Dwight Herbert Green (January 9, 1897 – February 20, 1958) was an American politician who served as the 30th

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the US state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, serving from 1941 to 1949.

From childhood to early adulthood

Green was born in Ligonier,

Noble County, Indiana Noble County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 47,457. The county seat is Albion. The county is divided into 13 townships which provide local services. Noble County comprises the K ...

, son of Harry Green and Minnie (Gerber) Green. On June 29, 1926, he married Mabel Victoria Kingston. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during World War I. Dwight and Mabel's children were Gloria and Nancy—they attended Springfield High School in LaPorte County. Nancy married Dr. James Gilbert and they had two daughters, Susie and Gloria. Gloria married Dr. Warren McPherson and they had two children, Scott and Victoria. Nancy Green Gilbert died in 2019. Gloria Green McPherson died in 1985. Green attended

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cu ...

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The city is the county seat of Montgomery County, the only char ...

, where he was a member of the Alpha-Pi Chapter of the

Kappa Sigma Fraternity Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colo ...

. He attended law school at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, practiced law, and served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois a ...

in 1931–35. It would be Green's primary responsibility to help fight the organized crime operations—such as Al Capone's gang—which virtually ruled Chicago and much of the state in the 1930s. The government team prosecuting Al Capone for Tax Evasion consisted of U.S. Attorney George E. Q. Johnson, and his prosecutors Dwight H. Green, Samuel Clawson, Jacob Grossman and William Froelich. In 1939, he was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Mayor of Chicago.

Governor of Illinois

In 1940, a

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against the New Deal and the

U.S. Democratic Party The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero An ...

had begun to affect Illinois and many other states, especially in the Midwest. The Republican Green, with his record as a prosecutor and established opposition to the big-city Chicago political machine, was elected governor of Illinois in the 1940 Illinois gubernatorial election. He was inaugurated on January 13, 1941. At the end of the same year,

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

thrust Governor Green into the job of leading one of the largest U.S. state governments during World War II. He won widespread support during the war and was reelected in 1944 to serve a second full term. The coming of peace in 1945 created new challenges for America's big cities and state governments. In particular, there was a sharp shortage of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether i ...

for returning

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

s and their families, as little had been built during the war or the Great Depression. The Chicago Democratic party slated an intellectual lawyer, Adlai Stevenson, to oppose Green for a third term in office. In a surprising upset, Stevenson defeated Green in November 1948, ending Green's political career; the defeat was in part owing to his negligence in preventing the deaths of 111 miners in the Centralia mine disaster.

Later years

Governor Green returned to private life after his 1948 defeat. He died February 20, 1958 and was buried at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is an American garden cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and at , is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. According to legend, the name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the a ...

in Chicago.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Dwight H. 1897 births 1958 deaths 20th-century American politicians United States Army personnel of World War I American prosecutors Burials at Rosehill Cemetery Republican Party governors of Illinois People from Ligonier, Indiana Politicians from Chicago Military personnel from Indiana United States Attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois Candidates in the 1948 United States presidential election Wabash College alumni