Claude A. Swanson

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Claude A. Swanson (about 1910)

Claude Augustus Swanson (born March 31, 1862 in Swansonville , Virginia , † July 7, 1939 in Rapidan Camp , Virginia) was an American politician and from 1906 to 1910 governor of the state of Virginia. He also represented his state in both houses of Congress ; from 1933 until his death he was Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt .

Early years

Claude Swanson attended public schools in his home country and later taught himself. Then he studied at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg . Until 1885 he attended Randolph-Macon College in Ashland . With a law degree from the University of Virginia , he finished his education in 1886. After his admission to the bar that same year, he began his new profession in Chatham , Pittsylvania County .

Political career

Congressman

Swanson became a member of the Democratic Party . In 1892 he was elected a member of the US House of Representatives. There he took up his new mandate on March 4, 1893. In the following elections he was re-elected, so that he could exercise his mandate until his resignation on January 30, 1906. In 1901 he ran unsuccessfully in his party for the nomination for the office of governor of Virginia. During his time as Congressman, he was not represented on any major committee. After he was elected governor of his state in 1906, he resigned from his seat.

Governor of Virginia

Claude Swanson took up his new office on February 1, 1906. During his four-year tenure, the electric chair was introduced as a method of execution in Virginia instead of hanging. The budget for primary schools was doubled and two new teacher training centers were established.

US Senator

After the end of his governorship on February 10, 1910, Swanson was appointed to succeed John W. Daniel, who died on June 29, 1910, as a US Senator . There he was supposed to end his predecessor's term of office, which ran until March 1911. He was then elected to this office himself. After several re-elections, he exercised the mandate as senator between August 1, 1910 and March 3, 1933. In the Senate, he was temporarily chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds . He was also a member of the Marine Affairs Committee and another committee that oversaw marine spending.

Naval Minister

After Franklin D. Roosevelt took office, Swanson was appointed to his cabinet by the new President as Secretary of the Navy . He held this office until his death in July 1939 in Rapidan Camp , a summer residence of the American presidents. Claude Swanson was married twice. The American polar explorer Richard Evelyn Byrd named the Swanson Mountains , a mountain range in Antarctica, in his honor .

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personal data
SURNAME Swanson, Claude A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Swanson, Claude Augustus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Swansonville , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1939
Place of death Rapidan Camp , Virginia