Joseph B. Ely

Joseph Buell Ely (born February 22, 1881 in Westfield , Hampden County , Massachusetts , † June 13, 1956 ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Massachusetts from 1931 to 1935 .

Early years and political advancement

Joseph Ely attended Williams College until 1902 and then studied law at Harvard University until 1905 . He then worked as a lawyer with his father in the law firm Ely & Ely in Westfield. In 1926 Joseph Ely also practiced as a lawyer in Boston . Between 1915 and 1920 he was a federal attorney for the western county of Massachusetts. As a member of the Democrats , he was a delegate at their federal party conventions in 1924 and 1928. In 1930 he was elected as the new governor of his state against incumbent Frank G. Allen .

Massachusetts Governor

Joseph Ely took up his new office on January 8, 1931 and was able to exercise it until January 3, 1935 after several re-elections. These years were marked by the consequences of the global economic crisis. To combat unemployment, the governor launched an employment program. This included the expansion of the road system. A police academy was established in Boston to better prepare officers for their jobs. Governor Ely advocated a cut in public service wages. In doing so, however, he encountered resistance from the legislature. In 1934 Ely declined to run again.

Another résumé

Even after the end of his governorship, Ely remained politically active. Within his party, he was an opponent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1936 he supported other Democratic candidates in the presidential primaries; when Roosevelt won the nomination anyway, he campaigned for his Republican opponent Alf Landon in the presidential election . In 1944, he ran for the presidential nomination himself in his party's primary election. But he had no chance against Roosevelt, who was elected president for the fourth and last time this year. Joseph Ely died in 1956. He had one child with his wife Harriet Dyson.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Ely, Joseph B.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ely, Joseph Buell (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	February 22, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH	Westfield , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH	June 13, 1956