James W. Wadsworth Jr.
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1951
Preceded by	Archie D. Sanders
Succeeded by	Harold C. Ostertag
Constituency	39th district (1933–1945) 41st district (1945–1951)
Senate Minority Whip
In office December 6, 1915 – December 13, 1915
Leader	Jacob H. Gallinger
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Charles Curtis
United States Senator fromNew York
In office March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1927
Preceded by	Elihu Root
Succeeded by	Robert F. Wagner
Speaker of the New York Assembly
In office January 1906 – December 31, 1910
Preceded by	S. Frederick Nixon
Succeeded by	Daniel D. Frisbie
Member of theNew York State Assembly from theLivingston County district
In office January 1, 1905 – December 31, 1910
Preceded by	William Robinson
Succeeded by	John Winters
Personal details
Born	James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. (1877-08-12)August 12, 1877 Geneseo, New York, U.S.
Died	June 21, 1952(1952-06-21) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Parent	James Wolcott Wadsworth (father)
Relatives	James S. Wadsworth (grandfather) Cornelia Adair (aunt) John George Adair (uncle) John Hay (father-in-law)
Education	Yale University (BA)
Signature

James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. (August 12, 1877 – June 21, 1952) was an American politician, aRepublican fromNew York. He was the son ofNew York State ComptrollerJames Wolcott Wadsworth, and the grandson ofUnion GeneralJames S. Wadsworth.^[1]

Wadsworth was born inGeneseo, New York on August 12, 1877. He was the son ofNew York State ComptrollerJames Wolcott Wadsworth (1846–1926) and Louisa (née Travers) Wadsworth (1848–1931).^[2]

His paternal grandparents wereUnion GeneralJames S. Wadsworth^[1] and Mary Craig (née Wharton) Wadsworth (1814–1874). His grandfather built a 13,000 square-foot house in Geneseo in 1835.^[3]

Wadsworth attendedSt. Mark's School, then graduated fromYale inNew Haven, Connecticut in 1898, where he was a member ofSkull and Bones.^[4]: 35

After Yale, he served as a private in the Volunteer Army in thePuerto Rican Campaign during theSpanish–American War. Upon leaving the Army, he entered the livestock and farming business, first in New York and thenTexas.

He became active early in Republican politics. He was a member of theNew York State Assembly (Livingston Co.) in1905,1906,1907,1908,1909 and1910; and wasSpeaker from 1906 to 1910.

In1912, he ran forLieutenant Governor of New York on the Republican ticket with Job. E. Hedges, but was defeated. In1914, at the first popular election for the U.S. Senate (until 1911, the U.S. senators had been elected by theNew York State Legislature), Wadsworth defeated DemocratJames W. Gerard (the incumbentUnited States Ambassador to Germany) and ProgressiveBainbridge Colby. Wadsworth was theSenate Minority Whip in 1915 because the Democrats held the majority of Senate seats. He was re-elected in1920 but defeated by DemocratRobert F. Wagner in1926. In 1921, Wadsworth was considered for the post ofSecretary of War by PresidentWarren G. Harding but was ultimately passed over in favor ofJohn W. Weeks.

Wadsworth was a proponent of individual rights and feared what he considered the threat of federal intervention into the private lives of Americans. He believed that the only purpose of theUnited States Constitution is to limit the powers of government and to protect the rights of citizens. For this reason, he voted against theEighteenth Amendment when it was before the Senate. BeforeProhibition went into effect, Wadsworth predicted that there would be widespread violations and contempt for the law.^[5]

By the mid-1920s, Wadsworth was one of a handful of congressmen who spoke out forcefully and frequently against prohibition. He was especially concerned that citizens could be prosecuted by both state and federal officials for a single violation of prohibition law. This seemed to him to constitutedouble jeopardy, inconsistent with the spirit if not the letter of theFifth Amendment.

In 1926, he joined the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment and made 131 speeches across the country for the organization between then and repeal. His political acumen and contacts proved valuable in overturning prohibition.

He served in theU.S. House from 1933 to 1951, and, likeAlton Lennon,Garrett Withers,Claude Pepper,Hugh Mitchell,Matthew M. Neely, andMagnus Johnson, is one of the few modern Senators to serve later in the House of Representatives. In the House of Representatives, he opposed theisolationism of many of his conservative Republican colleagues, opposed anti-lynching legislation onstate's rights grounds, rejectedminimum wage laws and most of FDR's domestic policy. Although Wadsworth never ran for president, his name was mentioned as a possible candidate in 1936 and 1944.

Winifred Stanley, a representative fromBuffalo, New York, was kept off theU.S. House Committee on the Judiciary by Wadsworth Jr. who was in charge of assignments. Stanley made clear that she wanted to maintain in "peacetime the drive and energy which women have contributed to the war."^[6] Thus in 1944, Stanley had introduced a bill for theNational Labor Relations Board to bar discrimination in pay on the basis of sex. The bill died in committee. Wadsworth's reason was his opposition to women in the workplace, according to a House of Representatives history of women in Congress.^[7][8]

A confidential 1943 analysis of theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee byIsaiah Berlin for the BritishForeign Office described Wadsworth as^[9]

A newcomer to the committee; in the House since 1933. A highly respected and well-liked Congressman, who has voted in support of nearly all the President's foreign policy measures. One of the most forceful and independent-minded men in Congress and a highly skilled parliamentarian. While not favoring any "World New Deal", he is apparently in favor of American co-operation with the rest of the world and United States definite commitments to establish a secure peace but disagrees with any attempt by the United States to interfere with other nations' internal politics or forms of government. A very effective supporter of the Administration's foreign policies, who did yeoman service by his speeches and active lobbying during the recent Lend-Lease debate. Was in the Senate from 1915 to 1927. A wealthy Episcopalian squire, sympathetic to Moral Re-Armament. Age 66. An internationalist.

He was a hereditary companion ofMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and was also a member of theUnited Spanish War Veterans.

Wadsworth was married to Alice Evelyn Hay (1880–1960). She was the daughter of formerUnited States Secretary of StateJohn Hay under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. Through her sisterHelen Hay Whitney, she was the aunt ofJohn Hay Whitney, theUnited States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.^[10] Alice, who opposedwomen's suffrage, served as president of theNational Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, which Wadsworth also opposed. Together, they were the parents of:

• Evelyn Wadsworth (1903–1972),^[10] who marriedStuart Symington (1901–1988) in 1924.^[11] Symington was the firstUnited States Secretary of the Air Force and a Democratic U.S. Senator fromMissouri, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960.
• James Jeremiah Wadsworth (1905–1984), who served asUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations.^[12]
• Reverdy J. Wadsworth (1914–1970),^[13] who married Eleanor Katherine Roosevelt (1915–1995), the daughter ofHenry L. Roosevelt, theAssistant Secretary of the Navy.^[14]

Wadsworth died on June 21, 1952, in Washington, D.C. He was buried in Temple Hill Cemetery in Geneseo.^[1]

Through his daughter Evelyn, he was the grandfather ofJames W. Symington (b. 1927), who served in theUnited States House of Representatives from Missouri as a Democrat, from 1969 to 1977.^[2]

Through his son James, he was the grandfather of Alice Wadsworth (1928–1998) who was married to Trowbridge Strong (1925–2001) in 1948 at the home of Wadsworth's grandfather, General James Wadsworth.^[3]

• List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s. December 28, 1925.

• United States Congress."James W. Wadsworth Jr. (id: W000012)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Media related toJames Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr. at Wikimedia Commons

• 1877 births
• 1952 deaths
• 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 20th-century United States senators
• American Episcopalians
• Candidates in the 1932 United States presidential election
• Members of Skull and Bones
• Military personnel from New York (state)
• People from Geneseo, New York
• People from the Texas Panhandle
• Ranchers from Texas
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)
• Republican Party United States senators from New York (state)
• Speakers of the New York State Assembly
• St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni
• Wadsworth family
• Yale University alumni

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