Frederick William Mulkey (January 6, 1874May 5, 1924) was an American attorney and politician from the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. A native of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, he began his political career on the Portland City Council, serving one year as its president. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he twice served as 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 Oregon, filling terms vacated by the deaths of the sitting senator. He served a total of 81 days in the office.

Early life

On January 6, 1874, Frederick Mulkey was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, to Mary E. (née Porter) and Marion Francis Mulkey.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 172. He was raised there and attended the Portland Public Schools before enrolling in the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in Eugene in 1892. Mulkey graduated with a bachelor of laws degree from the school in 1896. He passed the Oregon

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1898 and entered private legal practice in Portland. In 1899, he received another law degree, this time from the

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Political career

In 1900, Mulkey joined the Portland City Council, serving until 1902, and was the president of the group in 1901. He was chairman of the Oregon State Tax Commission in 1905–1906. On November 6, 1906, Mulkey was elected as a

to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

John H. Mitchell John Hipple Mitchell, also known as John Mitchell Hipple, John H. Mitchell, or J. H. Mitchell (June 22, 1835December 8, 1905) was an American lawyer, politician, and convicted criminal. He served as a Republican United States Senator from Oregon ...

, replacing appointee John M. Gearin. Mulkey was one of the first two senators to be elected under Oregon's direct primary law, in which senators were selected by popular vote, and then were officially elected to the position by the

Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

to comply with Article One of the U.S. Constitution. (In 1914, the 17th Amendment established direct election of senators.) He served from January 23, 1907, until March 4, 1907, and was not a candidate for re-election in 1907. Mulkey left Congress and returned to Portland where he resumed the practice of law. From 1911 to 1916 he served as the chairman of the city's Public Docks. On November 5, 1918, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate, this time to fill the unexpired term of

Harry Lane Harry Lane (August 28, 1855 – May 23, 1917) was an American politician in the state of Oregon. A physician by training, Lane served as the head of the Oregon State Insane Asylum before being forced out by political enemies. After a decade prac ...

, who had died on May 23, 1917. Mulkey replaced

Charles L. McNary Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874February 25, 1944) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the United States Senate, U.S. Senate from 1917 to 1944 and was Party leaders of the United ...

who had been appointed temporarily to the position, and who had won the election for a full-term in office starting in January 1919. Mulkey served the second time from November 6, 1918, until his resignation, effective December 17, 1918. Mulkey resigned early to allow McNary to take office early and gain a slight seniority edge over incoming freshman senators.

Later life

Upon leaving the Senate for a second time, he resumed the practice of law at Portland. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission. Frederick William Mulkey died in Portland on May 5, 1924, and the age of 50. His interment was in River View Cemetery in that city. Joseph Norton Dolph, also a U.S. Senator from Oregon, was Frederick Mulkey's uncle.

Legacy

The Portland Police named a harbor patrol craft after Mulkey.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulkey, Frederick 1874 births 1924 deaths Republican Party United States senators from Oregon New York Law School alumni Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon) Oregon lawyers Portland City Council members (Oregon) Oregon Republicans 19th-century American lawyers