Eugene Hale | |
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| 21stDean of the United States Senate | |
| In office August 4, 1908 – March 3, 1911 | |
| Preceded by | William B. Allison |
| Succeeded by | William P. Frye |
| Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference | |
| In office December 1908 – March 3, 1911 | |
| Preceded by | William B. Allison |
| Succeeded by | Shelby Moore Cullom |
| United States Senator fromMaine | |
| In office March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1911 | |
| Preceded by | Hannibal Hamlin |
| Succeeded by | Charles F. Johnson |
| Chairman of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879 | |
| Speaker | Samuel J. Randall |
| Preceded by | George W. McCrary |
| Succeeded by | William P. Frye |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaine's5th district | |
| In office March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1879 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick A. Pike |
| Succeeded by | Thompson H. Murch |
| Member of theMaine House of Representatives | |
| In office 1867–1868 | |
| In office 1879–1880 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1836-06-09)June 9, 1836 Turner, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 1918(1918-10-27) (aged 82) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingChandler andFrederick |
| Relatives | Zachariah Chandler (father-in-law) |
| Occupation |
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Eugene Hale (June 9, 1836 – October 27, 1918) was an American politician who was aRepublicanUnited States Senator fromMaine.
Born inTurner, Maine, he was educated in local schools and atMaine'sHebron Academy. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and served for nine years as prosecuting attorney forHancock County, Maine. He was elected to theMaine Legislature 1867–1868, to theU.S. House of Representatives 1869–1879, serving in the41st and four succeeding Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the46th Congress.
Hale was served as a member of theNational Monetary Commission. He was also a member of theDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Theta chapter).
During the1876 United States presidential election, Hale, along with future senatorial colleagueWilliam P. Frye, served as campaign managers forJames G. Blaine at theRepublican National Convention.[1] Following the corrupt election that installed RepublicanRutherford B. Hayes as president following theCompromise of 1877, Blaine, who supported Hayes in the general election, requested the nomination of a New England Republican into a cabinet officer position. At the house ofJohn Sherman, Blaine called for President Hayes to nominate Frye asUnited States Attorney General.[2] Hayes instead offered to appoint Hale to a cabinet position, countering Blaine's wishes to succeed senatorHannibal Hamlin with Hale.
Hale was a member of theBlaine section, acolytes of James G. Blaine who expressed antipathy towards policies pursued by President Hayes. The faction, a part of theconservative wing of the Republican Party, particularly opposed Hayes' nomination of staunch reformerCarl Schurz to the position ofUnited States Secretary of the Interior.[3]
Although he declined the post ofUnited States Secretary of the Navy in theRutherford B. Hayes administration (and had previously declined aCabinet appointment underUlysses S. Grant), Senator Hale performed constructive work of the greatest importance in the area of naval appropriations, especially during the early fights for the "new Navy." "I hope," he said in 1884, "that I shall not live many years before I shall see the American Navy what it ought to be, the pet of the American people." Much later in his career, he opposed the building of large numbers ofcapital ships, which he regarded as less effective in proportion to cost and subject to rapid obsolescence.
In the1880 United States presidential election, Blaine once again sought the presidency. Hale and Frye once again became his lieutenants in the campaign.[3] The Blaine faction came to blows with the "Stalwart" faction led byRoscoe Conkling,John A. Logan, andSimon Cameron, which advocated the nomination of former presidentUlysses S. Grant for a third, non-consecutive presidential term. The irreconcilable bitterness between Conkling and Blaine fueled hostility between the two groups. Hale and Frye were described as "too amateurish and provincial" tosufficiently counterattacks by Conkling[clarify].[3] The Blaine faction later formed an alliance with the "Half-Breed" faction to thwart the Stalwarts and nominateOhiodark horse candidateJames A. Garfield, who won the general election against Democratic opponentWinfield Scott Hancock.
In 1881, Hamlin resigned from the United States Senate. Hale, who left Congress following defeat at the hands of theGreenback Party previously in 1878,[4] competed with Frye for the open seat.[5] Due to Frye then having still retained his House seat in contrast to Hale not being office at the time, the latter was given the Senate post.[6] Frye later succeeded Blaine to serve in the Senate, and the two became colleagues in the upper chamber.
Hale received an LL.D. fromBates College in 1882. In 1883, Hale joinedHannibal E. Hamlin, the son of the former vice president, and started the small law firm Hale & Hamlin in Ellsworth, Maine, which is now recognized as Maine's oldest law firm.[7]
During the late 1890s, Hale and SenatorGeorge F. Hoar of Massachusetts were the most vocal opponents of American intervention into the ongoing insurrection in Cuba. Hale disdained expansionism andjingoism and often challenged claims made by senators on Cuban military victories and Spanish atrocities. He so frequently engaged in verbal jousts with Cuban sympathizers in the Senate that they unfairly accused him of parroting Spanish propaganda and called him "The Senator from Spain."
Senator Hale retired from politics in 1911 and spent the remainder of his life inEllsworth, Maine, and inWashington, D.C., where he died. He is buried in Woodbine Cemetery,Ellsworth, Maine.
Two ships were namedUSSHale for him. He was the father ofFrederick Hale, also a U.S. senator from Maine, and of diplomatChandler Hale.
Gertrude Atherton's novelSenator North (1900) was based on Eugene Hale.[8]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
Media related toEugene Hale at Wikimedia Commons| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMaine's 5th congressional district March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1879 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Maine March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1911 Served alongside:William P. Frye | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Dean of the United States Senate August 4, 1908 – March 3, 1911 | Succeeded by |
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Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Appropriations | ||
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