Harry M. Daugherty

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harry M. Daugherty (1920)

Harry Micajah Daugherty (born January 26, 1860 in Fayette County , Ohio ; † October 12, 1941 in Columbus , Ohio) was an American lawyer and politician ( Republican Party ) who served in the cabinet under US President Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge served as attorney general.

Studies and professional career

Daugherty graduated in law at the Law School of the University of Michigan , which he in 1880 at the age of 20 years with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) graduated. Due to legal regulations, however, he could not be admitted to the bar until the following year at the age of 21 . He then worked as a lawyer in Washington Court House until 1896 . In 1902 he founded Daugherty, Todd & Rarey in Columbus.

After retiring from politics, he worked as a lawyer until 1932.

Political career

Ohio politician and Warren G. Harding campaign manager

As early as 1891 he began his political career as a member of the City Council of Washington Court House. He was then a district attorney ( prosecutor ) in Fayette County. From 1890 to 1894 he was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives . His candidacies for the House of Representatives of the United States and as Attorney General (1895) and Governor (1897) of Ohio were unsuccessful.

After he temporarily withdrew from politics, he befriended the then Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Warren G. Harding, in 1904 . In the following 20 years he became its main political advisor. In 1910 he was the campaign manager for the first time in the unsuccessful candidacy for governor of Ohio . Four years later, however, he led the successful election campaign that led to Harding's election as US Senator for Ohio .

He later rose to chair the Republican State Committee and was thus 1920 chairman of the Republican Party in Ohio. As such, he campaigned vigorously for Harding's nomination as a Republican presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention in Chicago . Harding prevailed against the politically inexperienced General Leonard Wood and the Governor of Illinois , Frank Lowden . Harding then named Daugherty his campaign manager for the 1920 presidential election . The campaign built on Harding's friendly manner in particular, his neutral political stance, as well as his goal of returning to normal after the First World War .

Justice minister under two presidents and resignation due to involvement in scandals

Inauguration of Harding, 1921

After Harding's election as US President, Daugherty was appointed to his cabinet on March 4, 1921 as Attorney General . After Harding's death on August 2, 1923, Coolidge's successor Calvin Coolidge's cabinet remained in office.

His tenure as Justice Minister was marked by irregularities in the veterans' office , conspiracies against foreign assets, and his role in pardoning the socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs .

Senate committee meeting to investigate the Teapot Dome scandal

Daugherty announced on March 28, 1924, under pressure from Coolidge, his resignation from the office of Attorney General. He was succeeded by Harlan Fiske Stone . The reason for his forced resignation was his involvement in several corruption scandals in the vicinity of the Ohio Gang . He had accepted bribes from smugglers in which his closest associate, Jesse "Jess" Smith , was involved. Together with the trustee for confiscated foreign properties, Thomas W. Miller , he had accepted additional bribes in the case of the American Metal Company, in which Jess Smith was also involved. Daugherty's involvement in Smith's unexplained death in 1923 gave rise to further speculation against him. In addition, Daugherty was accused of not intervening sustainably enough as Attorney General in the so-called Teapot Dome scandal , in which Interior Minister Albert B. Fall was involved. In 1929, Fall - the first member of an American cabinet - was sentenced to prison. In connection with the beginning developments against Fall and Daugherty, the " Daugherty Burns scandal " broke out in 1924 when it became known that Daugherty had appointed the director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), the forerunner of the later Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI) , at that time William John Burns , who had come into office with Daugherty , had instructed both the investigative Congress member Thomas J. Walsh and investigative journalists to be intimidated and extorted by agents of the BOI - this blatant abuse of office was ultimately the main reason Daugherty became untenable as Attorney General.

A Senate investigative committee, led by young Democratic Senator Burton K. Wheeler , conducted an extensive investigation into these scandals.

In 1932 he wrote his memoirs about his tenure during the Harding presidency. In it, he reiterated the bribery scandals during Harding's tenure and stated that the reason for his assistant Smith's suicide was his diabetes and not a belated admission of guilt due to the bribery scandal. However, he was unable to write other books planned by him that would lead to his rehabilitation because of two heart attacks and pneumonia in October 1940.

Publications

  • Harry M. Daugherty and Thomas Dixon: The Inside Story of the Harding Tragedy. New York 1932.

Web links and background literature

Commons : Harry M. Daugherty  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

General biographical information

Article in TIME magazine about his tenure as Minister of Justice and the reasons for his resignation

personal data
SURNAME Daugherty, Harry M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Daugherty, Harry Micajah (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Fayette County , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH October 12, 1941
Place of death Columbus , Ohio