A. Mitchell Palmer
Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 - May 11, 1936) was the Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He was nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and later the "The Quaking Fighter." He directed the controversial Palmer Raids.
Early Life and Education
Palmer was born near White Haven, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on May 4 of 1872; he attended the public schools of his area and prepared for college at the Moravian Parochial School in Bethlehem. Palmer graduated from Swarthmore College in 1891, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.
Judicial, Congressional, and Party Service
He was appointed official stenographer of the forty-third judicial district of Pennsylvania in 1892. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1893 and practiced in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Palmer became director of various banks and public-service corporations and a member of the Democratic State executive committee of Pennsylvania. Palmer was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first, Sixty-second, and Sixty-third Congresses (March 4, 1909 - March 3, 1915); he was not a candidate for renomination in 1914, but ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate. Palmer was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1912 and 1916, and a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1912 - 1920.
Attorney General
President Woodrow Wilson offered Palmer the post of Secretary of War, but Palmer declined because of his belief in pacifism. Instead, he was appointed Alien Property Custodian on October 22, 1917, by Wilson, and served until March 4 of 1919, when he resigned to become Attorney General of the United States, in which capacity he served from March 5, 1919, until March 4, 1921.
Palmer Raids
His tenure as Attorney General was concurrent with the first Red Scare, and Palmer became a zealous opponent of anarchist communists, insurrectionary anarchist, and other radicals who advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Twice the intended victim of anarchist bomb attacks, the bombing of his Washington, D.C. home (which killed the bomber, Carlo Valdinoci, and slightly damaged Palmer's home) may have influenced his actions in this area. His campaign against radicalism culminated in what came to be called the Palmer Raids. These were a series of raids, searches without warrants and mass arrests of suspected leftists and radicals, during which a total of at least 10,000 individuals were arrested. Fearful of extremist violence and revolution, the American public widely supported the raids, and outside of criticism by those apprehended, some civil libertarian groups, and the radical left, condemnation of the raids did not surface until many years later. Palmer also famously predicted that Communists would attempt to overthrow the United States government on May Day, 1920. The date came and went without incident.
Presidential Campaign of 1920
His tenure as Attorney General and public approval of his campaign against radicalism led to his candidacy for President during the 1920 Democratic National Convention. Palmer and his fellow front-runner, Wilson Cabinet member William G. McAdoo, were deadlocked at the convention, and the nomination finally went to the dark-horse Governor of Ohio James M. Cox.
Palmer then engaged in the practice of law in Washington, D.C., and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and died in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 1936. He is buried in Laurelwood Cemetery, Stroudsburg.
See Also
Multimedia
Sources
- United States Congress. "A. Mitchell Palmer (id: P000035)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- The Political Graveyard
- Who Built America V.II
