Frederick Van Nuys (April 16, 1874 – January 25, 1944) was a
United States senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. Born in
Falmouth, he attended the
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
s and graduated from
Earlham College (
Richmond, Indiana
Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...
) in 1898 and from Indiana Law School (now
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law
The Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (IU McKinney) is located on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana, the urban campus of Indiana University. In the summer of 2001 ...
) in 1900. He was
admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in
Shelbyville moving shortly afterward to
Anderson. From 1906 to 1910 he was
prosecuting attorney of
Madison County and was a member of the
Indiana Senate from 1913 to 1916, serving as
president pro tempore
A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...
in 1915. He moved to Indianapolis in 1916 and continued the practice of law; he was
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 c ...
for the U.S. District of Indiana from 1920 to 1922.
According to an interview in the
Literary Digest
''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current ...
, he pronounced his last name "van-NIECE".
He was elected as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
to the U.S. Senate in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
, soundly defeating longtime incumbent and Majority Leader
James Eli Watson. He was an opponent of the
Eighteenth Amendment and called for changes to the
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
.
In 1937, he joined with Senator
Robert F. Wagner
Robert Ferdinand Wagner I (June 8, 1877May 4, 1953) was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949.
Born in Prussia, Wagner migrated with his family to the United States in 1885. After graduating ...
in introducing an anti-
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
bill in the Senate. The
House of Representatives passed a similar bill by a wide 277-120 margin but was successfully filibustered in the Senate in 1938.
While in the Senate he was chairman of the
Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments (
76th Congress
The 76th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939, ...
) and a member of the
Committee on the Judiciary (
77th and
78th Congresses).
Although he was a Democrat who was elected as part of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
’s sweeping victory, Van Nuys was not always a reliable supporter of
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
policies and opposed the president’s plan to
enlarge the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
He also stayed outside of the Indiana Democratic Party political machine opposing the party in patronage matters.
[ His positions led some forces in the Democratic Party, including the AFL–CIO to oppose his renomination in 1938. Loyalists to Governors ]Paul McNutt
Paul Vories McNutt (July 19, 1891 – March 24, 1955) was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 34th governor of Indiana, high commissioner to the Philippines, administrator of the Federal Security Agency, chairman of the ...
and M. Clifford Townsend
Maurice Clifford Townsend (August 11, 1884 – November 11, 1954) was an American politician and the 35th governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1937 to 1941. During his term, he led relief efforts during and after the Great Flood of 1937.
...
sought to "eliminate" him from the Senate, which was welcomed by the Roosevelt administration.
After initially threatening to run as an independent, he secured support for the Democratic nomination and faced Republican newspaper publisher Raymond E. Willis
Raymond Eugene Willis (August 11, 1875March 21, 1956) was a United States senator from Indiana. Born in Waterloo, Indiana, he attended the public schools and graduated from Wabash College in 1896. He learned the printer's trade in Waterloo and mo ...
in the general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. Van Nuys won the election by a mere 5,100 votes, which led Willis to appeal to the Senate for a recount, alleging election irregularities. The Senate denied the recount on the grounds that the affected votes would not have changed the results.
In 1943 a confidential analysis by Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the British Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
stated of Van Nuys:
He died on January 25, 1944, at his home in Vienna, Virginia, after a short illness and was buried in East Maplewood Cemetery, Anderson, Indiana
Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson is ...
. Governor Henry Schricker
Henry Frederick Schricker (August 30, 1883 – December 28, 1966) was an American politician who served as the 36th and 38th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1941 to 1945 and from 1949 to 1953. He is the only Indiana governor elected ...
appointed Samuel D. Jackson to succeed him in the Senate.
See also
* Van Nuys, Indiana
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Nuys, Frederick
Democratic Party Indiana state senators
United States Attorneys for the District of Indiana
Democratic Party United States senators from Indiana
1874 births
1944 deaths
Earlham College alumni
American people of Dutch descent
Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law alumni