Edward Arthur Hayes (January 5, 1893April 1, 1955) served as the 16th national commander of

The American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of lo ...

, from 1933 to 1934.

Early life and career

Edward Hayes was born on January 5, 1893, in

Morrisonville, Illinois Morrisonville is a small town in Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 997 at the 2020 census. Geography Morrisonville is located at (39.419276, -89.457320). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Morrisonville ha ...

. After his birth his family moved to

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

. He attended

St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

where he studied law. He served as an Ensign in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was a practicing lawyer for 35 years and worked as Assistant

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in Illinois from 1928 to 1933, resigning his state position upon being elected to the office of the National Commander of The American Legion.

American Legion

Hayes joined The American Legion shortly after

and quickly climbed the ranks. By 1929 he was Department Commander of The American Legion in Illinois and by 1933 he was National Commander. The Department of Illinois was known as a conservative branch of The American Legion. When Hayes became National Commander he carried these conservative views with him. The Legion demanded patriotic education for the children of United States, with Hayes saying to the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

that the Legion, "has the right to demand that education be constructive for the country's welfare and that it be patriotic in character". Throughout this period, the Legion fought unsuccessfully to obtain passage of a law requiring a loyalty oath for teachers. When the campaign failed the Legion began a "vigorous campaign of Americanism". This campaign was not solely focused on

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

was also considered a threat to the American way of life, thus the Legion advocated the removal of both from the classroom. Since its creation The American Legion has been a strong advocate of anti-communist ideology. Hayes was an especially fervently anti-communist, when he was told Communist protestors were stepping on American flags during a protest Hayes was quoted as saying, "If we catch them doing that, I think there is enough virility in The American Legion personnel to adequately take care of that type of person". In response to his uncompromising attitude towards communism He was referred to as the "semi-fascist leader" of the Legion by author

John Gunther John Gunther (August 30, 1901 – May 29, 1970) was an American journalist and writer. His success came primarily by a series of popular sociopolitical works, known as the "Inside" books (1936–1972), including the best-selling '' Insi ...

. Hayes spent much of his time in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

lobbying for the restoration of benefits to disabled veterans that had been cut due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. When he was not campaigning in the Capitol he traveled the nation, taking the message to as many Americans as possible to increase the lobbying pressure for the restoration of disabled veterans compensation. Hayes's lobbying, in addition to Senator

Bennett Clark Joel Bennett Clark (January 8, 1890 – July 13, 1954), better known as Bennett Champ Clark, was a Democratic United States senator from Missouri from 1933 until 1945, and was later a circuit judge of the District of Columbia Circuit. He was ...

, were responsible for the passage of Public Law No. 141 which restored disability compensation rates to pre-Depression levels and expanded services for veterans despite opposition from the Roosevelt Administration.

Later life

Hayes served several political positions after his time in the Legion. He managed

Frank Knox William Franklin Knox (January 1, 1874 – April 28, 1944) was an American politician, newspaper editor and publisher. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt during ...

's vice presidential campaign when Knox ran on the Republican ticket with

Alf Landon Alfred Mossman Landon (September 9, 1887October 12, 1987) was an American oilman and politician who served as the 26th governor of Kansas from 1933 to 1937. A member of the Republican Party, he was the party's nominee in the 1936 presidential ...

in 1936. He was one of the organizers of the grass roots Republican Illinois State conference in 1935. He served as platform and program committee chairman on both Illinois and National levels in the Republican party on several occasions, and first sought public office as candidate for nomination as Attorney General on the Republican ticket in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

. During the Second World War, he served in Washington as a special assistant to

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Frank Knox. In 1954, he was candidate for the Republican Illinois Senatorial nomination. In the primary, he was second, being defeated by Joseph Meek. He entered a Chicago hospital 21 March 1955 for a bladder operation and was believed to be recovering when he suffered a heart attack and died.

References

External links

Edward A. Hayes
at ''

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Edward A. 1893 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American naval officers 20th-century Roman Catholics United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials in Illinois Illinois lawyers Illinois Republicans National Commanders of the American Legion Military personnel from Chicago Catholics from Illinois 20th-century American lawyers