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Dwight H. Green | |
|---|---|
.png) Green as governor | |
| 30thGovernor of Illinois | |
| In office January 13, 1941 – January 10, 1949 | |
| Lieutenant | Hugh W. Cross |
| Preceded by | John H. Stelle |
| Succeeded by | Adlai Stevenson |
| United States Attorney for theNorthern District of Illinois | |
| In office 1931–1935 | |
| Preceded by | George E. Q. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Michael L. Igoe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dwight Herbert Green (1897-01-09)January 9, 1897 Ligonier, Indiana, U.S |
| Died | February 20, 1958(1958-02-20) (aged 61) Chicago, Illinois, U.S |
| Resting place | Rosehill Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Mabel Kingston(1926–1958) |
| Education | Wabash College(BA) University of Chicago(JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Dwight Herbert Green (January 9, 1897 – February 20, 1958) was an American politician who served as the30th Governor of the US state ofIllinois, serving from 1941 to 1949.[1][2]
Green was born inLigonier,Noble County, Indiana, son of Harry Green and Minnie (Gerber) Green. On June 29, 1926, he married Mabel Victoria Kingston. He served in theU.S. Army during World War I. Dwight and Mabel's children were Gloria and Nancy—they attended Springfield High School in LaPorte County. Nancy married Dr. James Gilbert and they had two daughters, Susie and Gloria. Gloria married Dr. Warren McPherson and they had two children, Scott and Victoria. Nancy Green Gilbert died in 2019. Gloria Green McPherson died in 1985.[3][4]
Green attendedWabash College inCrawfordsville, Indiana, where he was a member of the Alpha-Pi chapter ofKappa Sigma fraternity. He attendedlaw school at theUniversity of Chicago, practiced law, and served asUnited States Attorney for theNorthern District of Illinois in 1931–35. It would be Green's primary responsibility to help fight the organized crime operations—such asAl Capone's gang—which virtually ruled Chicago and much of the state in the 1930s. The government team prosecuting Al Capone for Tax Evasion consisted of U.S. AttorneyGeorge E. Q. Johnson, and his prosecutors Dwight H. Green, Samuel Clawson, Jacob Grossman and William Froelich.In 1939, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate forMayor of Chicago.[5][6]
In 1940, abacklash against theNew Deal and theU.S. Democratic Party had begun to affect Illinois and many other states, especially in theMidwest. The Republican Green, with his record as aprosecutor and established opposition to the big-city Chicagopolitical machine, was elected governor of Illinois in the1940 Illinois gubernatorial election. He was inaugurated on January 13, 1941.
At the end of the same year,Pearl Harbor thrust Governor Green into the job of leading one of the largest U.S. state governments during World War II. He won widespread support during the war and was reelectedin 1944 to serve a second full term.
The coming of peace in 1945 created new challenges for America's big cities and state governments. In particular, there was a sharp shortage ofhousing for returningveterans and their families, as little had been built during the war or theGreat Depression.
The Chicago Democratic party slated an intellectual lawyer,Adlai Stevenson, to oppose Green for a third term in office. In a surprising upset, Stevenson defeated Green inNovember 1948,[7] ending Green's political career; the defeat was in part owing to his negligence in preventing the deaths of 111 miners in theCentralia mine disaster. Though the disaster was likely accidental, the buildup to the mine explosion was due to the governmental regulators following a "weak, ineffectual, and indifferent policy toward enforcement of state mining laws".[8]
Governor Green returned to private life after his 1948 defeat. He died February 20, 1958, and was buried atRosehill Cemetery in Chicago.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Attorney for theNorthern District of Illinois 1931–1935 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Illinois 1940,1944,1948 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker of theRepublican National Convention 1948 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Illinois 1941–1949 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
