Luke Lea (American politician, born 1879)

For other people named Luke Lea, seeLuke Lea (disambiguation).

"Senator Lea" redirects here. For other uses, seeSenator Lea (disambiguation).

Luke Lea
United States Senator fromTennessee
In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1917
Preceded by	James B. Frazier
Succeeded by	Kenneth D. McKellar
Personal details
Born	(1879-04-12)April 12, 1879 Nashville, Tennessee,U.S.
Died	November 18, 1945(1945-11-18)(aged 66) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Louise Warner (m. 1906–1918, her death) Percie Warner (m. 1920–1945, his death)
Children	5
Education	University of the South Columbia Law School
Occupation	Attorney Newspaper publisher Businessman
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1918–1919
Rank	Colonel
Unit	114th Field Artillery Regiment
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Saint-Mihiel Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Luke Lea(April 12, 1879 – November 18, 1945) was an American attorney, politician and newspaper publisher. ADemocrat,he was most notable for his service as aUnited States SenatorfromTennesseefrom 1911 to 1917. Lea was the longtime publisher ofThe Tennesseannewspaper inNashville,and aUnited States Armyveteran ofWorld War I.In 1919 he led an unauthorized and unsuccessful attempt to kidnap the recently exiled GermanKaiser Wilhelm II.

Early life

Lea was the son of John Overton and Ella (néeCocke) Lea. He was born into a political family after Reconstruction and named for a paternal great-grandfather,Luke Lea,who was a two-termCongressmanfrom Tennessee in the 1830s. Initially an ardent supporter of DemocratAndrew Jackson,the elder Lea later became a member of theWhig Party.One of Lea's maternal great-grandfathers wasWilliam Cocke,who served in the U.S. Senate from Tennessee from 1796 to 1797, and again from 1799 to 1805.

Lea received his early education from tutors at home. He attendedUniversity of the SouthinSewanee, Tennessee,graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1899. He received a master's degree in 1900. Lea was the manager of the "Iron Men" of the1899 Sewanee Tigers football team,and was credited with organizing their schedule of games. The Tigers won five road games in six days, and outscored opponents 322 to 10.A documentary film about that team and Luke Lea's role was released in 2022 calledUnrivaled: Sewanee 1899.

He attendedColumbia Law SchoolinNew York City,from which he graduated in 1903. Lea wasadmitted to the barthe same year, and began to practice inNashville.

Early career

In addition to practicing law, Lea formed a company to purchase theNashville Americannewspaper. Reorganized as theNashville Tennessean,Lea served as its firsteditorandpublisher.He later merged theTennesseanwith theNashville Democrat,and his newspaper was a leading proponent ofProhibition.

One of Lea's associates at theAmericanand later theTennesseanwasEdward W. Carmack.Lea became involved in Democratic Party politics as a member of the faction led by Carmack. In 1908, Carmack was shot and killed byDuncan Brown Cooper,a former editor of theAmerican,and Cooper's son Robin. Carmack wounded Robin Cooper with return fire. The Coopers were part of the Democratic Party faction led byMalcolm R. Patterson,who was elected governor in 1906, and whom Carmack had challenged unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1908. Duncan and Robin Cooper were both convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to prison. Duncan Cooper's conviction was affirmed on appeal, after which he received a pardon from Patterson. Robin Cooper won an appeal and the right to a retrial, but no prosecutor was willing to re-try the case, so he went free. Lea assumed leadership of the Carmack faction, which succeeded in persuading Patterson to withdraw from the 1910 campaign.

United States Senator

Lea at the 1912 Democratic Convention

Lea was elected to the Senate by theTennessee General Assemblyin 1911; after 10 unsuccessful ballots, his name was introduced as a compromise choice, and he was selected on the 11th ballot. He was an enthusiastic supporter of most of theprogressivepolicies of DemocraticPresidentWoodrow Wilson,a fellow native of theSouth.Elected president in 1912, Wilson was only the secondDemocratto gain the office since the end of theCivil War.During the63rd Congress,Lea was chairman of the Senate Committee on the Library (of Congress).

Socially progressive but fiscally conservative, Lea actively supported lowering tariffs, the creation of theFederal Reserve System,the regulation of major corporations, and the breaking up of trusts. He also supported women's suffrage and a national prohibition amendment. He allied withRobert La Folletteand supported his seaman's act. He approved of theeight-hour dayand opposedchild labor.

In 1913, Lea began his most ambitious undertaking in the Senate when he attempted to launch a federal investigation of the railroads and political corruption in Tennessee. The investigation encouraged the railroads to cease distributing free passes as political favors, but the growing crisis of the First World War eventually overshadowed concerns about corruption, and the investigation was shelved.

During Lea's term, theSeventeenth Amendmentchanged the method of election of Senators from election by thestate legislaturesto direct popular vote. Lea supported this measure. Lea contended for the 1916 Democratic nomination for the seat but was defeated byKenneth McKellar,a colleague ofMemphispolitical "boss"E. H. Crump.McKellar was re-elected to a total of six terms, and is to date Tennessee's longest-serving senator. Despite his lame duck status, Lea continued to work on the progressive agenda. He voted to confirmLouis Brandeisto the Supreme Court, and supported a number of progressive measures in the Senate including immigration reform, the Shipping Act of 1916, and theRevenue Act of 1916.

World War I

Shortly after the end of Lea's Senate term, theU.S.enteredWorld War I.Lea had been opposed to U.S. involvement, but once war was declared, he joined theUnited States Armyand raised a volunteer Field Artillery regiment. Lea's regiment was mustered into federal service as the114th Field Artillery Regiment,a unit of the39th Division,which Lea commanded as acolonel.The regiment distinguished itself in France, including theBattle of Saint-Mihieland theMeuse-Argonne Offensive.Lea was awarded theArmy Distinguished Service Medalfor his wartime efforts.

Attempt to kidnap Kaiser Wilhelm II

In January 1919, Lea and a group of three officers and three sergeants from his unit, the 114th Field Artillery, traveled to KasteelAmerongenin theNetherlandsin a failed attempt to seize the recently exiled GermanKaiser Wilhelm IIand bring him to theParis Peace Conferencefor potential trial forwar crimes.One of the officers accompanying Lea wasLarry MacPhail.

This attempt was apparently inspired by a chance meeting with theDuke of Connaughtin 1918 who had told Lea that he was the uncle of bothKing George Vand the Kaiser and suggested that the European establishment would protect the Kaiser.

The Americans entered the Netherlands using false civilian passports travelling in two staff cars with weapons concealed under the seats. On arriving at the Chateau where the Kaiser was staying, Lea claimed to be the son of the local count. They immediately raised suspicions and the Kaiser unsurprisingly refused to see them. They retreated to their cars, after stealing an inscribed bronze ashtray, and fled the country.

After an investigation of the incident, the Army reprimanded Lea, MacPhail and the others as it was illegal for them to have entered a neutral country.

Later career

After the close of the war, Lea returned to Nashville and resumed operation of hisnewspaper.In 1919 he was one of the founders of theAmerican Legionand served prominently in various leadership roles. In 1929 GovernorHenry H. Hortonnominated Lea for appointment to the Senate seat vacated by the death ofLawrence D. Tyson.Lea declined, choosing instead to remain active in thebankingandreal estatebusinesses. Horton nominatedWilliam Emerson Brock,who accepted.

In the 1920s, Lea was a major investor in the Nashville investment banking firm of Caldwell & Company, due in part to his friendship with its founderRogers Caldwell.When accusations of corruption were subsequently made about the bank, Lea and his associates became the subject of rumor that they too were corrupt.

Conviction and imprisonment

Lea was indicted inNorth Carolinawith others, including his eldest son, for bank fraud resulting from the 1930 collapse of the Central Bank and Trust Company ofAsheville, North Carolina,a bank with which he had become affiliated through his connection with Caldwell & Company. Both Lea and his son were tried in North Carolina in 1931.L. E. Gwinn,a prominent Memphis attorney whose specialty was criminal law, was brought in along with other attorneys, and the detailed preparation of the North Carolina case was entrusted to him.The Leas were convicted on three of seven counts. Luke was sentenced to six to 10 years in prison.

After the Leas’ appeals were exhausted and after theU.S. Supreme Courtdenied theirpetitionfor awritofcertiorari,both Leas reported for imprisonment atRaleighin May 1934. Lea received aparolein April 1936, and he received a fullpardonin June 1937. Through the end of his life, Lea maintained that he and his son were wrongly prosecuted and convicted and that the prosecution was political in nature, with Lea being made thescapegoatfor the Central Bank and Trust’s failure by his Republican foes in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Death and burial

Lea died on November 18, 1945, at theVanderbilt University Hospitalin Nashville, at the age of 66.He was buried atMount Olivet Cemeteryin Nashville.

Family

Lea married Mary Louise Warner in 1906. They were the parents of Luke Lea Jr. and Percy Warner Lea. Mary Lea died while Luke Lea was en route to France during World War I. Lea married Percy Warner in 1920; she was the sister of his first wife. Luke and Percy Lea were the parents of Mary Louise, Laura, and Overton.

Legacy

They resided at 3700 Whitland Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee.The house, known asWashington Hall,is listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesas a contributing property to the Whitland Area Neighborhood.

Lea Heights in Nashville'sPercy Warner Park,a place offering an excellent view of thedowntownNashville skyline, is named in his honor. The original land grant establishingPercy Warner Parkwas donated by Lea and his family to Nashville. The park is named for Lea's father-in-law.

Representation in other media

The bookAt Heaven's Gateby Southern writerRobert Penn Warrenis said to be aroman à clefabout the 1920s era and Caldwell & Company in the Nashville area, as are aspects of the novelA Summons to Memphisby thenovelistPeter Matthew Hillsman Taylor.

See also

• List of members of the American Legion

Resources

• Mary Louise Lea Tidwell,Luke Lea of Tennessee,Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993,ISBN0-87972-624-5.

External links

• United States Congress."Luke Lea (id: l000165)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Luke LeaatFind a Grave
• TIME Magazine Archives --"More Tennessee Trouble"(December 22, 1930)
• Essay, Doris Boyce,"Luke Lea in the Great War"
• Essay, Doris Boyce,"Luke Lea in the Great Depression"
• Bill Carey,"'Tennessean' Founder Made News Throughout His Life".The Tennessean Archives (November 30, 2003)
• Luke Lea Papers Collection,Tennessee State Library and Archives
• Percie Warner Lea Papers,University of North Carolina-Asheville