William Borah
William Edgar Borah (* 29. June 1865 in Fairfield , Wayne County , Illinois ; † 19th January 1940 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician of the Republican Party . From 1907 until his death he sat for the US state Idaho in the US Senate .
Early years
He was born in Fairfield, the son of Elizabeth and William Nathan Borah. In his childhood he attended Wayne County schools. After a drawing by HT Webster , a well-known caricaturist, was published, Borah felt the desire to work on the railroad. However, this wish did not come true. Instead, he attended the University of Kansas from 1885 and studied law . However, he missed his first year due to tuberculosis . He completed his studies in 1887 and was admitted to the bar in September of that year.
Career
Borah initially worked as a lawyer in Lyons , Kansas. In 1890, however, he moved on to Seattle . He didn't stay long in Seattle either, eventually settling in the young state of Idaho, more precisely in the capital Boise . There he quickly rose to become one of the most prominent lawyers in the state.
Borah first appeared politically in 1902 when he first ran for a seat in the US Senate. However, he could not prevail against Weldon B. Heyburn . In 1907, shortly before his election to the Senate, Borah served as a prosecutor.
marriage and family
In 1895 Borah married Mary McConnell, the daughter of Governor William J. McConnell . The marriage remained childless. During his tenure as Senator, Borah had an extramarital relationship with Alice Roosevelt Longsworth , the eldest daughter of United States President Theodore Roosevelt . Together both had the daughter Paulina (1925-1957), the Alexander McCormick Sturm , the co-founder of Sturm, Ruger & Co. , married. Paulina died in 1957 of an overdose of sleeping pills.
Tenure as senator
On January 15, 1907, Borah was first elected to the US Senate by the Idaho Legislature . In 1912 he was re-elected by the legislature. In 1918, 1924, 1930 and 1936 he was re-elected by the people after popular elections for the senators were introduced. To date, he is the longest-serving Idaho member of Congress.
From 1908 to 1912 he was a member of the Republican National Committee . In 1912 he was his party's delegate to the Republican National Convention . As a senator, Borah represented less party interests than he liked political principles, which is why his party liked to refer to him as The Great Enemy . He was also interested in creating alliances and advocated the separation of liberal American politics and European great power politics.
In 1919 there were disagreements between Senators Henry Cabot Lodge senior , Hiram Johnson and Borah and US President Woodrow Wilson over the ratification of the Peace Treaty of Versailles and the US accession to the League of Nations . In the end, the senators successfully prevented the ratification and accession of the USA to the League of Nations.
From 1925 to 1933 Borah was then chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations . As chairman of the committee, he represented pro-Soviet positions. He was also an advocate for the establishment of diplomatic relations with Moscow. Borah continued to be instrumental in establishing the United States Department of Labor and the United States Childrens Bureau .
Politically, Borah was part of the progressive wing of his party. In 1936 Borah was a candidate for the Republican Party presidency. He was only able to secure a majority of the delegates in Wisconsin , however , not enough to be nominated.
Last years and death
In his final years, Borah was extremely popular with Idaho voters. On January 19, 1940, Borah died of an intracerebral hemorrhage in his home in the federal capital. He was honored with a state ceremony by the Senate. He is buried in Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
Posthumous work
Several schools and streets were named after Borah. Borah Peak , Idaho's highest mountain, was named after him while he was still alive.
Web links
- William Borah in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
- William Borah in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- Newspaper article about William Borah in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ^ Carol Felsenthal: Princess Alice: The Life and Times of Alice Roosevelt Longworth; Macmillan, 2003
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Borah, William |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Borah, William Edgar (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American politician (Republican Party) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 29, 1865 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fairfield , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 19, 1940 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |