Matthew E. Welsh

Matthew E. Welsh (1961)

Matthew Empson Welsh (born September 15, 1912 in Detroit , Michigan , †  May 28, 1995 in Indianapolis , Indiana ) was an American politician and from 1961 to 1965 the 41st  governor of the state of Indiana.

Early years and political advancement

Matthew Welsh attended Indiana University until 1934 and then studied law at the University of Chicago . After graduating and admitted to the bar, he practiced his new profession in Vincennes for a few years . Welsh was a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1940 . He stayed there until he gave up his mandate in 1943 to join the US Navy during World War II . There he served in a reserve unit. After the war he was a federal prosecutor between 1950 and 1951for southern Indiana. Between 1955 and 1959 he was a member of the Indiana Senate . In 1956 he unsuccessfully applied for the office of governor. Four years later he succeeded in being elected as the candidate of his party for the highest political office in Indiana, with 50.4 percent of the vote, narrowly beating Republican Crawford F. Parker.

Indiana Governor

Matthew Welsh took up his new office on January 9, 1961. During his four-year tenure, Indiana introduced a two percent sales tax to help increase state revenue. In 1963, the Indiana Civil Rights Bill was passed to bring racial equality into law. Training camps for young people have been set up in the state nature parks. With the “Fair Employment Commission” and the “Department of Administration”, two new ministries were created in the state government. It is also noteworthy that the governor banned a pop song from Indiana's radio programs for alleged sexual content without even listening to the song. It was " Louie Louie " from the group " The Kingsmen ".

Another résumé

After his governorship ended in January 1965, Welsh became a lawyer in Indianapolis. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him chairman of an American-Canadian commission that dealt with the waterways in the border area between the two countries. He held this office until 1970. In 1972 he ran for a new term as governor of Indiana, but only got 42.5 percent of the vote and was defeated by the Republican Otis R. Bowen . Then he withdrew from politics. But then he was still a curator at Vincennes University . Matthew Welsh died in 1995 and was buried in Vincennes. He was married to Virginia Homann, with whom he had two children.

Web links

• Matthew Welsh in the National Governors Association (English)
• Indiana Historical Bureau (English)
• Matthew E. Welsh in database Find a Grave (English)