Louis Brownlow

Louis Brownlow (right) with Charles Edward Merriam as they leave the White House (1938)

Louis Brownlow (born August 29, 1879 in Buffalo , Dallas County , Missouri , †  September 27, 1963 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician , political scientist and political advisor. Between 1917 and 1920 he was President of the Board of Commissioners Mayor of the Federal Capital Washington.

Career

Louis Brownlow was home schooled. Because of the poverty of his parents, he could not afford a better education. However, he has acquired a lot of knowledge from books himself. Since 1900 he worked in the newspaper industry. Between 1905 and 1916 he was the correspondent for Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . In June 1916 he took part as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis , on which President Woodrow Wilson was nominated for re-election. His accurate prediction of the events following the assassination attempt in Sarajevo , which led to World War I in 1914 , attracted the president's attention.

In 1915, Brownlow was appointed by Wilson to serve on the three-person Board of Commissioners that governed the city of Washington. He stayed there until 1920. Within this group he was appointed chairman in 1917. In this capacity he practically exercised the office of mayor, even if this title was not officially used between 1871 and 1975. He held this post between 1917 and 1920. During this time, the city's police administration was reformed. Washington was also hit by a flu epidemic in 1918.

In the years after his time as President of the Board of Commissioners was Brownlow Town Clerk ( City Manager ) in Petersburg ( Virginia ) (1920-1923) and Knoxville ( Tennessee ) (1,924 to 1,926). He held the same office from 1927 to 1931 in Radburn ( New Jersey ). In 1931 he became a director of the City Housing Corporation in New York City . Also in 1931 he began lecturing on political science at the University of Chicago . From 1931 to 1945 he was director of the Public Administration Clearing House . Between 1936 and 1939 he was a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's Committee on Administrative Management , sometimes known as the Brownlow Committee . The task of this body was to develop proposals for reforming the government structure. Even after leaving this committee, Brownlow remained an adviser to President Roosevelt and his successor Harry S. Truman . He was also a member of numerous organizations and associations. Louis Brownlow died on September 27, 1963.

Web links

• Louis Brownlow Diaries at the University of Chicago
• The Political Graveyard

predecessor	Office	successor
Oliver Peck Newman	President of the Board of Commissioners of Washington DC 1917–1920	Charles Willauer Kutz