Burton K. Wheeler

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Burton K. Wheeler

Burton Kendall Wheeler (* 27. February 1882 in Hudson , Massachusetts , †  6. January 1975 in Washington DC ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party and from 1923 to 1947 US Senator from the State of Montana .

Wheeler grew up in Massachusetts, where he attended public schools and worked as a stenographer in Boston . He graduated from the University of Michigan with a law degree in 1905 . Originally, he wanted to go to Seattle , Washington after graduation . But when he got off the train in Butte , Montana and lost all his money playing poker, he quickly settled there and practiced as a lawyer. From 1910 to 1912 he was a member of the House of Representatives in Montana ; he then served from 1913 to 1918 as federal attorney for the district of Montana.

In 1920, Wheeler was selected as the Democratic candidate for governor of Montana. He lost the election to Republican Joseph Dixon . In 1922 he won the election for a seat in the US Senate against Republican Congressman Carl W. Riddick . He exercised the function of senator for four terms, whereby he prevailed in the re-election in 1928 against ex-Governor Dixon and in 1934 clearly defeated the former federal judge George M. Bourquin . He resigned from the Democratic Party to run for vice president. For this he worked with the Progressive Party and its presidential candidate Robert La Follette . After the election, which was not very successful for the Progressive Party, he returned to the Democrats. Wheeler supported the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he agreed with many points in his New Deal .

After the start of the Second World War , he spoke out against any aid to Great Britain or other countries that were involved in the war. He became a co-founder of the isolationist America First Committee . However, Wheeler was not against the United States entering the war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . After he failed to continue his political career in 1946 when he lost to Leif Erickson, a judge at the Montana Supreme Court , in the Democratic Primary , he withdrew from politics and concentrated entirely on his profession as a lawyer.

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personal data
SURNAME Wheeler, Burton K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wheeler, Burton Kendall (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Hudson , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 1975
Place of death Washington, DC