James M. Beck | |
|---|---|
 1922Autochrome byAuguste Léon | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania | |
| In office November 8, 1927 – September 30, 1934 | |
| Preceded by | James M. Hazlett |
| Succeeded by | William H. Wilson |
| Constituency | 1st district(1927–1933) 2nd district(1933–1934) |
| 17thUnited States Solicitor General | |
| In office June 1, 1921 – May 11, 1925[1] | |
| President | Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge |
| Preceded by | William L. Frierson |
| Succeeded by | William D. Mitchell |
| 9thUnited States Assistant Attorney General | |
| In office 1900–1903 | |
| President | William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | James Edmund Boyd |
| Succeeded by | James Clark McReynolds |
| Personal details | |
| Born | James Montgomery Beck (1861-07-09)July 9, 1861 |
| Died | April 12, 1936(1936-04-12) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic (before 1900) |
| Alma mater | Moravian College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
James Montgomery Beck (July 9, 1861 – April 12, 1936) was an American lawyer, politician, and author fromPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania. He was a member of theRepublican Party, who served asU.S. Solicitor General andU.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.
Beck was born July 9, 1861, inPhiladelphia, the son of Margaretta C. (née Darling) and James Nathan Beck.[2] In 1880, he graduated fromMoravian College inBethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was employed as clerk for a railway company in 1880 and studied law at night, was admitted to the bar in 1884 and commenced practice in Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar of New York City in 1903, and to the bar of England in 1922.
Beck served as assistantUnited States Attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892 and as United States attorney inPhiladelphia from 1896 to 1900. In 1898, he ran forDistrict Attorney of Philadelphia, but lost toP. Frederick Rothermel. Switching from aPro-Cleveland Democrat to a Republican in 1900, he was appointed by PresidentWilliam McKinley asAssistant Attorney General of the U.S. at theU.S. Department of Justice in the same year, where he served until his resignation in 1903. He then returned to the full-time practice of law, joining the firm ofShearman & Sterling in New York City. In 1917, he left that firm to become senior partner in Beck, Crawford & Harris, and retired from active practice in 1927 to run for Congress from Philadelphia.[3]
At the outbreak of World War I, he took a strong stand against theGerman Empire in extensive writings and addresses.[4]He was elected a bencher ofGray's Inn in 1914, the first foreigner in 600 years to receive that distinction. He also received decorations from France and Belgium and authored several books and articles on World War I and on theConstitution of the United States. Among his books areThe Evidence in the Case (1914) andWar and Humanity (1916).[4]
Beck was an elected member of theAmerican Philosophical Society (1926).[5]
He was appointed by PresidentWarren G. Harding asSolicitor General of the United States in 1921 and served until his voluntary resignation in 1925, when he again resumed the practice of law. During his term as solicitor general, he had charge of more than 800 cases before theU.S. Supreme Court. He personally and successfully argued more than 100 of these cases, includingOzawa v. United States.
Hisconservative views are reflected in his 1924 bookThe Constitution of the United States, which was a best-seller and went through seven printings in ten months. A special edition of 10,000 copies, with a foreword written by President-electCalvin Coolidge, was distributed to schools and libraries across the country.
After resigning as solicitor general, Beck became involved in the legal fight ofWilliam S. Vare, who was elected to theU.S. Senate but denied a seat because of irregularities in the election. In response, Beck wroteThe Vanishing Rights of States in which he argued that the U.S. Constitution did not permit the U.S. Senate to exclude a member chosen through an election. The debate that followed the book's publishing, raising Beck's public profile and making him a prominent option to fill theU.S. House seat vacated by the resignation ofJames M. Hazlett.
Beck was elected to the Seventieth Congress, was reelected to the Seventy-first, Seventy-second, and Seventy-third Congresses and served from November 8, 1927, until his resignation on September 30, 1934.
He was active in the movement to repeal theEighteenth Amendment, which he said had no place in the constitution. He also fended off legal questions about his official residence and thus eligibility to represent Philadelphia.
Beck resigned his seat in the House of Representatives over strong objections to PresidentFranklin Roosevelt'sNew Deal. In a statement released at the time of his resignation, he stated thatCongress had become "merely a rubber stamp for the Executive."
He joined the lawsuit against the New Deal-createdTennessee Valley Authority and argued the case in the Supreme Court in December 1935, declaring the organization unconstitutional andsocialistic. In the final weeks before his death, he served as counsel in the case of an oil stock dealer accused of violating theSecurities Act of 1933.
Beck was married to Lilla Lawrence Mitchell (1861–1956), the daughter of James and Emeline Lawrence Mitchell ofPhiladelphia and later ofBaltimore. They had two children together:[6]
Beck died April 12, 1936, in Washington, D.C., at age 74, and is buried atRock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[12] Beck's widow, Lilla Lawrence Mitchell, died over 20 years later, on August 1, 1956.[6]
"The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the rise of the American Nation State" LISA McGIRR; New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2016 (pp. 174–175)
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Cover ofTime Magazine 5 May 1923 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 1st congressional district 1927–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 2nd congressional district 1933–1934 | Succeeded by |
