John Frost Nugent (June 28, 1868September 18, 1931) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. He served three years in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, from 1918 to 1921.

Early life and education

Born in

La Grande, Oregon La Grande is a city in Union County, Oregon, United States. Originally named "Brownsville," it was forced to change its name because that name was being used for a city in Linn County. Located in the Grande Ronde Valley, the city's name comes ...

while his parents were visiting, Nugent attended public schools in

Silver City, Idaho Silver City is a ghost town in northwestern Owyhee County, Idaho, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). At its height in the 1880s, it was a gold and silver mining town with a population of around 2,500 ...

, where his father, Edward, was a judge.

Career

He worked in

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

s in Idaho and Australia, and read law. Nugent was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1898, commencing practice back in Silver City, and was

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

Owyhee County Owyhee County ( ) is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,133. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in Ida ...

from 1899 to 1906. Following the murder of former governor

Frank Steunenberg Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861December 30, 1905) was the fourth governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He was assassinated in 1905 by one-time union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple C ...

in late 1905, Nugent joined

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...

in defending three members of the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...

: Charles Moyer, president of the union,

Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...

, its secretary, and

George Pettibone George A. Pettibone (May 1862 – August 3, 1908) was an Idaho miner. Pettibone was best known as a defendant in trial of three leaders of the Western Federation of Miners for the 1905 assassination by bombing of Frank Steunenberg, former governo ...

, a former member. All three were acquitted, while prime suspect

Harry Orchard Albert Edward Horsley (March 18, 1866 – April 13, 1954), best known by the pseudonym Harry Orchard, was a miner convicted of the 1905 political assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. The case was one of the most sensational an ...

was convicted and died at the state penitentiary in 1954. In January 1918, Governor

Moses Alexander Moses Alexander (November 13, 1853 – January 4, 1932) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 11th governor of Idaho, the second elected Jewish governor of a U.S. state, and the first who actually practiced that religion. ...

appointed Nugent to the U.S. Senate to succeed

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 ...

James Brady, who died in office. Nugent defeated former Governor Frank Gooding by 970 votes in a special election that November to finish the term. In the Senate, Nugent served as chairman of the Committee on Fisheries. Nugent faced Gooding again in 1920 for a full six-year term, but was defeated. Nugent resigned in January, prior to the end of his term in March, to accept an appointment from lame duck President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

to the Federal Trade Commission. He served until 1927. Nugent ran a third time for Senate in 1926, but finished third behind Gooding and Progressive candidate H. F. Samuels. He resumed the practice of law in

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

, and remained in the area until his death after a brief illness in 1931 at age 63.

Personal life

Nugent, his wife Adelma (1870–1943), and their son George (1896–1979) are buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Maryland.

References

External links

* 1868 births 1931 deaths People from La Grande, Oregon Democratic Party United States senators from Idaho Idaho Democrats American prosecutors American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Federal Trade Commission personnel Woodrow Wilson administration personnel Harding administration personnel Coolidge administration personnel {{Idaho-politician-stub