John W. Davis
Clarksburg, West Virginia, 1873 - 1955, Charleston, South Carolina
found: NUCMC data from Washington and Lee University Lib. for Gaines, F. Papers, 1903-1982 (Davis, John W.)
found: LC data base, 1-9-89 (hdg.: Davis, John William, 1873-1955; usage: John W. Davis)
found: Bio. Dir. of Am. Congress, 1774-1961: p. 785, etc. (Davis, John William; congressman from W. Va., lawyer; U.S. Solicitor General, 1913-1918; ambassador extraordinary to Gt. Britain, 1918-1921; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president, 1924)
John W. Davis, in full John William Davis (born April 13, 1873, Clarksburg, W.Va., U.S.—died March 24, 1955, Charleston, S.C.), conservative Democratic politician who was his party’s unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United States in 1924.
Davis was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1895 but returned to his birthplace two years later. In 1899 he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1910 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. From 1913 to 1918 he served as solicitor general of the United States, and he was one of Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s advisers at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I (1919). He also served as ambassador to Great Britain (1918–21), after which he accepted a partnership in a New York law firm.
At the Democratic National Convention of 1924, neither the supporters of New York Gov. Alfred E. Smith nor those of the more traditional William G. McAdoo would yield their votes in order to settle on a presidential candidate. After 102 ballots the party compromised by choosing Davis, who went down to overwhelming defeat that fall before Republican Calvin Coolidge.
Returning to private law practice, Davis appeared in many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The capstone of his career was his victory in 1952 when the Supreme Court ruled that Pres. Harry S. Truman had exceeded his constitutional powers in seizing control of the nation’s steel mills.
Contributor:
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
Article Title:
John W. Davis
Website Name:
Encyclopædia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.
Date Published:
April 12, 2011
URL:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-W-Davis
Access Date:
December 11, 2017
DAVIS, John William, (son of John James Davis), a Representative from West Virginia; born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, W.Va., April 13, 1873; attended various private schools; was graduated from the literary department of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in 1892; taught school; reentered the university and was graduated from its law department in 1895; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Clarksburg, W.Va.; professor of law at Washington and Lee University in 1896 and 1897; resumed the practice of law in Clarksburg, W.Va., in 1897; member of the State house of delegates in 1899; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904; president of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1906; appointed a member of the West Virginia Commission on Uniform State Laws in 1909; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses and served from March 4, 1911, to August 29, 1913, when he resigned; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1912 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Robert W. Archbald, judge of the United States Commerce Court; Solicitor General of the United States 1913-1918; appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James and served from November 21, 1918, to March 31, 1921; member of the American delegation for conference with Germany on the treatment and exchange of prisoners of war, held in Berne, Switzerland, in September 1918; honorary bencher of the Middle Temple, London, England; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1924; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1932; was a resident of Nassau County, N.Y., and practiced law in New York City until his death; died in Charleston, S.C., March 24, 1955; interment in Locust Valley Cemetery, Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y.
Bibliography
Harbaugh, William H. Lawyer’s Lawyer: The Life of John W. Davis. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=d000121
Person TypeIndividual
Last Updated8/7/24
Christian county, Kentucky, 1808 - 1889, New Orleans, Louisiana
Westminster, Massachusetts, 1839 - 1925, Washington, D.C.
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, 1818 - 1893, New Orleans, Louisiana
Paris, 1866 - 1937, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Philadelphia, 1864 - 1916, Mount Kisco, New York
Dublin, 1848 - 1907, Cornish, New Hampshire