William J. Harris

William J. Harris

William Julius Harris (born February 3, 1868 in Cedartown , Polk County , Georgia , †  April 18, 1932 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He represented the state of Georgia in the US Senate .

William Harris was the grandson of Charles Hooks , a former member of the US House of Representatives from North Carolina . He attended public schools in his home country and graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1890 . He then entered the insurance industry and banking in Cedartown.

From 1904 to 1909 Harris was employed as a private secretary to US Senator Alexander S. Clay . He then became politically active himself and sat in the Georgia Senate from 1911 to 1912 . Between 1913 and 1915 he served as director of the United States Census Bureau ; He resigned this post when he became a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1915 , where he remained until 1918. He was chairman of the commission from 1917 .

He resigned to run for Georgia as a US Senator. After his election victory, he took up the mandate in Washington from March 4, 1919 and was confirmed twice in office. During his tenure in the Senate, Harris was among other things a member of the National Forest Reservation Commission , which worked to protect American forests. He died of a heart attack on April 18, 1932 and was buried in Cedartown.

Georgia Governor Richard Russell sat John S. Cohen one as a provisional replacement for Harris. When the by-election was due, he ran himself and won.

Web links

• William J. Harris in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• William J. Harris in the database of Find a Grave (English)