John Hammill (October 14, 1875 – April 6, 1936) served three terms as the 24th Governor of Iowa from 1925 to 1931.

Biography

Hammill was born in

Linden, Wisconsin Linden is a village in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 549 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Linden. Geography Linden is located at (42.917433, -90.273384). According to the United States ...

. National Governors Association profile
. He earned a law degree from the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. Iowa is ranked the 28th-best law school in the United States by the '' U.S. News & World Report'' "Best Law Sch ...

in 1897, and practiced law in

Britt, Iowa Britt is a city in Hancock County, Iowa, United States, and is the home of the National Hobo Convention and the Hobo Museum. The population was 2,044 at the 2020 census. History A train depot was built at Britt in 1870, with tracks running fro ...

. After serving as a county attorney from 1902 to 1908, he was elected to the

Iowa 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, . ...

where he served until 1913. In 1920, he was elected the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa and was re-elected to that position in 1922. In August 1923, Governor

Nathan E. Kendall Nathan Edward Kendall (March 17, 1868 – November 5, 1936) was an American Republican politician. Kendall was a two-term U.S. Representative from Iowa's 6th congressional district and the 23rd Governor of Iowa. Background Born on a farm near G ...

was sidelined because of a heart condition, which led to speculation that he would resign before the end of his term, thus leaving Hammill as Iowa's governor. Although Kendall left the state for an extended stay in Hawaii to recuperate, leaving Hammill as Iowa's acting governor for several months, Kendall did not resign. Kendall did not seek re-election in 1924, and Hammill announced his candidacy for the post. Hammill won the 1924 Republican gubernatorial nomination, and defeated James C. Murtagh in the general election in a landslide. He was sworn into the governor's office on January 15, 1925. He won reelection to a second term in 1926 (defeating Democratic candidate Alex R. Miller), and to a third term in 1928 (defeating Democratic candidate L. W. Housel). Hammill advocated for the sterilization of the unfit. The following changes occurred during his tenure: *an office of superintendent of child welfare was instituted; *banking laws were managed by a state banking board; *junior colleges were initiated into the public school system; *the state's highway system was expanded, updated and put under the management of the state highway commission; and *a constitutional amendment was sanctioned that allowed women to be elected to the General Assembly. Hammill did not run for reelection as governor in 1930, choosing instead to run for 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 ...

. He lost in the Republican primary to Lester J. Dickinson. He died on April 6, 1936, of a heart attack in a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

hotel room and was buried in Britt.

References

External links

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

, Aug. 8, 1927. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammill, John 1875 births 1936 deaths Iowa lawyers Republican Party Iowa state senators Lieutenant Governors of Iowa Republican Party governors of Iowa Iowa State University alumni University of Iowa College of Law alumni People from Linden, Wisconsin People from Britt, Iowa Burials in Iowa 20th-century American politicians