Thomas J. Walsh | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Walsh,c. 1905 | |
| United States Senator fromMontana | |
| In office March 4, 1913 – March 2, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph M. Dixon |
| Succeeded by | John E. Erickson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1859-06-12)June 12, 1859 |
| Died | March 2, 1933(1933-03-02) (aged 73) |
| Resting place | Resurrection Cemetery, Helena, Montana |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | University of Wisconsin Law School |
| Profession | Attorney |
Thomas James Walsh (June 12, 1859 – March 2, 1933) was an American lawyer andDemocratic Party politician fromHelena, Montana who representedMontana in theUS Senate from 1913 to 1933. He was initially elected by the state legislature, and from 1918 on by popular vote, in keeping with the requirements of theSeventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Walsh had a national reputation as a liberal. He died before he could serve President-electFranklin D. Roosevelt, who chose him as his Attorney General.[1]
Walsh was born inTwo Rivers, Wisconsin on June 12, 1859, the son ofIrish Catholic immigrants, Bridget (Comer) and Felix Walsh; his father was an active Democrat and was elected as a member of the localschool board.
Walsh taught school while attending theUniversity of Wisconsin Law School. He graduated in 1884 and wasadmitted to the bar. He moved toRedfield,Dakota Territory to practice law. In August 1889, he married Elinor McClements (1859–1917). They had a daughter, Genevieve, born in 1890.
Moving to the state capital ofHelena, Montana in 1890,[2][3] Walsh established a law practice that specialized in personal injury cases and cases involving water rights and copper mining.[4]
Walsh became a leader in Democratic Party politics in Helena and attended numerous local, county and state conventions as a delegate. He was defeated in a 1906 election for theUnited States House of Representatives and a 1910 race for the U.S. Senate. Walsh was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of1908,1912,1916,1920,1924,1928, and1932. He was the permanent chairman of the 1928 and 1932 conventions.
In 1912, Walsh won a state legislative election for U.S. Senate. He was repeatedly re-elected, and served from 1913 until his death in 1933. He emerged as a spokesman for PresidentWoodrow Wilson in the Senate and supported the graduated income tax, farm loans, andwomen's suffrage.
Walsh managed Wilson's western campaign againstCharles Evans Hughes during the 1916 presidential election, and was credited with helping Wilson win a narrow re-election victory. Unlike many Irish Catholics, who did not want the United States to ally with theUnited Kingdom, Walsh supported Wilson's foreign policy and voted for war againstGermany in 1917. In 1919, he supported Wilson's peace plans and theLeague of Nations.
Walsh ran for re-electionin 1918. In a three-way election that included him, formerState Representative Oscar M. Lanstrum as theRepublican nominee, andUS RepresentativeJeannette Rankin as theNational Party nominee, Walsh narrowly won a second term.
In his re-electionin 1924, he defeated RepublicanFrank Bird Linderman by a solid margin. In1930, Walsh ran for re-election and defeatedAlbert J. Galen in a landslide.
During his tenure in the Senate, Walsh gained fame for his legal ability in the Judiciary Committee and speaking ability on the floor.
In the 1920s, Walsh headed the Senate investigation into theTeapot Dome scandal that involved top officials of the administration of PresidentWarren G. Harding.[5] He was chairman of theDemocratic National Convention in New York in 1924 and in Chicago in 1932. Walsh opposedchild labor and supportedwomen's suffrage and, unlike most other Catholics,Prohibition. On December 18, 1927 Senator Walsh introduced a plan to investigate the country's electric industry.[6] The investigation done by theFederal Trade Commission would continue through 1935 and eventually result in four of the most important laws governing the electric industry in the 20th century including the breakup of most of the large holding companies that formed during the 1920s.[7]
In 1933, Walsh was nominated forAttorney General by incoming PresidentFranklin Roosevelt. In late February, he secretly married wealthy Cuban widow Mina Nieves Perez Chaumont de Truffin in Havana, Cuba. Less than a week later, he died whileen route by train toWashington forRoosevelt's inauguration,[5] allegedly poisoned by his new wife.[8]
His funeral service was held in the Chamber of the United States Senate, and he was interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Helena.[9]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| First | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromMontana (Class 2) 1913,1918,1924,1930 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator from Montana 1913–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
