Kent , Ohio