John W. Griggs

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John W. Griggs

John William Griggs (born July 10, 1849 in Newton , Sussex County , New Jersey , † November 28, 1927 in Paterson , New Jersey) was an American lawyer , politician , governor of New Jersey and US attorney general ( Attorney General ) .

Studies and professional career

Griggs graduated after a general education at Lafayette College , which he finished in 1868 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) , a law degree . After graduation he founded a law firm in 1871 with Socrates Tuttle, the son-in-law of the future US Vice President Garret Hobart . He then worked for a few years as a lawyer . Between 1877 and 1879 he was initially a lawyer in Paterson, before he served as the city's legal advisor in 1879 from 1882.

The offer of 1889 reigning until 1893 President Benjamin Harrison to take over the judgeship on the United States Supreme Court , he refused as well as the office of a judge at the New Jersey Supreme Court .

In addition to his later work as a judge in The Hague , he continued to work as a lawyer in New York City . He was also President of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company . During this activity, the company received an order from the British government in 1912 to set up radio stations in the widespread British colonial empire. This led to a political Marconi scandal , as members of the government were accused of having profited from the sharply rising share price by trading shares. At the time of his death, he was the director and chief legal advisor of Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

Political career

Promotion to governor of New Jersey

Griggs began his political career in the New Jersey General Assembly , of which he was a member from 1876 to 1877. From 1883 to 1888 he was a member of the State Senate , of which he was President in 1886. As a senator he represented the city of Passaic . In 1888 he was his home state delegate at the Republican National Convention , where Benjamin Harrison was nominated for the Republican Party presidential candidate.

On January 21, 1896, he succeeded George Theodore Werts as governor of New Jersey. He held this office until his appointment as Minister of Justice. Griggs was the first governor to belong to the Republican Party since the Civil War .

Attorney General under President McKinley and member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration

On January 25, 1898, President William McKinley appointed him as Attorney General in his cabinet . In this office he succeeded Joseph McKenna , who was appointed as a judge to the United States Supreme Court . After the end of McKinley's first term, he resigned on March 29, 1901 from the office of Attorney General.

During his tenure he argued in particular against the use of financial resources by the president, the so-called impoundment, which was still common at the time . In addition, at the end of his term of office, negotiations on several cases referred to as insular cases took place before the United States Supreme Court. The cases focused mainly on a central theme of the presidential election in 1900 and the American Anti-Imperialist League , which comes in the following question to the expression: "Follow the Constitution of the flag ("? Does the Constitution follow the flag ")?". The Supreme Court ruled shortly after Grigg's tenure as Attorney General on May 27, 1901, that the full rights of the Constitution could not automatically be extended to all areas under American control.

Subsequently, due to his experience in the field of international law, he became one of the first members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague , which was based on the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 and was set up for the peaceful settlement of international conflicts. He worked there until 1912.

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personal data
SURNAME Griggs, John W.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Griggs, John William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician, New Jersey governor and attorney general
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1849
PLACE OF BIRTH Newton , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1927
Place of death Paterson , New Jersey