Boies Penrose | |
|---|---|
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| United States Senator fromPennsylvania | |
| In office March 4, 1897 – December 31, 1921 | |
| Preceded by | J. Donald Cameron |
| Succeeded by | George Pepper |
| Member of the Republican National Committee from Pennsylvania | |
| In office May 18, 1916 – December 31, 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Wasson |
| Succeeded by | George Pepper |
| In office June 9, 1904 – May 1, 1912 | |
| Preceded by | Matthew Quay |
| Succeeded by | Henry Wasson |
| Chairman of theRepublican State Committee of Pennsylvania | |
| In office May 27, 1903 – April 26, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | Matthew Quay |
| Succeeded by | Wesley Andrews |
| President pro tempore of thePennsylvania Senate | |
| In office May 9, 1889 – May 28, 1891 | |
| Preceded by | John Grady |
| Succeeded by | John P. S. Gobin |
| Member of thePennsylvania Senate from the6th district | |
| In office January 4, 1887 – January 27, 1897[1] | |
| Preceded by | Robert Adams, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Israel Wilson Durham |
| Member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives from thePhiladelphia County district | |
| In office January 6, 1885[2] – June 12, 1885 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1860-11-01)November 1, 1860 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 31, 1921(1921-12-31) (aged 61) Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American politician fromPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, who served as aRepublican member of theUnited States Senate for Pennsylvania from 1897 to 1921. He served as a member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives for the Philadelphia County district in 1885. He served as a member of thePennsylvania State Senate for the6th district in 1897 and asPresident pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1889 to 1891.
Penrose was the fourthpolitical boss of the Pennsylvania Republicanpolitical machine (known under his bossism as thePenrose machine), followingSimon Cameron,Donald Cameron, andMatthew Quay.[3] He was the most powerful political operative in Pennsylvania for 17 years, supportedWarren Harding in his nomination for U.S. president, and added theoil depletion allowance into theRevenue Act of 1913 to benefit oil producers. Penrose was the longest-serving U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania untilArlen Specter surpassed his record in 2005.[4]
He was born on November 1, 1860,[5] in Philadelphia, one of seven sons,[6] to Dr. Richard Alexander Fullerton Penrose and Sarah Hannah Boies.[7] He was born into a prominentOld Philadelphian family ofCornish descent.[8] The family traced their American origins to Bartholomew Penrose, a Bristol shipbuilder, who was invited byWilliam Penn to establish a shipyard in theProvince of Pennsylvania.[9] He was a grandson of Speaker of the Pennsylvania SenateCharles B. Penrose and brother of gynecologistCharles Bingham Penrose and mining entrepreneursRichard andSpencer Penrose. He was a descendant of the prominentBiddle family of Philadelphia.[10]
Penrose attendedEpiscopal Academy[11] andHarvard University. He was almost expelled from Harvard due to poor academics but was able to improve his grades by Senior year.[12] He graduated second in his class in 1881. Afterreading the law with the firm ofWayne MacVeagh and George Tucker Bispham,[13] he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1883.[14]
He served as a member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives for Philadelphia County in 1885,[11] and was elected to thePennsylvania State Senate for the6th district in 1886. He served aspresident pro tempore from 1889 to 1891.[10] At the age of 26, he was the youngest state senator and at age 29, the youngest President pro tempore.[3]
Although Penrose wrote two books on political reform, he joined the political machine ofMatthew Quay, a Pennsylvania Republicanpolitical boss.[15] In 1895, Penrose ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Philadelphia.[14] He was forced to withdraw from the race when his Democrat opponent released a photo of Penrose leaving abrothel at three o'clock in the morning.[13]
In 1897, the state legislature elected Penrose to the United States Senate overJohn Wanamaker.[3]
Penrose was a dominant member of theSenate Finance Committee and supported high protectivetariffs. He had also served on theUnited States Senate Committee on Banking,United States Senate Committee on Naval Affairs,United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Post Roads,United States Senate Committee on Education and Labor, andUnited States Senate Committee on Immigration.[16] One of Penrose's most important legislative actions was adding theoil depletion allowance to theRevenue Act of 1913 which benefited oil producers including the Mellons and the Pews.[17] Penrose consistently supported "pro-business" policies, and opposed labor reform and women's rights.[15]
He created the development of "squeeze bills", in which he would have Pennsylvania colleagues enter bills into the Pennsylvania legislature that were negative toward major industries, such as railroads and banks, and promised to remove the bills after receiving sufficient political contributions from those industries.[3]
Penrose was elected Chairman of theState Republican Party in 1903, succeeding fellow Senator Matthew Quay.[18] A year later, Quay died, and Penrose was appointed to succeed him as the state'sRepublican National Committeeman.[19] He was the most powerful political operative in Pennsylvania for the next 17 years[20] and enabled figures likeRichard Baldwin to advance through loyalty to his organization.[21]
In the1912 presidential election, Penrose strongly supported incumbent PresidentWilliam Howard Taft over former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. To discredit Roosevelt in the three-way race that year, Penrose worked with Roosevelt's embitteredProgressive rival,Robert M. La Follette, to establish a Senate committee to investigate sources of contributions to Roosevelt's 1904 and 1912 campaigns.[22] After a campaign that consisted of heavy attacks on Penrose, Roosevelt won Pennsylvania in the 1912 election, although DemocratWoodrow Wilson won the national vote.[23] Penrose was also a major supporter ofWarren Harding, and helped the Ohio Senator win the1920 Republican nomination.[24] Penrose's role in Harding's election helped earn PennsylvanianAndrew W. Mellon the role ofSecretary of the Treasury.[15]
In 1912, Penrose was forced out of power by the progressive faction of the party led byWilliam Flinn.[25] Penrose did not stand for re-election to his national committee post. However, following Flinn's departure from the party to supportTheodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party, Penrose was able to garner enough support to return to his post as national committeeman and would remain in the position until his death.[26][27]
In1914, Penrose faced his first direct election (following the passage of theSeventeenth Amendment). He publicly campaigned for the first time in his life and defeated DemocratA. Mitchell Palmer andProgressiveGifford Pinchot.[15]
In November 1915, Penrose accompanied theLiberty Bell on its nationwide tour to thePanama-Pacific International Exposition inSan Francisco to raise money for World War I.[28][29]
Penrose was six foot four inches tall and was nicknamed "Big Grizzly". He had a huge appetite and was known to have a dozen eggs at breakfast and a full turkey at lunch.[12] He won a $1,000 bet in an eating contest of 50 oysters and a quart of bourbon that sent his opponent to the hospital.[30] He did not like people watching him eat and had screens set up to provide privacy when he dined atthe Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.[31]
An avid outdoorsman, Penrose enjoyed mountain exploration and big-game hunting. He was one of the 100 original members of theBoone and Crockett Club.[32] According to his hunting guide, W.G. (Bill) Manson, they had to spend a lot of time to find a horse big enough to carry Penrose and his custom saddle. The horse was called "Senator." After Penrose stopped riding, the horse was retired to pasture because no standard saddle would fit him.[33]
He never married and was known to boast of his love ofprostitutes, stating that he didn't "believe in hypocrisy".[29]
In 1903 Penrose, along with his brothers and father, invested in the formation of theUtah Copper Company.[34]
Penrose died on December 31, 1921,[14] in hisWardman Park penthouse suite inWashington, D.C. in the last hour of 1921, after suffering apulmonary thrombosis.[16] He was interred in the Penrose family grave section ofLaurel Hill Cemetery inPhiladelphia.[10]
Following Penrose's death, his lieutenantJoseph Grundy became one of the leaders of the Republican machine, but no one boss dominated the party as Penrose and his predecessors had.[24]
Mount Penrose in theDickson Range in southwest-centralBritish Columbia is named after Penrose.[35]
A bronze statue of Penrose by Philadelphia sculptorSamuel Murray was erected inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania's Capitol Park in September 1930.[36]
Citations
Sources
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Pennsylvania 1897–1921 Served alongside:Matthew Quay,Philander Knox,George Oliver,William Crow | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Nelson Aldrich Rhode Island | Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1911–1913 | Succeeded by Furnifold Simmons North Carolina |
| Preceded by Furnifold Simmons North Carolina | Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1919–1921 | Succeeded by Porter McCumber North Dakota |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate 1889–1891 | Succeeded by |
| Pennsylvania State Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Member of thePennsylvania Senate for the6th District 1887–1897 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theRepublican National Committee from Pennsylvania 1904–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Chairman of theRepublican State Committee of Pennsylvania 1903–1905 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Member of theRepublican National Committee from Pennsylvania 1916–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None1 | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (Class 3) 1914,1920 | |
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. The 1914 election marked the first time that all seats up for election were popularly elected instead of chosen by their state legislatures. | ||
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
| Notes | † Never officially seated | |
| Education/Education and Labor (1869–1947) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Labor and Public Welfare (1947–1977) | ||
| Labor and Human Resources (1977–1999) | ||
| Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (1999–present) | ||
| Post Office and Post Roads (1816–1947) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Service and Retrenchment (1873–1921) | ||
| Civil Service (1921–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1977) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
