Guy Mark Gillette (February 3, 1879March 3, 1973) was an American politician serving as a
Democratic U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
and
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. In the U.S. Senate, Gillette was elected, re-elected, defeated, elected again, and defeated again.
Personal background
Born in
Cherokee, Iowa
Cherokee is a city in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,199 at the 2020 Census, down from 5,369 in 2000. It is the county seat of Cherokee County.
History
Cherokee was laid out as a town in 1870, and was named for the ...
, he attended public school and graduated from
Drake University Law School
Drake University Law School is a professional graduate law school of Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa. The school has over 330 full-time students. The school is led by Dean Jerry Anderson. Founded in 1865, Drake Law School is one of t ...
in
Des Moines
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
in 1900. He was admitted to the bar in 1900 and commenced practice in Cherokee. During the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
, he served as a sergeant in the Fifty-second Iowa Regiment in the
United States 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, cla ...
, but never saw combat.
[Oral History of Stewart McClure, Part 1 (Service on Gillette Senate Staff)]
at 5. He volunteered to fight alongside the
Boers
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...
in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
(1898–1902), but was turned down.
[
Returning to Iowa, he engaged in agricultural pursuits and was the city attorney of Cherokee in 1906–1907. He became the prosecuting attorney of ]Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States:
* Cherokee County, Alabama
* Cherokee County, Georgia
* Cherokee County, Iowa
* Cherokee County, Kansas
* Cherokee County, North Carolina
* Cherokee County, Oklahoma
* Cherokee Co ...
from 1907 to 1909 and a member of the Iowa State Senate
The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...
from 1912 to 1916.
During the First World War
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 served as a captain in the United States Army. He ran unsuccessfully for Iowa State Auditor
State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, state examiners, or inspectors general) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, financial ...
in 1918, and returned to Cherokee to farm.[Mark R. Finlay]
"Guy Mark Gillette"
in ''The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa'', p. 188 (2008).
Service in the U.S. House, then U.S. Senate (1933–1945)
In 1932, in the Roosevelt landslide, he was elected as a Democrat to represent Iowa's 9th congressional district, in heavily Republican northwest Iowa. He was re-elected in 1934, and served nearly all of that term. He resigned upon his election to the United States Senate on November 3, 1936, to serve out the remainder of the term of Senator Richard Louis Murphy
Richard Louis Murphy (November 6, 1875July 16, 1936) of Dubuque, Iowa was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Iowa. Elected with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, as only the second Democratic Senator from Iowa elected since 1858, Murphy's se ...
, who had died in an auto accident. Nearly two years remained in Murphy's term, which would end January 3, 1939. Although he generally supported the 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 ...
, he opposed the new wage and hours bill, a new farm bill, and aspects of the Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
system.[
In 1938 the Roosevelt administration targeted Gillette for replacement because of Gillette's vote against Roosevelt's plan to expand the Supreme Court and other positions. He nevertheless defeated Roosevelt's choice for the Democratic nomination, Congressman ]Otha D. Wearin
Otha Donner Wearin (January 10, 1903 – April 3, 1990) was a writer and politician. Elected as the youngest member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's first "New Deal" Congress, his political career stalled in 1938 when he gave up his seat at Franklin D. ...
, and was narrowly elected to his first full Senate term. During that term, his conflicts with the Roosevelt administration expanded, on topics as diverse as the terms of the Neutrality Act, Roosevelt's pursuit of third and fourth terms,[ and choices for judgeships.
After the Japanese ]attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
(where, coincidentally, Gillette's brother Captain Claude Gillette managed the Navy yard), Gillette became "more of an internationalist".[ Nevertheless, he used his chairmanship on a Senate subcommittee to aggressively challenge the Roosevelt administration's failure to prepare for the prospect of a Japanese seizure of the source of the nation's rubber imports by developing synthetic farm-based alternatives.][ In April 1943 a confidential analysis by British scholar ]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
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...
for the 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 ...
succinctly characterized Gillette:
Like several others who had opposed Roosevelt's efforts to aid the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
before Pearl Harbor but faced wartime elections, Gillette lost his next race, in 1944, to Iowa Governor and Republican Bourke B. Hickenlooper.
Between terms
Within days of Gillette's first defeat, Roosevelt nominated him as the chairman of the three-member Surplus Property Board, prompting ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' and a ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' editorial to quip that the president was confusing the problem of surplus property with the problem of surplus politicians. He took an early dislike to the job, and complained that he was often outvoted by the two other members. After resigning from the Surplus Board in May 1945, he became president of the American League for a Free Palestine, serving until the Committee's work ended with the establishment of the state of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1948.
Return to the Senate (1949–1955)
He made a political comeback in 1948, unseating former governor George A. Wilson
George Allison Wilson (April 1, 1884 – September 8, 1953) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States Senate, United States Senator and List of Governors of Iowa, 28th Governor of Iowa.
Personal background
Born on a farm near ...
from Iowa's other Senate seat. In 1951 his Subcommittee on Privileges and Elections conducted an investigation of Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
Senator Joseph McCarthy's campaign practices.[ Gillette served until January 3, 1955, after his own bid for re-election was thwarted by U.S. Representative ]Thomas E. Martin
Thomas Ellsworth Martin (January 18, 1893June 27, 1971) was a United States representative and Senator from Iowa. Martin, a Republican, served in Congress for 22 consecutive years, from January 1939 to January 1961.
Born in Melrose, Iowa, he a ...
of Iowa City. His defeat was considered an upset because it conflicted with polls. For the last time, it left every Iowa seat in Congress in Republican hands.
From 1951 onwards Senator Gillette was one of the first to call for a North Atlantic Assembly.
Post-Senate
Following his second defeat, Gillette initially remained on Capitol Hill, serving as counsel with the Senate Post Office and Civil Service Committee (from 1955 to 1956) and the Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
(from 1956 to 1961).
He retired and resided in Cherokee until his death at age 94 on March 3, 1973, and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Publications
"The Forgotten Consumer."
''Challenge'', vol. 1, no. 2 (Nov. 1952), pp. 29–33. .
"The Senate in Foreign Relations."
''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
The American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) was founded in 1889 to promote progress in the social sciences. Sparked by Professor Edmund J. James and drawing from members of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmor ...
'', vol. 289 (Sep. 1953), pp. 49–57. .
"Preparing For UN Charter Review."
''World Affairs
''World Affairs'' is an American quarterly journal covering international relations. At one time, it was an official publication of the American Peace Society. The magazine has been published since 1837 and was re-launched in January 2008 as a new ...
'', vol. 117, no. 3 (Fall 1954), pp. 67–69. .
"United Nations Charter Review."
''Proceedings of the American Society of International Law at Its Annual Meeting (1921-1969)'', vol. 48 (Apr. 22-24, 1954), pp. 191–211. .
See also
* Guy M. and Rose (Freeman) Gillette House in Cherokee, Iowa
References
Bibliography
* "Gillette, Guy (Mark)." In: ''Current Biography, 1946: Who's News and Why''. New York: H.W. Wilson (1947), pp. 207-210. .
* Harrington, Jerry. "Senator Guy Gillette Foils the Execution Committee." ''The Palimpsest
''Iowa Heritage Illustrated'' was the historical magazine of the State Historical Society of Iowa
The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI), a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, serves as the official historical repository ...
'' 62 (Nov./Dec. 1981), pp. 170–80
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillette, Guy Mark
1879 births
1973 deaths
Iowa state senators
People from Cherokee, Iowa
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
United States Army soldiers
American prosecutors
United States Army personnel of World War I
United States Army officers
Democratic Party United States senators from Iowa
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa
20th-century American politicians
Military personnel from Iowa
Drake University Law School alumni