Peter G. Gerry

Peter G. Gerry

Peter Goelet Gerry (born September 18, 1879 in New York City , † October 31, 1957 in Providence , Rhode Island ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Rhode Island in both chambers of the US Congress .

Life

Peter G. Gerry was the great-grandson of Elbridge Gerry , the fifth US Vice President , on whom the term Gerrymandering goes back. Together with his brother Robert, he received private lessons from the future Prime Minister of Canada , William Lyon Mackenzie King , in the summer of 1899 .

In 1901 Gerry graduated from Harvard University ; after completing his law degree, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Bar in 1906. In 1910 he married Mathilde Townsend, a wealthy lady of society; In 1925 the couple separated. He later married Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt , widow of businessman George Washington Vanderbilt II , who died in 1914 .

The Gerry Glacier in Antarctica is named after him.

politics

In 1913, Peter Gerry was elected to the US House of Representatives to represent the 2nd District of Rhode Island . It belonged to him for two years; he failed in re-election. He was elected to the US Senate in 1916 , where he remained after re-election until 1929 and was considered a supporter of President Woodrow Wilson in the early years . He served as a whip for the Democratic Group between 1919 and 1929 . In 1928 he failed to be nominated again by his party; in 1935 he returned to the Senate for a further twelve years, which he finally left in 1946 when he was no longer running.

Web links

• Peter G. Gerry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• William Lyon Mackenzie King as private tutor to Peter G. Gerry