Charles William Tobey
Tobey in 1953
62nd Governor of New Hampshire
In office January 3, 1929 – January 1, 1931
Preceded by	Huntley N. Spaulding
Succeeded by	John G. Winant
United States Senator from New Hampshire
In office January 3, 1939 – July 24, 1953
Preceded by	Fred H. Brown
Succeeded by	Robert W. Upton
Member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's2nd district
In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939
Preceded by	Edward H. Wason
Succeeded by	Foster W. Stearns
Member of theNew Hampshire House of Representatives
Personal details
Born	(1880-07-22)July 22, 1880 Roxbury, Massachusetts
Died	July 24, 1953(1953-07-24) (aged 73) Bethesda, Maryland
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Francelia Lovett (desc.) Loretta Capell Rabenhorst (desc.) Lillian Crompton

Charles William Tobey (July 22, 1880 – July 24, 1953) was an American politician, who was the 62ndgovernor of New Hampshire from 1929 to 1931, and aUnited States senator.

He was born inRoxbury, Massachusetts, the son of William Tobey, an accountant, and Ellen Hall Parker Tobey. His father had moved to Massachusetts fromMaine in the 1860s. Charles Tobey had relatively little formal education. He attended theRoxbury Latin School for four years (being part of the Class of 1897), but was forced to withdraw before graduation because of family financial difficulties. He had a thorough knowledge of theBible, however, which he gained from his mother, an ardentBaptist. As a result, Tobey's speeches were always marked by a generous sprinkling of biblical quotations and classical allusions.

On June 4, 1902, Tobey married Francelia Lovett. A year later they began to spend summers inTemple, New Hampshire, on an old farm that they had purchased.

For several years Tobey commuted during the summers to Boston, where he worked as a clerk for various insurance and banking firms. In 1911, however, he decided to move to Temple and become a full-time farmer. He was a good poultryman and considered himself a farmer for the remainder of his life, although in 1916 he moved toManchester, New Hampshire, to resume a career as a bond salesman. His four children were born in Temple, which Tobey always maintained as his legal residence.

Tobey served on the Temple school board and the board of selectmen. In 1914 he was elected to thestate legislature as a candidate of theProgressive Party. He was a friend and disciple of the progressive RepublicanRobert P. Bass, a former governor. New Hampshire progressivism was characterized by an effort to democratize the processes and make equitable the administration of government and to challenge powerful economic interests such as theBoston and Maine Railroad. Tobey's hard-working manner, wit, and commonsense intelligence led to his political success. He served three non-consecutive terms in theNew Hampshire House of Representatives and was speaker in 1919–1920, winning an important victory over the old-guard candidate. Tobey had returned to theRepublican Party after the 1914 election.

Tobey's experience in the bonding business as well as his general reputation and political contacts led to his selection as New HampshireLiberty Loan chairman duringWorld War I. Later, as a member of the New Hampshire Food Administration, he came to knowHerbert Hoover, who, together with Bass andCharles Evans Hughes, greatly influenced Tobey's political beliefs.

In 1924 Tobey was elected to theNew Hampshire Senate, and he served as president of that body during the administration of progressive governorJohn Gilbert Winant. In 1928, despite opposition in the primary from the old guard, led by George Moses, Tobey won the governorship. During the first two years of theGreat Depression, he retained a progressive approach to government operation and continued the state road-building program. But Tobey resembled President Hoover in his budget-tightening approach to economic disaster.

Tobey did not run for re-election in 1930, in part because of personal financial problems. In 1932, however, he won a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives and was re-elected in 1934 and 1936. Tobey supported earlyNew Deal relief measures, but became an increasingly outspoken foe ofFranklin D. Roosevelt. He opposed efforts to restructure the economy, and he expressed great concern over the growth of executive power. In 1938 he joinedStyles Bridges, another Bass protégé and the manager of Tobey's 1928 gubernatorial victory, in theUnited States Senate.

Tobey joined with theisolationist bloc in the Senate in opposition to the Roosevelt administration's policies on neutrality and preparedness. He blamed producers of war materials forAmerican entry into World War I. He allied himself withGerald Nye,Charles Lindbergh, and theAmerica First Committee, and his statements occasionally contained elements ofanti-Semitism. Bass and other internationalists among his old allies broke with Tobey on this issue, and the junior senator was further isolated when Styles Bridges became the champion of preparedness.

After theattack on Pearl Harbor, Tobey supported the war, but his enthusiasm was limited. However, political as well as philosophical considerations led him to a more internationalist position by 1944. Facing an election challenge from the Bass wing of the party as well as from the followers of Bridges andFrank Knox, Tobey sought and received an appointment as delegate to theUnited Nations Monetary and Financial Conference atBretton Woods, New Hampshire; he also defended theInternational Monetary Fund, but he still rejected the "one-worlders," as he described theWendell Willkie wing of his party. In the days immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Tobey was criticized by other senators for revealing classified details of the extent of the damage done to the Navy; Tobey argued that the people had the right to know the truth.

In 1948, Tobey called for the establishment of aJewish state inPalestine.^[1]

Tobey joined withWayne Morse andGeorge Aiken in opposingRobert A. Taft's leadership of the Senate Republicans and supporting PresidentHarry S. Truman on several important votes during the80th Congress. The illness and death of his wife in 1947 restricted his role in theMarshall Plan debate, but by then he had clearly become an advocate of interdependence. On May 26, 1948, Tobey married Loretta Capell Rabenhorst. After his second wife's death, he married Lillian Crompton in 1952.

The same year Tobey supported the presidential election ofDwight D. Eisenhower. An early opponent of SenatorJoseph McCarthy, Tobey was re-elected despite a Bridges-led challenge that accused him of being soft onCommunism. Further national recognition came to him through his role in the nationally televised hearings on organized crime, theKefauver hearings. Tobey was at the peak of his career when he died suddenly inBethesda, Maryland from a coronarythrombosis at theBethesda Naval Hospital. He is buried at the Miller Cemetery in Temple, New Hampshire.

Tobey's politics were variously described as liberal, conservative, and progressive. None of these terms is quite adequate. A quiet, non-aggressive nationalism and an unwavering belief in the dignity of the individual capped his values. But his views altered with changing contexts, new definitions of governmental responsibility, and new understanding of the international role of the United States. He was not always on the side of the majority. ANew York Times obituary noted that his "independence and sharp tongue made him one of the more colorful figures in American public life."

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99)

• "Charles William Tobey".Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 5: 1951–1955. American Council of Learned Societies, 1977.

• Congressional Biographical Directory entry
• Tobey at New Hampshire's Division of Historic Resources
• Charles W. Tobey atFind a Grave
• The Papers of Charles W. Tobey at Dartmouth College Library

• 1880 births
• 1953 deaths
• American Christian Zionists
• Republican Party governors of New Hampshire
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire
• New Hampshire Progressives (1912)
• Deaths from coronary thrombosis
• Republican Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
• Presidents of the New Hampshire Senate
• Republican Party New Hampshire state senators
• Republican Party United States senators from New Hampshire
• Roxbury Latin School alumni
• People from Temple, New Hampshire
• 20th-century United States senators
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives
• 20th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata