Lawrence Yates Sherman
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Yates Sherman was a Republican
politician from the State of Illinois
. He served as United States Senator, Lieutenant Governor
, and as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
.
Sherman is best known for his role in preventing the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles
, which kept the United States out of the League of Nations
.
in Miami County, Ohio
on November 8, 1858 to Nelson Sherman and Maria (Yates) Sherman. A year later, he moved with his parents to McDonough County, Illinois and eight years later, they moved to Grove Township
in Jasper County, Illinois
.
He attended the common school
s and Lee's Academy in Coles County, and in 1882 earned an LL.B. degree from McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois
. He studied law under Judge Henry Horner
and Professor Samuel H. Deneen and was admitted to the bar
in Illinois in 1882.
In 1891, he married Ella M. Crews, who died in 1893. On March 4, 1908, he married Estelle Spitler, who died in 1910.
for Macomb, Illinois
from 1885 to 1887 and a McDonough County judge from 1886 to 1890. In 1890, he entered into the private practice of law
in Macomb.
Sherman served in the Illinois House of Representatives
from 1897–1905, serving as speaker of the house
from 1899 to 1903. While speaker, Sherman played an important role in the creation of Western Illinois State Normal School (now Western Illinois University
) and was instrumental in the selection of Macomb for its location. Sherman Hall
, the main administrative building at Western Illinois University, was renamed after Senator Sherman in 1957.
In 1904, he ran an unsuccessful bid for Governor of Illinois, but was nominated for the Lieutenant Governor
position. He became the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, serving from 1905-1909. As lieutenant governor he was ex officio president of the Illinois Senate
.
In 1909, he ran for Mayor of Springfield, Illinois
, but lost by 300 votes. He served as president of the Illinois state board of administration, public charities, 1909-1913 before returning to the practice of law in Springfield.
As a delegate to the 1912 Republican National Convention
, Sherman supported Theodore Roosevelt
, but then worked to prevent the party split that resulted in the Bull Moose party. After the split, he supported the party nominee, William Howard Taft
, for president.
, who was embroiled in a scandal over alleged bribery in his 1909 election to the Senate. On April 9, Sherman defeated Cullom by 60,000 votes and Cullom withdrew his name from consideration by the General Assembly.
Three months after the primary, the United States Senate invalidated the election of Lorimer and declared the seat vacant. The Illinois Attorney General
, William H. Stead determined that the General Assembly had failed to properly elect Lorimer in 1909 and so the Governor could not appoint a replacement. As a result, the General Assembly had two Senate seats to fill.
In the November 1912 election, the Republicans lost control of the state due to the Republican
/ Progressive
split. But while the Democrats held a plurality of the General Assembly, they did not have a majority. The General Assembly took up the matter of electing the senators on February 1. On March 26, in a compromise arranged by governor Dunne
, the General Assembly elected Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis
to fill the Cullom seat and chose Sherman to fill the two remaining years of Lorimer's term.
In 1914, he was elected to a full term, this time by the people of Illinois due to the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
, which he had supported prior to being elected to the Senate.
In 1916, Sherman made the decision to retire from politics not to run for reelection in 1920, due to his failing hearing, which prevented him from hearing what was said on the Senate floor.
during the Sixty-sixth Congress
.
As one of the group of senators known as the "irreconcilables
" or the "bitter-enders", Sherman opposed the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles
and of U.S. involvement in the League of Nations
, and according to Historian Aaron Chandler, played a key role in its defeat. He characterized the treaty as "humanitarian in purpose, but impracticable in operation", and believed the league would be weak.
Sherman was a nationalist, but not an isolationist. He maintained that the country's interests would be served by maintaining close relations with England and France, and was willing to accept limited obligations to America's wartime allies. He opposed any league that would limit America's sovereignty, and believed that membership in a league of nations with divergent interests would weaken the United States in foreign affairs, by giving equal votes to small, weak countries, and allowing them to join together and dictate foreign policy to the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy..
Sherman was concerned with America's influence in the League. He criticized the provisions of Article 7 that would give to the British Empire, counting its colonies, six votes, while the United States would have only one. He said that "Great Britain with her diplomatic influence in the Old World much superior to
ours could easily secure a majority of the nations to outvote us any time she wished." He argued that the large number of predominately Catholic nations in the League were dominated by the Vatican
, which would leave the United States beholden to the Pope
in foreign affairs. He was convinced that membership in the league would result in the United States paying most of the cost for reconstructing Europe after the war, arguing that the assessments would be based on ability to pay and that "we would therefore become a perpetual taxpayer for the benefit of Europe."
Sherman opposed some of the non-league provisions of the treaty. He sharply criticized the Shantung provision of the treaty which transferred German concessions in Shantung to Japan rather than return them to China, saying "40,000,000 Chinese in Shantung were denied the right of self-determination and delivered to Japan under treaty" In addition, he criticized the territorial concessions to Poland as insufficient.
He was one of the 39 senators who joined the "Round-Robin" resolution in March 1919, declaring that the peace treaty with Germany should be separated from any proposal for a League of Nations, and vowing to vote against the treaty in its current form.
During a vote on amendments to the treaty, after Woodrow Wilson had stated that he would not accept any amendments, Sherman said:
When the treaty was voted on by the full Senate with reservations
attached, Sherman voted against the Treaty, as did President Wilson's supporters at his urging. After its defeat, Sherman delivered an address he called "a funeral oration over the defunct remains" of the treaty, and said it was one of the few times that he founf himself in agreement with Wilson.
After leaving the Senate, Sherman resumed the practice of law again in Springfield. In 1924 Sherman moved to Daytona Beach, Florida
, Florida
and continued the practice of law there, also engaging in the investment business. He helped organize the First National Bank of Daytona Beach and served as its President in 1925 and was chairman of its board of directors from 1925 to 1927. Beginning in 1930, when it merged with the Atlantic National Bank of Jacksonville, he was a director at that bank until he retired.
Sherman retired from all active business pursuits in 1933. He died in Daytona Beach, Florida on September 15, 1939 and was interred at Faunce Cemetery in Montrose, Illinois
.
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...
politician from the State of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He served as United States Senator, Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor run separately in the primary from candidates for...
, and as Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
-List of Speakers:This is a complete list of the Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives, as of 2007. Each was chosen since the Illinois General Assembly's first session in 1818.The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each speaker....
.
Sherman is best known for his role in preventing the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, which kept the United States out of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
Personal life
Sherman was born near PiquaPiqua, Ohio
Piqua is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,738 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.Piqua was one of the cities that experienced severe flooding during the Great Dayton Flood of 1913....
in Miami County, Ohio
Miami County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 98,868 people, 38,437 households, and 27,943 families residing in the county. The population density was 243 people per square mile . There were 40,554 housing units at an average density of 100 per square mile...
on November 8, 1858 to Nelson Sherman and Maria (Yates) Sherman. A year later, he moved with his parents to McDonough County, Illinois and eight years later, they moved to Grove Township
Grove Township, Jasper County, Illinois
Grove Township is one of eleven townships in Jasper County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 623.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Grove Township covers an area of .-Unincorporated towns:* Gila at...
in Jasper County, Illinois
Jasper County, Illinois
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.
He attended the common school
Common school
A common school was a public school in the United States or Canada in the nineteenth century. The term 'common school' was coined by Horace Mann, and refers to the fact that they were meant to serve individuals of all social classes and religions....
s and Lee's Academy in Coles County, and in 1882 earned an LL.B. degree from McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois
Lebanon, Illinois
Lebanon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,523 at the 2000 census. Like many other places in "Little Egypt" or Southern Illinois, Lebanon was named after the Middle Eastern country of the same name. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St...
. He studied law under Judge Henry Horner
Henry Horner
Henry Horner was the 28th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1933 to 1940, when he died in office. Horner was the first Jewish governor of Illinois.- Political biography :...
and Professor Samuel H. Deneen and was admitted to the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
in Illinois in 1882.
In 1891, he married Ella M. Crews, who died in 1893. On March 4, 1908, he married Estelle Spitler, who died in 1910.
Early politics
After passing the bar, Sherman involved himself in Illinois politics. He was city attorneyCity attorney
A city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the city or municipality....
for Macomb, Illinois
Macomb, Illinois
Macomb is a city in and the county seat of McDonough County, Illinois, United States. It is situated in western Illinois southwest of Galesburg. The population was 18,588 at the 2000 census. Macomb is the home of Western Illinois University.- Geography :...
from 1885 to 1887 and a McDonough County judge from 1886 to 1890. In 1890, he entered into the private practice of law
Practice of law
In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister,...
in Macomb.
Sherman served in the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
from 1897–1905, serving as speaker of the house
Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives
-List of Speakers:This is a complete list of the Speakers of the Illinois House of Representatives, as of 2007. Each was chosen since the Illinois General Assembly's first session in 1818.The colors indicate the political party affiliation of each speaker....
from 1899 to 1903. While speaker, Sherman played an important role in the creation of Western Illinois State Normal School (now Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
) and was instrumental in the selection of Macomb for its location. Sherman Hall
Sherman Hall (Western Illinois University)
Sherman Hall is the main administrative building of Western Illinois University and site of the original Western Illinois State Normal School in Macomb, Illinois.-Construction & Early History:...
, the main administrative building at Western Illinois University, was renamed after Senator Sherman in 1957.
In 1904, he ran an unsuccessful bid for Governor of Illinois, but was nominated for the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is the second highest executive of the State of Illinois. In Illinois, the lieutenant governor and governor run on a joint ticket, and are directly elected by popular vote. Candidates for lieutenant governor run separately in the primary from candidates for...
position. He became the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, serving from 1905-1909. As lieutenant governor he was ex officio president of the Illinois Senate
Illinois Senate
The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the state of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. The Illinois Senate is made up of 59 senators elected from...
.
In 1909, he ran for Mayor of Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, but lost by 300 votes. He served as president of the Illinois state board of administration, public charities, 1909-1913 before returning to the practice of law in Springfield.
As a delegate to the 1912 Republican National Convention
1912 Republican National Convention
The 1912 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States was held at the Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, from June 18 to June 22, 1912. The party nominated William Howard Taft from Ohio for re-election as President of the United States and James S...
, Sherman supported Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, but then worked to prevent the party split that resulted in the Bull Moose party. After the split, he supported the party nominee, William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, for president.
Senate Elections
In 1912, Sherman entered the Republican "advisory" primary for the United States Senate, challenging incumbent five-term Republican Senator Shelby M. Cullom. Cullom had suffered politically over his support for the other Illinois senator, William LorimerWilliam Lorimer (politician)
William Lorimer was a U.S. Representative from the State of Illinois. He subsequently served in the United States Senate and was known as the "Blond Boss" in Chicago. In 1912, however, the Senate held Lorimer's election invalid due to the use of corrupt methods and practices including...
, who was embroiled in a scandal over alleged bribery in his 1909 election to the Senate. On April 9, Sherman defeated Cullom by 60,000 votes and Cullom withdrew his name from consideration by the General Assembly.
Three months after the primary, the United States Senate invalidated the election of Lorimer and declared the seat vacant. The Illinois Attorney General
Illinois Attorney General
The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by election through universal suffrage...
, William H. Stead determined that the General Assembly had failed to properly elect Lorimer in 1909 and so the Governor could not appoint a replacement. As a result, the General Assembly had two Senate seats to fill.
In the November 1912 election, the Republicans lost control of the state due to the 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...
/ Progressive
Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
The Progressive Party of 1912 was an American political party. It was formed after a split in the Republican Party between President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt....
split. But while the Democrats held a plurality of the General Assembly, they did not have a majority. The General Assembly took up the matter of electing the senators on February 1. On March 26, in a compromise arranged by governor Dunne
Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne
Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne was an American politician who was the 24th Governor of Illinois from 1913 to 1917 and previously served as the 38th mayor of Chicago from April 5, 1905 to 1907.-Early years:...
, the General Assembly elected Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis
J. Hamilton Lewis
James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...
to fill the Cullom seat and chose Sherman to fill the two remaining years of Lorimer's term.
In 1914, he was elected to a full term, this time by the people of Illinois due to the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution established direct election of United States Senators by popular vote. The amendment supersedes Article I, § 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Constitution, under which senators were elected by state legislatures...
, which he had supported prior to being elected to the Senate.
In 1916, Sherman made the decision to retire from politics not to run for reelection in 1920, due to his failing hearing, which prevented him from hearing what was said on the Senate floor.
Senate Years
He served as chairman of the Committee on the District of ColumbiaUnited States Senate Committee on the District of Columbia
The United States Senate Committee on the District of Columbia was one of the first standing committees created in the United States Senate, in 1816. It had jurisdiction over the District of Columbia...
during the Sixty-sixth Congress
66th United States Congress
The Sixty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1919 to March 4, 1921, during the last two years of...
.
Treaty of Versailles
Irreconcilables
The Irreconcilables were bitter opponents of the Treaty of Versailles in the United States in 1919. Specifically, the term refers to about 12 to 18 United States Senators, both Republicans and Democrats, who fought intensely to defeat the ratification of the treaty by the Senate in 1919...
" or the "bitter-enders", Sherman opposed the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and of U.S. involvement in the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, and according to Historian Aaron Chandler, played a key role in its defeat. He characterized the treaty as "humanitarian in purpose, but impracticable in operation", and believed the league would be weak.
Sherman was a nationalist, but not an isolationist. He maintained that the country's interests would be served by maintaining close relations with England and France, and was willing to accept limited obligations to America's wartime allies. He opposed any league that would limit America's sovereignty, and believed that membership in a league of nations with divergent interests would weaken the United States in foreign affairs, by giving equal votes to small, weak countries, and allowing them to join together and dictate foreign policy to the United States, Great Britain, France, and Italy..
Sherman was concerned with America's influence in the League. He criticized the provisions of Article 7 that would give to the British Empire, counting its colonies, six votes, while the United States would have only one. He said that "Great Britain with her diplomatic influence in the Old World much superior to
ours could easily secure a majority of the nations to outvote us any time she wished." He argued that the large number of predominately Catholic nations in the League were dominated by the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, which would leave the United States beholden to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
in foreign affairs. He was convinced that membership in the league would result in the United States paying most of the cost for reconstructing Europe after the war, arguing that the assessments would be based on ability to pay and that "we would therefore become a perpetual taxpayer for the benefit of Europe."
Sherman opposed some of the non-league provisions of the treaty. He sharply criticized the Shantung provision of the treaty which transferred German concessions in Shantung to Japan rather than return them to China, saying "40,000,000 Chinese in Shantung were denied the right of self-determination and delivered to Japan under treaty" In addition, he criticized the territorial concessions to Poland as insufficient.
He was one of the 39 senators who joined the "Round-Robin" resolution in March 1919, declaring that the peace treaty with Germany should be separated from any proposal for a League of Nations, and vowing to vote against the treaty in its current form.
During a vote on amendments to the treaty, after Woodrow Wilson had stated that he would not accept any amendments, Sherman said:
When the treaty was voted on by the full Senate with reservations
Reservation (law)
A reservation in international law is a caveat to a state's acceptance of a treaty. By the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties , a reservation is defined as a...
attached, Sherman voted against the Treaty, as did President Wilson's supporters at his urging. After its defeat, Sherman delivered an address he called "a funeral oration over the defunct remains" of the treaty, and said it was one of the few times that he founf himself in agreement with Wilson.
Post-Senate
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and continued the practice of law there, also engaging in the investment business. He helped organize the First National Bank of Daytona Beach and served as its President in 1925 and was chairman of its board of directors from 1925 to 1927. Beginning in 1930, when it merged with the Atlantic National Bank of Jacksonville, he was a director at that bank until he retired.
Sherman retired from all active business pursuits in 1933. He died in Daytona Beach, Florida on September 15, 1939 and was interred at Faunce Cemetery in Montrose, Illinois
Montrose, Illinois
Montrose is a village in Effingham and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 257 at the 2000 census.The Effingham County portion of Montrose is part of the Effingham Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the small portion that lies in Cumberland County is part of the...
.
Further reading
- Stone, Ralph A. "Two Illinois Senators Among the Irreconcilables." Mississippi Valley Historical, Review 50 (December 1963): 443-65.