John W. Bricker
Encyclopedia
John William Bricker was a United States Senator and the 54th Governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he was the Republican
nominee for Vice President
in 1944
.
near Mount Sterling, Ohio
. He attended The Ohio State University
at Columbus
, where he divided his time between the debating team
and the varsity baseball
team. After graduating with a B.A. from Ohio State in 1916 and from its law
department in 1920, he was admitted to the bar
in 1917 and commenced practice in Columbus in 1920.
He was married to the former Harriet Day.
and chaplain
in the United States Army
in 1917 and 1918. He subsequently served as solicitor
for Grandview Heights, Ohio
from 1920 to 1928, Assistant Attorney General
of Ohio from 1923 to 1927, a member of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
from 1929 to 1932 and Attorney General of Ohio from 1933 to 1937.
He was elected Governor of Ohio for three two-year terms, serving from 1939 to 1945, each time winning with a greater margin of victory. Bricker espoused a stance against centralized government, preferring to increase involvement in state and local governments, and made this known in his inaugural address as Governor:
Bricker was the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States
in 1944, sharing the unsuccessful ticket with Presidential
nominee Thomas Dewey
, which lost to Franklin Roosevelt. He was then elected as a Republican
to the United States Senate
in 1946 and re-elected in 1952, serving from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959.
His Senate service is best remembered for his attempts to amend the United States Constitution
to limit the President's treaty
-making powers (the Bricker Amendment
). He was the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce during the 83rd Congress.
On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol police officer fired shots at Bricker as he boarded the underground trolley from the Senate office building to the Capitol. The two shots, fired as close range, narrowly missed Bricker.
In 1958, Stephen Young
ran for the Senate against the incumbent Bricker. Bricker seemed invincible, but Young capitalized on widespread public opposition to the proposed "right to work" amendment to Ohio's constitution, which Bricker had endorsed. Few thought that Young, 70 at the time, could win; even members of his own party had doubts, particularly Ohio's other senator, Democrat Frank J. Lausche
. In an upset, Young defeated Bricker by 52% to 48%, who then retired from public life.
. The firm now has additional offices in Cleveland, Ohio and West Chester, Ohio. The West Chester office serves the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton. "Bricker" is now one of the ten largest firms in the state of Ohio.
After leaving the Senate, John Bricker resumed the practice of law. He died in Columbus at the age of ninety-two and is interred there at Green Lawn Cemetery.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee for Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
in 1944
United States presidential election, 1944
The United States presidential election of 1944 took place while the United States was preoccupied with fighting World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had been in office longer than any other president, but remained popular. Unlike 1940, there was little doubt that Roosevelt would run for...
.
Early life
Bricker was born on a farmFarm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
near Mount Sterling, Ohio
Mount Sterling, Ohio
Mount Sterling is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,865 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. He attended The Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
at Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, where he divided his time between the debating team
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
and the varsity baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team. After graduating with a B.A. from Ohio State in 1916 and from its law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
department in 1920, he was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1917 and commenced practice in Columbus in 1920.
He was married to the former Harriet Day.
Public service
During World War I, Bricker served as first lieutenantFirst Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
and chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1917 and 1918. He subsequently served as solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
for Grandview Heights, Ohio
Grandview Heights, Ohio
Grandview Heights is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,695 at the 2000 census.The city was originally part of Marble Cliff, one of the first suburbs of Columbus, which settled as a community in 1890 and incorporated as the "Hamlet of Marble Cliff" in 1901...
from 1920 to 1928, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
of Ohio from 1923 to 1927, a member of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is an agency of State of Ohio that is charged with the regulation of utility service providers such as those of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications as well as railroad safety and intrastate hazardous materials transport.There are several ways by...
from 1929 to 1932 and Attorney General of Ohio from 1933 to 1937.
He was elected Governor of Ohio for three two-year terms, serving from 1939 to 1945, each time winning with a greater margin of victory. Bricker espoused a stance against centralized government, preferring to increase involvement in state and local governments, and made this known in his inaugural address as Governor:
Bricker was the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
in 1944, sharing the unsuccessful ticket with Presidential
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
nominee Thomas Dewey
Thomas Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey was the 47th Governor of New York . In 1944 and 1948, he was the Republican candidate for President, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican Party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft...
, which lost to Franklin Roosevelt. He was then elected as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1946 and re-elected in 1952, serving from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959.
His Senate service is best remembered for his attempts to amend the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
to limit the President's treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
-making powers (the Bricker Amendment
Bricker Amendment
The Bricker Amendment is the collective name of a series of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution considered by the United States Senate in the 1950s. These amendments would have placed restrictions on the scope and ratification of treaties and executive agreements entered into by...
). He was the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce during the 83rd Congress.
On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol police officer fired shots at Bricker as he boarded the underground trolley from the Senate office building to the Capitol. The two shots, fired as close range, narrowly missed Bricker.
In 1958, Stephen Young
Stephen M. Young
Stephen Marvin Young was an American politician of the Democratic Party from Ohio. He was a United States Senator from Ohio from 1958 until 1971....
ran for the Senate against the incumbent Bricker. Bricker seemed invincible, but Young capitalized on widespread public opposition to the proposed "right to work" amendment to Ohio's constitution, which Bricker had endorsed. Few thought that Young, 70 at the time, could win; even members of his own party had doubts, particularly Ohio's other senator, Democrat Frank J. Lausche
Frank J. Lausche
Frank John Lausche was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as the 47th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, as the 55th and 57th Governor of Ohio, and as a United States Senator from Ohio for two terms .-Biography:His family originates from Slovenia. After serving in the U.S...
. In an upset, Young defeated Bricker by 52% to 48%, who then retired from public life.
Professional life
In 1945, Bricker founded the Columbus, Ohio law firm now known as Bricker & EcklerBricker & Eckler
Bricker & Eckler, LLP, known more commonly as Bricker, is a law firm in the midwestern United States with approximately 160 attorneys and 3 offices in Ohio. Its first office was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1944 by John W. Bricker, a three-term Ohio governor, two-term U.S...
. The firm now has additional offices in Cleveland, Ohio and West Chester, Ohio. The West Chester office serves the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton. "Bricker" is now one of the ten largest firms in the state of Ohio.
After leaving the Senate, John Bricker resumed the practice of law. He died in Columbus at the age of ninety-two and is interred there at Green Lawn Cemetery.
Miscellaneous
- On The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, the Bricker Hall building was named after Bricker. The building currently serves as the home of many of the University's administrative units, including the Office of the Board of Trustees and President Gordon GeeGordon GeeElwood Gordon Gee is an American academic. He is in his second term as the president of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio; he was previously president from 1990 to 1998....
. Bricker was a member of the OSU Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1969.
- In Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
's 1962 novel The Man in the High CastleThe Man in the High CastleThe Man in the High Castle is a science fiction alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It won a Hugo Award in 1963 and has since been translated into many languages....
, set in an alternate timeline, Bricker succeeded John Nance GarnerJohn Nance GarnerJohn Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :...
as the President of the United States in 1940.