William S. Kenyon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kenyon, 1909–1920 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | |
| In office January 31, 1922 – September 9, 1933 | |
| Appointed by | Warren G. Harding |
| Preceded by | Walter I. Smith |
| Succeeded by | Charles Breckenridge Faris |
| United States Senator fromIowa | |
| In office April 12, 1911 – February 24, 1922 | |
| Preceded by | Lafayette Young |
| Succeeded by | Charles A. Rawson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Squire Kenyon (1869-06-10)June 10, 1869 Elyria, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | September 9, 1933(1933-09-09) (aged 64) Sebasco Estates, Maine, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oakland Cemetery Fort Dodge, Iowa |
| Party | Republican |
| Education | Grinnell College University of Iowa read law |
| Signature |  |
William Squire Kenyon (June 10, 1869 – September 9, 1933) was aUnited States senator fromIowa, and aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Born on June 10, 1869, inElyria,Lorain County,Ohio,[1] Kenyon attendedGrinnell College and theUniversity of Iowa, thenread law in 1891.[1] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice inFort Dodge,Iowa, from 1891 to 1911.[1] He was prosecutor forWebster County, Iowa from 1892 to 1896.[1] He returned to private practice in Webster County from 1897 to 1900, and from 1902 to 1904.[1] He was a Judge of theIowa District Court for the Eleventh Judicial District from 1900 to 1902,[1] before leaving to accept a position with his father-in-law, J. F. Duncombe, who was Iowa counsel for theIllinois Central Railroad.[2] Kenyon succeeded his father-in-law as the railroad's Iowa counsel upon Duncombe's death in 1904.[2] In 1908, Kenyon was promoted and served as the railroad's general counsel for all lines north of theOhio River.[2] He was an assistant to theAttorney General of the United States from 1910 to 1911.[1]
Kenyon, relatively unknown in political circles,[3] announced his candidacy for election to theUnited States Senate by the 1911Iowa General Assembly. Considered "a conservative with progressive proclivities,"[3] he sought to wrest the seat away from fellow RepublicanLafayette Young, who had been appointed by the governor upon the death ofJonathan P. Dolliver. On April 12, 1911, Kenyon was elected on the 67th ballot after a session-long stalemate, in which Young was his principal Republican adversary until the 23rd ballot.[2] Kenyon was re-elected to the Senate in January 1913 (by legislative ballot)[4] and November 1918 (by direct popular election, following ratification of theSeventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution), defeating DemocratCharles Rollin Keyes, a noted geologist.
In April 1917, Kenyon received a letter fromIowa Attorney GeneralHorace Havner concerning the 1912Villisca axe murders.In the Senate, Kenyon was considered a leading progressive and co-sponsored theClayton Antitrust Act, theFederal Trade Commission Act, and theChild Labor Act.[5] In 1921, he formed the bipartisan "farm bloc" in the Senate, which led to the enactment of several farm-related bills, such as thePackers and Stockyards Act, regulation of grain futures and futures trading in grain, and theFordney–McCumber Tariff.[5] A supporter ofProhibition, he co-authored theWebb–Kenyon Act, which was intended to bolster the ability of states to enforce their own prohibition laws (prior to the adoption of theVolstead Act).
On the eve of the United States' entry intoWorld War I, Kenyon was one of a group of twelve senators who blocked PresidentWoodrow Wilson's armed neutrality bill, which would have given Wilson the power to arm American vessels.[6] However, after Wilson asked Congress to declare war one month later, Kenyon voted in favor of the declaration.[7] Following theArmistice, when Wilson pressed the Senate to support the United States' membership in theLeague of Nations, Kenyon became a member of the moderate faction known as the "mild reservationists," who allowed for the possibility of membership so long as the treaty were amended to address a specified list of reservations held by those senators and pursued compromise solutions.[8] However, when Wilson refused to compromise, Kenyon continued to oppose United States membership.[9]
Kenyon served as Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State in theSixty-second Congress, Chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department (also in the Sixty-second Congress), Chairman of the Committee on Standards, Weights and Measures (in theSixty-fifth Congress), Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor (in theSixty-sixth Congress andSixty-seventh Congress), and Chairman of the Committee on the Philippines (in the Sixty-sixth Congress).[10] Kenyon resigned from the Senate on February 24, 1922, to accept a federal judgeship.[11]
Kenyon was nominated by PresidentWarren G. Harding on January 31, 1922, to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by JudgeWalter I. Smith.[1] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on January 31, 1922, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on September 9, 1933, due to his death.[1]
In 1926, Kenyon wrote the Eighth Circuit's ruling in the principal civil suit arising from theTeapot Dome scandal. Reversing a federal district court inWyoming, the appellate court panel ordered the lower court to cancel the Mammoth Oil Co.'s leases, demand an accounting of the oil which had been taken from Teapot Dome, and the company was enjoined from trespassing further on United States Government property.[12]
While a sitting federal judge, Kenyon was the subject of numerous offers of appointive and elective office. In January 1923, before the death of President Harding, newspapers speculated that Judge Kenyon would be Harding's leading opponent in the 1924 presidential race.[13] At the 1924 Republican National Convention, he was touted as a potential vice-presidential candidate withCalvin Coolidge, and he received 172 votes on the first ballot.[5] Even though President Coolidge indicated that Kenyon would be acceptable to him, the Convention instead selectedCharles Dawes, who did not get along with Coolidge and many others. Coolidge offered Kenyon the position ofSecretary of the Navy, but Kenyon declined to accept it.[14] While a judge, he also served as an active member of a blue-ribbon "National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement," better known as the "Wickersham Commission," appointed by PresidentHerbert Hoover to assess the lessons learned fromProhibition, among other things.[15]
In 1930, following the death ofUnited States Supreme Court JusticeEdward Terry Sanford, Kenyon was considered by some as a favorite to succeed him,[16] but President Hoover instead nominatedJohn J. Parker (who failed to win Senate confirmation) and thenOwen Roberts (who was confirmed). In January 1932, when JusticeOliver Wendell Holmes retired, Kenyon's name was again included on short lists of potential successors,[17] but this time Hoover selectedNew York Court of Appeals JudgeBenjamin Cardozo.
On September 9, 1933, at age 64, Kenyon died inSebasco Estates,Maine, where he kept a summer home.[10] He was interred inOakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge.[10]
There are streets inDes Moines, Iowa, and Fort Dodge named after Kenyon.[citation needed]
Kenyon married Mary Duncombe in 1893, one year after beginning service as a prosecutor for Webster County.[2]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| First | Republican nominee forUnited States Senator from Iowa (Class 2) 1918 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference 1913–1915 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 2) from Iowa 1911–1922 Served alongside:Albert B. Cummins | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Senate State Department Expenditures Committee 1911–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Senate War Department Expenditures Committee 1911–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Senate Standards Committee 1917–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theSenate Philippines Committee 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theSenate Education Committee 1919–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 1922–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Education/Education and Labor (1869–1947) | | |
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| Labor and Public Welfare (1947–1977) | ||
| Labor and Human Resources (1977–1999) | ||
| Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (1999–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
