J. Hamilton Lewis

J. Hamilton Lewis

James Hamilton Lewis (born May 18, 1863 in Danville , Virginia , United States , † April 9, 1939 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician who belonged to both chambers of Congress .

biography

Three years after Lewis's birth his parents moved to Augusta ( Georgia ), where he Houghton School attended and after the end of first at the University of Virginia and then the law in a law firm in Savannah studied. After his admission to the bar in 1882, he moved to the Washington Territory in 1885 , where he worked as a lawyer in Seattle . Shortly afterwards he began his political career with the election to the legislative assembly of the territory, of which he belonged from 1887 to 1888.

In 1896 he was nominated for the state of Washington as a delegate to the US House of Representatives voted, where he remained until March 3, 1899 as a member of the March 4, 1897 Democratic Party the second congressional district represented his state. After losing to his Republican challenger Francis W. Cushman in the 1898 congressional election , he joined the US Army and served as General Inspector with the rank of Colonel in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War . In 1899 he ran for the first time in Washington State for the US Senate , but suffered a defeat against the Republican Addison G. Foster .

He then moved to Chicago in 1903 , where he initially worked again as a lawyer and then from 1905 to 1907 as legal advisor to a corporation . In 1908 he ran unsuccessfully against Charles Deneen for the office of governor of Illinois . In 1912 he was elected US Senator. As the holder of the first Senate mandate (Senator Class 2) , he was a member of the US Senate from March 26, 1913 to March 3, 1919. There was 1915-1919 Chairman of the Committee on the issues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State ). At the same time he was from 1913 to 1919 Whip of the democratic majority faction. He was the first senator to hold this position.

In 1918 he was defeated by his Republican challenger, Congressman Joseph Medill McCormick . After he was defeated by the Republican Len Small in his renewed candidacy for governor of Illinois in 1920 , he resumed his practice as a lawyer and specialized in international law . In 1930 he was reelected as a US Senator to succeed Charles Deneen, who was no longer nominated. He belonged to the US Senator as the holder of the first Senate mandate from Illinois after his re-election in 1936 from March 4, 1931 until his death on April 9, 1939. There was from 1933 to 1939 Chairman of the Senate Committee on Expenditures of Government Agencies ( Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments ). Between 1933 and 1939 he was Majority Whip .

J. Hamilton Lewis was the only Illinois Senate holder to serve two non-consecutive terms.

Web links

Wikisource: J. Hamilton Lewis  - Sources and full texts (English)

• J. Hamilton Lewis in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)