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Leverett Saltonstall | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Saltonstall in 1934 | |
| Chair of the Senate Republican Conference | |
| In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Leader | Kenneth S. Wherry Styles Bridges Robert A. Taft William F. Knowland |
| Deputy | Milton Young |
| Preceded by | Eugene Millikin |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Chase Smith |
| Senate Minority Whip | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957 | |
| Leader | William F. Knowland |
| Preceded by | Earle Clements |
| Succeeded by | Everett Dirksen |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953 | |
| Leader | Kenneth S. Wherry Styles Bridges |
| Preceded by | Scott W. Lucas |
| Succeeded by | Earle C. Clements |
| Senate Majority Whip | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955 | |
| Leader | Robert A. Taft William F. Knowland |
| Preceded by | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Earle C. Clements |
| United States Senator fromMassachusetts | |
| In office January 4, 1945 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Sinclair Weeks |
| Succeeded by | Edward Brooke |
| Chair of theNational Governors Association | |
| In office June 20, 1943 – May 28, 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert O'Conor |
| Succeeded by | Herbert B. Maw |
| 55thGovernor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 5, 1939 – January 4, 1945[1] | |
| Lieutenant | Horace T. Cahill |
| Preceded by | Charles F. Hurley |
| Succeeded by | Maurice J. Tobin |
| Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office January 1929 – January 1937 | |
| Preceded by | John Hull |
| Succeeded by | Horace T. Cahill |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1892-09-01)September 1, 1892 |
| Died | June 17, 1979(1979-06-17) (aged 86) Dover, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Harvard University (BA,LLB) |
| Nickname | Salty |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1919 |
| Rank |  First Lieutenant |
| Unit | 301st Field Artillery |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Leverett Atholville Saltonstall (September 1, 1892 – June 17, 1979) was an American lawyer and politician fromMassachusetts. He served three two-year terms as the55th Governor of Massachusetts, and for more than twenty years as aUnited States senator (1945–1967). Saltonstall was internationalist in foreign policy and moderate on domestic policy, serving as a well-liked mediating force in theRepublican Party. He was the only member of the Republican Senate leadership to vote for thecensure ofJoseph McCarthy.
Leverett Saltonstall was born on September 1, 1892 inChestnut Hill, Massachusetts to Richard Middlecott Saltonstall, an attorney, and Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall, an heiress to thePeter Chardon Brooks fortune.[2] Saltenstall's parent had a circle of friends which included future PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[3]
TheSaltonstall family had deep colonial roots, as did the Brooks family of his mother.[4] Saltonstall was able to trace his ancestral roots to theMayflower; hisgrandfather andgreat-grandfather were both also named Leverett Saltonstall.
Saltonstall was educated at the privateNoble and Greenough School inDedham and theEvans School for Boys inMesa,Arizona, an upper-crustranch school where his classmates includedNicholas Roosevelt.[5]
He attendedHarvard College, graduating in 1914. He was active invarsity sports at Harvard, notably captaining the first American crew to win theGrand Challenge Cup at theHenley Royal Regatta in 1914.[6] He also playedfootball andhockey, scoring a dramaticovertimegoal in a 1914 win overHobey Baker'sPrinceton team.[7][8] He coached Harvard's freshman football team in 1915.[9]
He graduated fromHarvard Law School in 1917.[4] While at Harvard Law, he married Alice Wesselhoeft ofJaffrey, New Hampshire. They had six children.
After graduation, Saltonstall entered theUnited States Army.[4] He served as a first lieutenant in the 301st Field Artillery Regiment in the76th Division inWorld War I, spending six months inFrance. He was discharged in 1919,[10] and then entered the law firm of his uncle.[4]
Saltonstall, a socially progressiveRepublican, entered politics as analderman inNewton, Massachusetts, serving from 1920 to 1922, while simultaneously serving as second assistant district attorney ofMiddlesex County under his uncle,Endicott Peabody Saltonstall, from 1921 to 1922. He was elected to theMassachusetts House of Representatives that same year; there he rose to the position ofSpeaker of the House, which he held from 1929 to 1937.[4]
In 1930 Saltonstall became a compatriot of the Massachusetts Society of theSons of the American Revolution.
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In 1936, Saltonstall decided to seek the Republican nomination forGovernor of Massachusetts. In the party convention, conservative forces prevailed in securing the nomination forJohn W. Haigis. Saltonstall's friends were able to engineer his nomination forlieutenant governor. Both Haigis and Saltonstall were defeated by their Democratic rivals, although Saltonstall's margin of defeat, just over 7,000 votes, was small enough to merit a recount; he demurred. He ran again for governor two years later, and won a decisive victory over former Boston MayorJames Michael Curley, who had been involved in a bruising Democratic primary fight against the incumbentCharles F. Hurley.
He was reelected in 1940 and 1942; the 1940 election win was by an extremely narrow margin. During his tenure, Saltonstall mediated aTeamstersstrike, reduced taxes, and retired 90 percent of the state's debt. He served as president of theNational Governors Association from 1943 to 1944. In 1944, he also served as the fifth president of theCouncil of State Governments.
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In 1944, Saltonstall was elected to theUnited States Senate in aspecial election to fill the unexpired term created by the resignation of U.S. SenatorHenry Cabot Lodge Jr. He was re-elected three times, serving from 1945 to 1967. Early in his first term, in April 1945 he was one of a dozen Senators and Congressmen who toured theBuchenwald Concentration Camp at the invitation of Gen.Dwight Eisenhower to attest to the reality of Nazi atrocities. Those he defeated includedJohn H. Corcoran in 1944,John I. Fitzgerald in 1948,Foster Furcolo in 1954, andThomas J. O'Connor in 1960. During histenure in the Senate, he served as the Senate Republican Whip and on five influential Senate committees. He also served as the chair of theSenate Republican Conference, 1957–1967. He was viewed as a political moderate, and served as a mediating force between the party's conservative and progressive wings. He was an unspectacular but effective legislator, good at drafting legislation and finding compromise language. When he left office, after more than thirty years in politics, he had few political enemies.[11] Saltonstall voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[12][13]1960,[14] and1964,[15] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[16][17][18] Saltonstall was one of thirteen Republican senators to vote in favor of the creation of Medicare. As a senator, Saltonstall was described byThe Washington Post as neither liberal or conservative, but as being on the side of common sense.[19][20]
In 1916, Saltonstall married Alice Wesselhoeft (1893–1981) ofJaffrey, New Hampshire. Together they had six children,[4] including:
Saltonstall opted not to run for reelection in 1966, in part to provide an opportunity for his seat toEdward Brooke, a rising star in Massachusetts Republican circles. He retired to his farm inDover, where he spent his remaining years as agentleman farmer.[11]
Leverett Saltonstall died ofcongestive heart failure in 1979 aged 86, and is buried inHarmony Grove Cemetery inSalem, Massachusetts. TheSaltonstall Building in downtownBoston is named for him.
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Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
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| People | |
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