Emmet Montgomery Reily

Emmet Montgomery Reily

Emmet Montgomery Reily (born October 21, 1866 in Sedalia , Missouri , †  October 31, 1954 in Jackson County , Missouri) was an American politician and governor of Puerto Rico from 1921 to 1923 .

Career

Emmet Reily was born in Missouri and moved to Fort Worth , Texas as a teenager , where he worked in the newspaper and real estate business. There he also embarked on a political career as a member of the Republican Party . For eight years he was its local chairman in Fort Worth. For some time he was also the district chairman there. In 1892 he moved to Kansas City , Missouri, where he became the mayor's secretary. In the meantime, he also returned to private life. In 1902, he became the assistant postman in Kansas City.

In 1901 he founded an association that campaigned for Vice President Theodore Roosevelt to be nominated as a presidential candidate in 1904. However, the association disbanded after Roosevelt became president that same year after the murder of incumbent William McKinley . In Kansas City, Emmet Reily also worked as a newspaper publisher. In 1920, he was very committed to the nomination of Warren G. Harding as a Republican presidential candidate.

After his election as president, Harding rewarded Reilly for his support by appointing him as the new governor of Puerto Rico. He held this office between 1921 and 1923. He made himself very unpopular there. He wanted to Americanize the country: many of his employees came from mainland America; he only let the American flag fly and ignored all traditional domestic flags. He also tried to push the Spanish language back in favor of English. Only in architecture did he meet the Spanish style and allowed a Spanish renaissance in this area . Politically, too, he fell out with the residents of Puerto Rico. Soon there were voices calling for his recall. In a letter to President Harding, Reily wrote that he was even threatened with death. At the same time, corruption allegations were made against him in Puerto Rico.

Under this pressure and under the impression of illness, Emmet Reily resigned from his post as governor in 1923. Nothing is known about his further life. He died in Missouri on October 31, 1954.

Web links

• Emmet Montgomery Reily in the database of Find a Grave (English)