Frederick Hale | |
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| United States Senator fromMaine | |
| In office March 4, 1917 – January 3, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Owen Brewster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frederick Hale (1874-10-07)October 7, 1874 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | September 28, 1963(1963-09-28) (aged 88) Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Parent | Eugene Hale |
| Relatives | Chandler Hale (Brother) Zachariah Chandler (Grandfather) Robert Hale (Cousin) |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Columbia University |
Frederick Hale (October 7, 1874 – September 28, 1963) was theUnited States senator from Maine from 1917 to 1941. He was the son ofEugene Hale and the grandson ofZachariah Chandler, both also U.S. senators. He was the brother of diplomatChandler Hale, and the cousin of U.S. RepresentativeRobert Hale.
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Hale was born on October 7, 1874, inDetroit, Michigan, toEugene Hale. He attended theLawrenceville School, and graduated fromGroton School in 1892. He graduated fromHarvard University in 1896 and attendedColumbia Law School inNew York City from 1896 to 1897. He wasadmitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law inPortland, Maine, in 1899.
Hale was aRepublican member of theMaine House of Representatives, 1905–1906; and a member of theRepublican National Committee, 1912-1918. In 1916, he was elected as a Republican to theUnited States Senate, defeating incumbent DemocratCharles Fletcher Johnson to reclaim the Senate seat that had been held by his father Eugene Hale.
He was reelected in 1922, 1928, and again in 1934, serving from March 4, 1917, to January 3, 1941.
Hale opposed[1] and voted against[2] theSedition Act of 1918 during the presidency ofWoodrow Wilson. He also opposed United States entry to theLeague of Nations.[3]
During thepresidency of Calvin Coolidge, a proposal was made by fellow Republican senatorReed Smoot ofUtah to reduce the top income tax rate to 32%.[4] Although the majority of the GOP, including Hale, supported the measure, it was defeated in a 36–47 vote.[5] Hale also voted against an amendment introduced by Furnifold Simmons[4] to raise the maximum income tax rate by 2.5%.[6]
In the 1928 Republican primary, Hale defeated incumbent governorOwen Brewster for their party's nomination which signaled the end of theKu Klux Klan in Maine as an important political factor in the state.
He was not a candidate for renomination in 1940. He served as chairman,Committee on Canadian Relations in theSixty-sixth Congress, and served on theCommittee on Naval Affairs in theSixty-eighth throughSeventy-second Congresses, and theCommittee on Appropriations in theSeventy-second Congress.
A fierce opponent of the Ku Klux Klan faction of the Republican Party in Maine, Hale was one of a handful of senators who voted against the elevation ofHugo Black to the Supreme Court in 1937 based on his alleged Klan membership.[7][8]
Hale opposed the presidency ofFranklin D. Roosevelt and itsNew Deal programs.[3] at an even greater frequency than his Maine senatorial colleagueWallace H. White.[9] This included his vote against theNational Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), which White supported.[10]
He retired to private life and died in Portland, Maine, on September 28, 1963. He is interred inWoodbine Cemetery inEllsworth, Maine. At the time of his death, Hale was the last living senator who was serving at the time of the United States' declaration of war against the German Empire, which precipitated the United States' participation in World War I.
In May 1910, Hale attackedCharles Thornton Libby with a whip following an article about Hale's mother that was published in theSix Towns Times, of which Libby was the editor. Hale had entered Libby's office in Portland, holding a copy of the newspaper, and asked, "Are you responsible for this?" Libby looked at it and replied in the affirmative. Hale pulled a whip out from under his coat and struck Libby several times, saying, "Take that, you cur." Hale then threw the whip on the office floor and struck Libby. "This is what I do to anyone who insults my mother." After Hale left, Libby said: "I like him better than I did before. It was a manly thing to do. A man who wouldn't stand up for his mother don't amount to much."[11]
Media related toFrederick Hale (U.S. senator) at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
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| First | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator from Maine (Class 1) 1916,1922,1928,1934 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference 1927–1941 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Maine 1917–1941 Served alongside:Bert Fernald,Arthur Gould,Wallace White | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Canadian Relations Committee 1919–1921 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Naval Affairs Committee 1923–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Appropriations Committee 1932–1933 | Succeeded by |
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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) | ||
Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Appropriations | ||
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