Wikipedia

John W. Bricker

John William Bricker(September 6, 1893 – March 22, 1986) was an American politician and attorney who served as aUnited States senatorand the 54thgovernor of Ohio.He was also theRepublicannominee forVice Presidentin1944.

John Bricker
Bricker in 1944
United States Senator
fromOhio
In office
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1959
Preceded byKingsley A. Taft
Succeeded byStephen M. Young
54thGovernor of Ohio
In office
January 9, 1939 – January 8, 1945
LieutenantPaul M. Herbert
Preceded byMartin L. Davey
Succeeded byFrank Lausche
32ndAttorney General of Ohio
In office
January 9, 1933 – January 11, 1937
GovernorGeorge White
Martin L. Davey
Preceded byGilbert Bettman
Succeeded byHerbert S. Duffy
Personal details
Born
John William Bricker

(1893-09-06)September 6, 1893
Mount Sterling, Ohio,U.S.
DiedMarch 22, 1986(1986-03-22)(aged 92)
Columbus, Ohio,U.S.
Resting placeGreen Lawn Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Harriet Day
​
​
(m.1920; died 1985)​
Alma materOhio State University(BA,LLB)
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1917-1918
RankFirst Lieutenant
Battles/warsWorld War I

Born inMadison County, Ohio,Bricker attendedOhio State Universityand began a legal practice inColumbus, Ohio.He also served in theUnited States ArmyduringWorld War I.He held various public offices between 1920 and 1937, including the position ofOhio Attorney General.Bricker served three terms as Governor of Ohio from 1939 to 1945. Bricker was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1944.[1]He wasThomas E. Dewey's running mate on the Republican ticket in the 1944 election, campaigning against theNew Dealand PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's judicial nominees. The Republican ticket was defeated by theDemocraticticket of Roosevelt andHarry S. Truman.

Bricker won election to the Senate in 1946. He introduced theBricker Amendment,which would have limited the president's power to make treaties. Though the Bricker Amendment received support from some members of both parties, it was not passed by Congress. Bricker won re-election in 1952 but was narrowly defeated byStephen M. Youngin 1958. After leaving office, Bricker resumed the practice of law and died in 1986.

Early life and education

edit

Bricker was born on afarmnearMount SterlinginMadison Countyin south centralOhio.He was the son of Laura (née King) and Lemuel Spencer Bricker.[2]He attendedOhio State UniversityatColumbus,where he divided his time between thedebating team,the varsitybaseballteam,[3]and theDelta Chifraternity. After graduating with aBachelor of Artsfrom Ohio State in 1916 and from itslawschool in 1920, he was admitted to thebarin 1917 and began his legal practice in Columbus in 1920.[4]

Public service

edit

DuringWorld War I,Bricker served asfirst lieutenantandchaplainin theUnited States Armyin 1917 and 1918. He was subsequently thesolicitorforGrandview Heights,Ohio, from 1920 to 1928, assistant Attorney General of Ohio from 1923 to 1927, a member of thePublic Utilities Commission of Ohiofrom 1929 to 1932, andAttorney General of Ohiofrom 1933 to 1937.

He was elected governor for three two-year terms, serving from 1939 to 1945, each time winning with a greater margin of victory.[3]Bricker espoused a stance against centralized government, preferring to increase involvement in state and local governments, and made this known in his inaugural address as Governor:

There must be a revitalization of state and local governments throughout the nation. The individual citizen must again be conscious of his responsibility to his government and alert to the preservation of his rights as a citizen under it. That cannot be done by taking government further away, but by keeping it at home.

— John W. Bricker, inaugural gubernatorial address, January 9, 1939.[3]

Bricker was the1944Republican nominee for vice president, running withpresidentialnomineeThomas E. Dewey,thegovernor of New Yorkwho was nine years Bricker's junior. The Republicans lost handily to the Democratic ticket ofFranklin D. RooseveltandHarry S. Truman.In that campaign, Bricker proved to be a tireless campaigner, visiting thirty-one states and making 173 speeches, including 28 over a six-day period. His final remarks came on radio on election eve from the governor's office in Columbus, when he declared: "Not only has theNew Dealdepleted our resources, recklessly spent our money, but it has undermined the very spiritual foundations of our government. "[5]Though most of his campaigning was inNew England,theMidwest,and theWest,Bricker even visited the then-historically and -heavily Democratic state ofTexas,where inDallas,he called Franklin Roosevelt "a front for theHillman-BrowderCommunist Party, "referring to the respective leaders of theCongress of Industrial Organizationsand theCommunist Party of the United States of America.[6]

In 1946, Bricker was elected to theUnited States Senate.He was re-elected in 1952, serving from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959.

Governor Dewey was the Republican presidential nominee again in 1948, but Senator Bricker was not his running mate. Dewey chose insteadGovernorEarl WarrenofCaliforniain the hope that the 1948 ticket would carry California, which the Dewey-Bricker ticket had failed to do. The Dewey-Warren ticket also lost California, and the absence of Bricker on the second ticket may have been a factor in Dewey's failure to win Bricker's home state of Ohio again.[citation needed]Bricker campaigned with Warren in 1944 inSacramento,where Bricker attacked the politics of war-timerationing;then inSan FranciscoBricker charged that Roosevelt had packed the U.S. judiciary withliberaljurists hostile to theConstitution.[6]However, even if Dewey had carried both California and Ohio in 1948, the two large states would have been insufficient to elect him president in that second campaign.

Bricker's Senate service is best remembered for his attempts to amend theUnited States Constitutionto limit the President'streaty-making powers (theBricker Amendment). He was the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce during the83rd Congress.

On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol police officer, William Louis Kaiser, fired shots at Senator Bricker as he boarded theunderground subwayfrom the Senate office building to the Capitol. The two shots, fired at close range, narrowly missed their target.[7]Kaiser stated he was "trying to refresh" Bricker's memory. Kaiser had served on the police force as a protege of Bricker's predecessor in the Senate and had complained of losing substantial money on Columbus real estate. An investigation concluded that Kaiser may have fired blanks or else purposely missed Bricker.[8]

Bricker voted in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1957.[9]In 1958,Stephen M. Youngran for the Senate against the incumbent Bricker. Bricker seemed invincible, but Young capitalized on widespread public opposition to the proposed "right to work" amendment to Ohio's constitution, which Bricker had endorsed. Few thought that Young, 70 at the time, could win; even members of his own party had doubts, particularly Ohio's other senator, DemocratFrank J. Lausche.In an upset amid a national Democratic trend, Young defeated Bricker by 52 to 48 percent. Bricker then retired from public life.[citation needed]

Professional life and death

edit

In 1945, Bricker founded the Columbus law firm now known asBricker & Eckler.The firm now has additional offices inCleveland,Cincinnati, Dayton, Marietta, Barnesville, and Lebanon. It is now one of the ten largest firms in the state of Ohio. The firm has maintained an office and conference room in Bricker's honor in its Columbus office featuring memorabilia from Bricker's political career.

He was married to the former Harriet Day.

After leaving the Senate, John Bricker resumed the practice of law. He died in Columbus on March 22, 1986, at the age of 92 and is interred atGreen Lawn Cemetery.

Miscellaneous

edit
  • Bricker Hall on the Ohio State University campus is named for him. The building currently serves as the home of many of the university administrative units, including the Office of the Board of Trustees and President. Bricker was a member of the OSU Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1969.[10]
  • The Bricker Building at the Ohio Expo Center (site of the annualOhio State Fairand many other events) is named for him.
  • TheJohn W. Bricker Federal Buildingin downtown Columbus is named for him.
  • InPhilip K. Dick's 1962 novelThe Man in the High Castle,set in an alternate timeline, Bricker succeededJohn Nance Garneras the 33rd President of the United States in1940.
  • Bricker intervened in the 1956 deportation of Dr. Peter Tchen, father ofTina Tchen,formerTime's UpCEO and Chief of Staff toMichelle Obama,by introducing a bill to grant him permanent residency.[11]

References

edit
  1. ^"John Kasich could learn from last Ohio governor to seek presidency".cleveland.July 24, 2015.
  2. ^Lawrence Kestenbaum."Optimist Club, politicians".The Political Graveyard.Retrieved2016-10-04.
  3. ^abc"Ohio Fundamental Documents: John Bricker".
  4. ^"Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Search".bioguideretro.congress.gov.
  5. ^David M. Jordan,FDR, Dewey, and the Election of 1944(Blomington:Indiana University Press,2011), pp. 294, 296-297,ISBN978-0-253-35683-3
  6. ^abDavid Jordan, p. 295
  7. ^Former Capitol Policeman Shoots at Senator (2012-01-04)."Former Capitol Policeman Shoots at Senator".Ghosts of DC.Retrieved2016-10-04.
  8. ^Tom (2013-06-06)."Former Capitol Policeman Shoots at Senator".Ghosts of DC.Retrieved2019-02-19.
  9. ^"HR. 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957".GovTrack.us.
  10. ^"Campus Connections, Bricker Hall"(PDF).The Ohio State University, Physical Facilities. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on September 2, 2006.RetrievedOctober 28,2006.
  11. ^"Peter Tchen 22 Mar 1956".The Newark Advocate.22 March 1956. p. 8.
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohn W. Bricker.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_W._Bricker&oldid=1272463260"