William Squire Kenyon
Encyclopedia
William Squire Kenyon was a Republican
U.S. Senator from Iowa
, and a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
, in Lorain County, Ohio
. He moved to Iowa in 1870 and attended the public schools. After attending Grinnell College
in Grinnell, Iowa
, he graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law
at Iowa City, Iowa
, in 1890. After gaining admission to the bar in 1891, he commenced practice in Fort Dodge, Iowa
, in Webster County
.
He married Mary Duncombe in 1893, one year after beginning service as a prosecutor for Webster County. In 1894 he was elected Webster County Attorney, and served in that position for two periods, the second after the elected county attorney left to serve in the Spanish-American War
.
He was elected to a judgeship of the eleventh judicial district of Iowa in 1900, and served for two years, before leaving to accept a position with his father-in-law, J. F. Duncombe, who was Iowa counsel for the Illinois Central Railroad
. Kenyon succeeded his father-in-law as the railroad's Iowa counsel upon Duncombe's death in 1904. In 1908 Kenyon was promoted, and served as the railroad's general counsel for all lines north of the Ohio River. Then in 1910, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General of the United States.
. Considered "a conservative with progressive proclivities," he sought to wrest the seat away from fellow Republican Lafayette Young
, who had been appointed by the governor upon the death of Jonathan P. Dolliver
. On April 12, 1911, Kenyon was elected on the 67th ballot after a session-long stalemate, in which Young was his principal Republican adversary until the 23rd ballot. Senator Kenyon was re-elected to the Senate in January 1913 (by legislative ballot) and November 1918 (by direct popular election, following ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
), defeating Democrat Charles Rollin Keyes
, a noted geologist.
In the Senate, Kenyon was considered a leading progressive, and co-sponsored the Clayton Antitrust Act
, the Federal Trade Commission Act
, and the Child Labor Act. In 1921, he formed the bipartisan "farm bloc" in the Senate, which led to the enactment of several farm-related bills, such as the Packers and Stockyards Act
, regulation of grain futures and futures trading in grain, and the Fordney-McCumber Tariff
. A supporter of prohibition, he coauthored the Webb-Kenyon Act
, which was intended to bolster the ability of states to enforce their own prohibition laws (prior to the adoption of the Volstead Act
).
On the eve of the United States' entry into World War I
, Kenyon was one of a group of twelve senators who blocked President Woodrow Wilson's
armed neutrality bill, which would have given Wilson the power to arm American vessels. However, after Wilson asked Congress to declare war one month later, Kenyon voted in favor of the declaration. Following the Armistice
, when Wilson pressed the Senate to support the United States' membership in the League of Nations
, Kenyon became a member of the moderate faction known as the "mild reservationists," who allowed for the possibility of membership so long as the treaty were amended to address a specified list of reservations held by those senators, and pursued compromise solutions. However, when Wilson refused to compromise, Kenyon continued to oppose U.S. membership.
He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State in the Sixty-second Congress, chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department (also in the Sixty-second Congress), chairman of the Committee on Standards, Weights and Measures (in the Sixty-fifth Congress), chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor (in the Sixty-sixth Congress and Sixty-seventh Congress), and chairman of the Committee on the Philippines (in the Sixty-sixth Congress).
Warren G. Harding
as circuit judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He served on the court from 1922 until his death in 1933.
In 1926, he wrote the Eighth Circuit's ruling in the principal civil suit arising from the Teapot Dome scandal
. Reversing a federal district court in Wyoming, the appellate court panel ordered the lower court to cancel the Mammoth Oil Co.'s leases, demand an accounting of the oil which had been taken from Teapot Dome, and enjoin the company was enjoined from trespassing further on U.S. Government property.
While a sitting federal judge, Kenyon was the subject of numerous offers of appointive and elective office. In January 1923, before the death of President Harding, newspapers speculated that Judge Kenyon would be Harding's leading opponent in the 1924 presidential race. At the 1924 Republican National Convention, he was touted as a potential vice-presidential candidate with Calvin Coolidge
, and he received 172 votes on the first ballot. Even though President Coolidge indicated that Kenyon would be acceptable to him, the Convention instead selected Charles Dawes, who did not get along with Coolidge and many others. Coolidge offered Kenyon the position of Secretary of the Navy, but Kenyon declined to accept it. While a judge, he also served as an active member of a blue-ribbon "National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement," better known as the "Wickersham Commission
," appointed by President Herbert Hoover
to assess the lessons learned from prohibition
, among other things.
In 1930, following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Edward Terry Sanford
, Kenyon was considered by some as a favorite to succeed him, but President Hoover instead nominated John J. Parker
(who failed to win Senate confirmation) and then Owen Roberts (who was confirmed). In January 1932, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
resigned, Kenyon's name was again included on short lists of potential successors, but this time Hoover selected legendary New York Court of Appeals
Judge Benjamin Cardozo.
, where he kept a summer home. He was interred in Fort Dodge.
There are streets in Des Moines, Iowa
and Fort Dodge, Iowa
named after him.
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...
U.S. Senator from Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, and a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Background
Kenyon was born in ElyriaElyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
, in Lorain County, Ohio
Lorain County, Ohio
Lorain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio, and is considered to be a part of what is locally referred to as Greater Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, its population was 301,356. an increase from 284,664 in 2000...
. He moved to Iowa in 1870 and attended the public schools. After attending Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
in Grinnell, Iowa
Grinnell, Iowa
Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,218 at the 2010 census. Grinnell was named after Josiah Bushnell Grinnell and is the home of Grinnell College.- History :...
, he graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law
University of Iowa College of Law
The University of Iowa College of Law is one of the eleven professional graduate schools at the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. Founded in 1865, it is the oldest law school in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. The law school was ranked as the 27th best law school...
at Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
, in 1890. After gaining admission to the bar in 1891, he commenced practice in Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
, in Webster County
Webster County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 38,013 in the county, with a population density of . There were 17,035 housing units, of which 15,580 were occupied.-2000 census:...
.
He married Mary Duncombe in 1893, one year after beginning service as a prosecutor for Webster County. In 1894 he was elected Webster County Attorney, and served in that position for two periods, the second after the elected county attorney left to serve in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
.
He was elected to a judgeship of the eleventh judicial district of Iowa in 1900, and served for two years, before leaving to accept a position with his father-in-law, J. F. Duncombe, who was Iowa counsel for the Illinois Central Railroad
Illinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
. Kenyon succeeded his father-in-law as the railroad's Iowa counsel upon Duncombe's death in 1904. In 1908 Kenyon was promoted, and served as the railroad's general counsel for all lines north of the Ohio River. Then in 1910, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General of the United States.
U.S. senator
Kenyon, a relative unknown in political circles, announced his candidacy for election to the U.S. Senate by the 1911 Iowa General AssemblyIowa General Assembly
The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Representatives respectively...
. Considered "a conservative with progressive proclivities," he sought to wrest the seat away from fellow Republican Lafayette Young
Lafayette Young
Lafayette Young was a newspaper reporter and editor, and a Republican Senator from Iowa.Young was born in Monroe County, Iowa. His early education was acquired in the public schools and in printing offices at Albia, Iowa and Des Moines, Iowa...
, who had been appointed by the governor upon the death of Jonathan P. Dolliver
Jonathan P. Dolliver
Jonathan Prentiss Dolliver was a Republican orator, U.S. Representative, then U.S. Senator from Iowa at the turn of the 20th century...
. On April 12, 1911, Kenyon was elected on the 67th ballot after a session-long stalemate, in which Young was his principal Republican adversary until the 23rd ballot. Senator Kenyon was re-elected to the Senate in January 1913 (by legislative ballot) and November 1918 (by direct popular election, following ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
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...
), defeating Democrat Charles Rollin Keyes
Charles Rollin Keyes
For the Iowa archaeologist, see Charles Reuben Keyes.Charles Rollin Keyes was a U.S. geologist and in 1918 was a U.S. Senate candidate in Iowa. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he graduated from Iowa State University in 1887. He worked for the United States Geological Survey. He earned a Ph.D. from Johns...
, a noted geologist.
In the Senate, Kenyon was considered a leading progressive, and co-sponsored the Clayton Antitrust Act
Clayton Antitrust Act
The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 , was enacted in the United States to add further substance to the U.S. antitrust law regime by seeking to prevent anticompetitive practices in their incipiency. That regime started with the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the first Federal law outlawing practices...
, the Federal Trade Commission Act
Federal Trade Commission Act
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 started the Federal Trade Commission , a bipartisan body of five members appointed by the president of the United States for seven-year terms. This commission was authorized to issue “cease and desist” orders to large corporations to curb unfair trade...
, and the Child Labor Act. In 1921, he formed the bipartisan "farm bloc" in the Senate, which led to the enactment of several farm-related bills, such as the Packers and Stockyards Act
Packers and Stockyards Act
The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 was enacted following the release in 1919 of the Report of the Federal Trade Commission on the meatpacking industry.-History and passage:...
, regulation of grain futures and futures trading in grain, and the Fordney-McCumber Tariff
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
The Fordney–McCumber Tariff of 1922 raised American tariffs in order to protect factories and farms. Congress displayed a pro-business attitude in passing the ad valorem tariff and in promoting foreign trade through providing huge loans to Europe, which in turn bought more American goods...
. A supporter of prohibition, he coauthored the Webb-Kenyon Act
Webb-Kenyon Act
The Webb-Kenyon Act was a 1913 law of the United States that regulated the interstate transport of alcoholic beverages. It was meant to provide federal support for the prohibition efforts of individual states in the face of charges that state regulation of alcohol usurped the federal government's...
, which was intended to bolster the ability of states to enforce their own prohibition laws (prior to the adoption of the Volstead Act
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States...
).
On the eve of the United States' entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Kenyon was one of a group of twelve senators who blocked President Woodrow Wilson's
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
armed neutrality bill, which would have given Wilson the power to arm American vessels. However, after Wilson asked Congress to declare war one month later, Kenyon voted in favor of the declaration. Following the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
, when Wilson pressed the Senate to support the United States' membership 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...
, Kenyon became a member of the moderate faction known as the "mild reservationists," who allowed for the possibility of membership so long as the treaty were amended to address a specified list of reservations held by those senators, and pursued compromise solutions. However, when Wilson refused to compromise, Kenyon continued to oppose U.S. membership.
He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State in the Sixty-second Congress, chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department (also in the Sixty-second Congress), chairman of the Committee on Standards, Weights and Measures (in the Sixty-fifth Congress), chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor (in the Sixty-sixth Congress and Sixty-seventh Congress), and chairman of the Committee on the Philippines (in the Sixty-sixth Congress).
Federal judge
Kenyon served in the Senate until he resigned in February 1922, to accept appointment by PresidentPresident 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....
Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
as circuit judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He served on the court from 1922 until his death in 1933.
In 1926, he wrote the Eighth Circuit's ruling in the principal civil suit arising from the Teapot Dome scandal
Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery incident that took place in the United States in 1922–23, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome and two other locations to private oil companies at low...
. Reversing a federal district court in Wyoming, the appellate court panel ordered the lower court to cancel the Mammoth Oil Co.'s leases, demand an accounting of the oil which had been taken from Teapot Dome, and enjoin the company was enjoined from trespassing further on U.S. Government property.
While a sitting federal judge, Kenyon was the subject of numerous offers of appointive and elective office. In January 1923, before the death of President Harding, newspapers speculated that Judge Kenyon would be Harding's leading opponent in the 1924 presidential race. At the 1924 Republican National Convention, he was touted as a potential vice-presidential candidate with Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
, and he received 172 votes on the first ballot. Even though President Coolidge indicated that Kenyon would be acceptable to him, the Convention instead selected Charles Dawes, who did not get along with Coolidge and many others. Coolidge offered Kenyon the position of Secretary of the Navy, but Kenyon declined to accept it. While a judge, he also served as an active member of a blue-ribbon "National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement," better known as the "Wickersham Commission
Wickersham Commission
U.S. President Herbert Hoover established the Wickersham Commission, officially called the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, on May 20th, 1929. Former Attorney General George W...
," appointed by President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
to assess the lessons learned from prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, among other things.
In 1930, following the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Edward Terry Sanford
Edward Terry Sanford
Edward Terry Sanford was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as an Assistant Attorney General under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1905 to 1907, and...
, Kenyon was considered by some as a favorite to succeed him, but President Hoover instead nominated John J. Parker
John J. Parker
John Johnston Parker was a U.S. judge who failed confirmation to the Supreme Court by one vote. He was also the U.S. alternate judge at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals and later served on the United Nations' International Law Commission.John J. Parker was born in Monroe, North Carolina,...
(who failed to win Senate confirmation) and then Owen Roberts (who was confirmed). In January 1932, when Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
resigned, Kenyon's name was again included on short lists of potential successors, but this time Hoover selected legendary New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
Judge Benjamin Cardozo.
Death
On September 9, 1933, at age 64, Kenyon died in Sebasco Estates, MaineMaine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, where he kept a summer home. He was interred in Fort Dodge.
There are streets in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
and Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge, Iowa
Fort Dodge is a city and county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 25,206 in the 2010 census, an increase from 25,136 in the 2000 census. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Central and Northwest Iowa. It is located on U.S...
named after him.