Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge

Walter Evans Edge (born November 20, 1873 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , †  October 29, 1956 in New York City ) was an American politician and governor of the state of New Jersey from 1917 to 1919 and between 1944 and 1947 . Between 1919 and 1929 he represented his state in the US Senate .

Early years and political advancement

Walter Edge came to Pleasantville , New Jersey in 1877 . There he attended public schools. After finishing school in 1890, he worked in a printing company in Atlantic City . He soon got into the newspaper business by buying and publishing a newspaper. During the Spanish-American War he was a lieutenant in an infantry unit. Edge was also active in the New Jersey National Guard.

Walter Edge was a member of the Republican Party . Between 1901 and 1904 he was employed in the administration of the State Senate . He had already worked for this body from 1897 to 1899 as a journal clerk , a kind of press spokesman. In 1910 he became a member of the New Jersey General Assembly . From 1911 to 1916 he was a member of the State Senate, where he became its President in 1915. On November 7, 1916, he was elected as his party's candidate for governor of his state.

Governor of New Jersey from 1917 to 1919

Walter Edge took up his new office on January 15, 1917. His tenure was overshadowed by the events of World War I , to which New Jersey also had to contribute. Young men had to be patterned and made available to the military. Economic production was switched to armaments and food was rationed. After the end of the war in November 1918, these measures had to be reduced to civil status. In addition to these war-related activities, an anti-corruption law was passed and the conditions for a tunnel under the Hudson River were created. After Walter Edge was elected as a senator to the United States Congress in the congressional election , he resigned from the office of governor in early 1919.

US Senator

Edge took up his new mandate as the successor to David Baird on March 4, 1919. In 1924 he was elected to this office. In the Senate, Edge was chairman of the Committee on Coast and Insular Suryey. He was also a member of the Postal Committee and the Committee on Inter-Oceanic Waters. On November 21, 1929, Edge resigned after being named ambassador to France by President Herbert C. Hoover . His Senate seat then went to David Baird Jr. , his predecessor's son.

Second term as governor

Between 1929 and 1933 Edge stayed as ambassador in Paris . After returning to the United States, he sold his post-World War I stake in the property called "Noria Plantation" in Florida . For this he acquired the "Sunny Hill" plantation in 1937, also in Florida. On November 2, 1943 Edge was elected governor of New Jersey again. He began his three-year term on January 18, 1944. At that time, World War II was still in full swing. After the end of this war, the governor, like his counterparts in the other US states, had to ensure a smooth transition from war to peace. This included the reintegration of the returning soldiers into society and the care of the disabled and the bereaved of the dead. As in 1918, industrial production also had to be cut back to meet civilian needs. Independently of this, the public service was reformed and a ministry for economic development was established. An anti-discrimination agency was incorporated into the Ministry of Education.

After the end of his governorship on January 21, 1947 Edge withdrew from politics and devoted himself to his private interests. He died in New York City in October 1956. Walter Edge was married twice and had a total of four children.

Web links

• Walter Edge in the National Governors Association (English)
• Walter Evans Edge in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Walter Evans Edge in the database of Find a Grave (English)