Eugene Hale

Eugene Hale

Eugene Hale (born June 6, 1836 in Turner , Androscoggin County , Maine , †  October 27, 1918 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Republican Party ) who represented the state of Maine in both chambers of Congress .

Life

Eugene Hale received his schooling in his birthplace as well as at the Hebron Academy . After completing his law studies in Portland , he was inducted into the bar and practiced initially in Ellsworth before serving as the Hancock County attorney between 1858 and 1866 . During his later political career, he received his doctorate in law from Bates College in 1882 .

politics

His first political mandate took over Hale as a member of the House of Representatives from Maine between 1867 and 1868. He was then elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, where he remained between 1869 and 1879; in 1878 he missed re-election.

He returned to Congress in 1881 when he was elected to succeed former Vice President Hannibal Hamlin in the Senate . After being re-elected four times, he was a member of the Chamber of Parliament until March 3, 1911; during this time he was chairman of numerous Senate committees. Between 1908 and 1911 he also held the post of Republican Conference Chairman and was thus de facto leader of the Republican faction.

Already at the time of President Ulysses S. Grant , he had declined an appointment to his cabinet ; Grant's successor, Rutherford B. Hayes , who wanted to nominate Hale as Secretary of the Navy , received a negative response. Nevertheless, a special focus of his political work was always the US Navy . This was also the reason why the Navy later named two ships as the USS Hale .

Eugene Hale, whose son Frederick was also the US Senator for Maine between 1917 and 1941, died in Washington in 1918.

Web links

• Eugene Hale in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Eugene Hale in the database of Find a Grave (English)