Homer S. Cummings

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Homer S. Cummings (1920)

Homer Stille Cummings (born April 30, 1870 in Stamford , Connecticut , † September 10, 1956 in Greenwich , Connecticut) was an American lawyer, politician and attorney general .

Study and job

Cummings first completed a degree in philosophy at Yale University , which he graduated with a Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B.) in 1891 . He then studied at the Yale Law School Law and acquired in 1893 the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.). First he worked as a lawyer in Stamford, where he founded the law firm Cummings & Lockwood with a partner in 1909, where he was a partner until 1933.

Between 1914 and 1924 he was District Attorney for Fairfield County . During his last year in office, a spectacular murder trial ensued in which a tramp was accused of murdering a popular parish priest on the street in Bridgeport . Despite overwhelming evidence, including an admission of guilt by the tramp, Cummings conducted a thorough investigation into the case, which ultimately determined that the tramp was indeed innocent. In 1931, a commission led by former Attorney General George W. Wickersham highlighted these investigative achievements, which ultimately led in 1947 to director Elia Kazan filming the story under the title Boomerang (Boomerang!) With Dana Andrews as the actor of Cummings.

When he left the government as Minister of Justice in 1939, he again worked as a lawyer.

Political life

Democratic politician, campaigner and unsuccessful candidate for Congress

Just three years after his admission to the bar, he began his political career by campaigning for the unsuccessful Democratic candidate in the presidential election of 1896 , William Jennings Bryan .

In 1900 he ran successfully for the first time as Mayor of Stamford. As such, he was re-elected in 1901 and 1904. During his tenure as mayor, he began extensive construction work on roads and the sewerage system, reorganizing the police and fire brigade, and creating a park that was later named after him. In 1900 he was also first elected a Connecticut delegate to the Democratic National Committee , of which he was a member until 1925.

In 1902 he ran as a member of the House of Representatives and in 1910 and 1916 as a US Senator , but was defeated in all three elections.

During the campaign for the 1912 presidential election , he was head of the office of the Democratic Party spokesman in Washington . He was then from 1913 to 1919 first deputy chairman and then until 1921 chairman of the Democratic National Committee and thus practically chairman of the Democratic Party. He was also in 1900, 1904, 1924, 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944 delegate to the Democratic National Convention , which nominated the respective Democratic candidate for the presidency.

In the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in 1924, he tried to move the delegates to a compromise because of the different views on the Ku Klux Klan . Unlike many other delegates from the Northeast, he supported the former Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo instead of Alfred E. Smith . Ultimately, however, the election fell after the 103rd ballot on the outsider John W. Davis , who campaigned for the voting rights of African Americans .

After resigning as Attorney General in 1939, he was a member of the board of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee until 1951 .

Minister of Justice under President Roosevelt

Cummings did not return to political life until 1932, when he persuaded several senators and congressmen to support Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt with a resounding speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago .

After Roosevelt's election as president , he was actually intended to succeed Theodore Roosevelt junior as governor-general of the Philippines . Two days before he was sworn in, however, Justice Minister-designate, Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana, died .

For this reason, President Roosevelt appointed him on March 4, 1933 as Attorney General in his cabinet .

Alcatraz

As Minister of Justice, he initiated an extensive internal reform of the Ministry of Justice and, in particular, of the procedures in the federal courts. He also introduced several laws that strengthened the Lindbergh Law , making bank robbery a federal crime, and introducing nationwide firearms regulations. He also strengthened the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and introduced a national conference on crime. Cummings also supported the development of Alcatraz Island as a federal prison for felons.

On the other hand, in his role as Attorney General, he was also the main supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal programs . During his tenure there were several trials before the United States Supreme Court over the validity of New Deal laws. Frustrated by the conservative composition of the Supreme Court, Roosevelt immediately after the 1936 presidential election asked him to draft a law to reform the composition of the Supreme Court.

On February 5, 1939, he resigned as Attorney General and was replaced as such by Frank Murphy . With his tenure of almost six years, he was the attorney general with the second longest term after William Wirt .

Later he also organized a golf tournament named after him, in which personalities from politics, administration and justice took part.

Publications and speeches

  • We can prevent crime. 1937
  • Federal Justice. 1937
  • The Selected Papers of Homer Cummings. 1939

Web links

Commons : Homer Silence Cummings  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Cummings, Homer S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cummings, Homer Silence (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and attorney general
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Stamford , Connecticut
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1956
Place of death Greenwich , Connecticut