Joseph William Martin Jr. (November 3, 1884 – March 6, 1968) was an American Republican politician who served as the 44th

speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

from 1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955. He represented a House district centered on his hometown of North Attleborough, Massachusetts from 1925 to 1967 and was the leader of House Republicans from 1939 until 1959, when he was ousted from leadership after the party's disastrous losses in the 1958 elections. He was the only Republican to serve as Speaker in a sixty-four year period from 1931 to 1995. He was a "

compassionate conservative Compassionate conservatism is an American political philosophy that stresses using conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society. The philosophy supports the implementation of policies designed to help the ...

" who opposed 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 ...

and supported the

conservative coalition The conservative coalition, founded in 1937, was an unofficial alliance of members of the United States Congress which brought together the conservative wings of the Republican and Democratic parties to oppose President Franklin Delano Rooseve ...

of Republicans and southern Democrats. Early in his career, Martin worked as a newspaper editor and served in both houses of the Massachusetts General Court. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1924. He was elected House Minority Leader after the 1938 elections. He also served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1940 to 1942 at the behest of Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican presidential nominee. Martin presided over five

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

s and frequently became involved in presidential politics. He urged General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

to seek the 1952 Republican presidential nomination, and supporters of Robert A. Taft accused Martin of favoring Dwight D. Eisenhower in Martin's role as chairman of the contentious

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president and ...

. After Eisenhower won the 1952 election, Martin supported Eisenhower's internationalist foreign policy. Martin lost his position as Republican leader after the party lost seats in the

1958 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1958. * 1958 Cardinal electors in Papal conclave * 1958 Papal conclave Africa * 1958 French Togoland parliamentary election * 1958 Nigerien Constituent Assembly election * 1958 South African general e ...

. He was succeeded by his more conservative deputy,

Charles A. Halleck Charles Abraham Halleck (August 22, 1900 – March 3, 1986) was an American politician. He was the Republican leader of the United States House of Representatives from the second district of Indiana. Early life and education Halleck was born nea ...

. Martin continued to serve in Congress until his defeat in the 1966 Republican primary by Margaret Heckler. Martin died in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

in 1968.

Background

Joseph Martin was born in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, the son of Catherine (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Keating) and Joseph William Martin, a blacksmith. Keating was born in Ireland in 1862, immigrated from Dublin to New York City in 1878, and settled in Newark, New Jersey where she met Martin Sr., and they married on July 2, 1882; because Martin was a Presbyterian, the union required a matrimonial dispensation (although, because Martin Sr. was a Presbyterian, it was relatively easy to obtain). Martin Jr. graduated from

North Attleborough High School North Attleborough High School is a public high school in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, United States, educating grades 9 through 12 with over one thousand students enrolled. History North Attleborough High School was located in the current ...

, where he played shortstop on the school baseball team. He also played semi-professional ball in an intercity league, from which he earned ten dollars per game. Martin worked for the ''Evening Chronicle'', first as a newspaper delivery boy and then as the managing editor and publisher. In his autobiography, entitled ''My First Fifty Years in Politics'', Martin describes the North Attleborough in which he was reared: :I made still more friends as a delivery boy for the North Attleborough ''Evening Chronicle''. Our world was much smaller and more intimate then than it is now 960 The population of the town was only four thousand, and it seemed that everyone knew everyone else. The men and women were more disposed than they are today to give a young fellow a lift when he was starting out. No one bothers anymore. People are colder, more indifferent than they used to be. Though Martin had intended to attend Dartmouth College, he instead remained with his newspaper work, where his future prospects seemed promising. "I felt that I should keep working and take some of the burden off my parents by helping put my younger brothers through college", noting that he used most of his $750 annual salary as a state senator to defray Edward's expenses at Dartmouth.

Career

Martin served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1912–1914), Massachusetts Senate (1914–1917) and the United States House of Representatives (1925–1967). He was a presidential elector in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

. Martin was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1940 to 1942, having been recruited to that position by presidential nominee Wendell Willkie, whose nomination came as a complete surprise to political pro Martin. During the

, he stood out as a major opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies and opposed his internationalist outlook on foreign affairs. However, he supported a few New Deal measures, such as the establishment of the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

. During the 1940 presidential campaign, Martin achieved a measure of notoriety as one-third of President Roosevelt's famous denunciation of "Martin, Barton and Fish." The other two were fellow GOP House members Bruce Fairchild Barton and

Hamilton Fish III Hamilton Fish III (born Hamilton Stuyvesant Fish and also known as Hamilton Fish Jr.; December 7, 1888 – January 18, 1991) was an American soldier and politician from United States Congressional Delegations from New York, New York State. Born ...

. Martin won re-election in 1946 against the social justice activist Martha Sharp. During his campaign, he called the 41-year-old woman a "little girl". After 1952, Martin joined the moderate wing of the Republican Party and supported Dwight D. Eisenhower's internationalist outlook (through support of foreign aid), endorsed federal aid for school construction, and backed Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. He entered Congress when Massachusetts was a historically Republican state. As Democrats gained overwhelming strength over the years, Martin managed to hold on to his House seat despite ongoing

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. In his autobiography, Martin explains: In 1960, McGraw-Hill published ''My First Fifty Years in Politics'', by Joe Martin as told to Robert J. Donovan, a lively and detailed account of Martin's role in American politics over half-a-century. Martin was the longtime publisher of ''The Evening Chronicle'' newspaper in North Attleborough. After his death it merged with a nearby rival and became '' The Sun Chronicle'' newspaper.

Leadership

Martin was elected House Minority Leader following Republican gains in the

1938 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1938. Africa * 1938 South African general election Asia * 1938 Philippine general election * 1938 Philippine legislative election * 1938 Soviet Union regional elections Europe * 1938 Estonian parlia ...

. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives on two separate occasions from 1947 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1955. The terms represented two Republican short-term majorities in the House, and Martin's two terms were bookended by

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

, the Texas Democrat and mentor of Lyndon Johnson with whom Martin enjoyed a warm personal relationship. In 1948, Martin traveled with his presidential nominee

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

in North Attleborough, where Martin's mother, Catherine (died 1957), told the confident Dewey, the

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

, that he was too complacent in the campaign and could not take victory for granted. "Don't take it so easy," she admonished. Later Dewey confessed to Martin that Dewey could be more forceful in speaking on behalf of other candidates, such as Eisenhower, than he could for himself because of Dewey's innate hesitancy to tout his own abilities. Probably the most controversial moment of Martin's congressional career came in April 1951, when he read on the floor of Congress a letter he had received from General

, who was commanding US troops fighting in the Korean War. President Harry S Truman had decided on peace negotiations as the best way out of the grinding conflict. MacArthur's letter, written in response to one from Martin asking for the general's views on Truman's policy, was scathingly critical of the president. Martin had hoped that disclosing the letter's contents would bolster MacArthur's case. Instead, it ignited a political firestorm and demands for his removal. Six days after Martin read the letter on the House floor, Truman dismissed MacArthur. Despite the unintended outcome, Martin and MacArthur remained friends. Martin invited the general to deliver what became known popularly as the "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech before a joint meeting of Congress following his dismissal. In 1952, Martin urged MacArthur to seek the Republican presidential nomination. MacArthur, however, favored

U.S. Senator 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 powe ...

Robert A. Taft, of Ohio, who lost the nomination to Willkie in 1940, to Dewey in 1948, and to Eisenhower in 1952. Eisenhower then defeated Governor

Adlai E. Stevenson II Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician and diplomat who was twice the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. He was the grandson of Adlai Stevenson I, the 23rd vice president of ...

of Illinois. In his capacity as leader of the House Republicans, Martin presided over the

on five occasions between 1940 and 1956. In 1940, he was instrumental in the choice of Senate Minority Leader Charles L. McNary of Oregon as Wendell Willkie's running mate. Martin's most controversial role was at the

, when several of his rulings were seen as tilting the nomination to Eisenhower over Taft. In preparation for the 1952 elections, Martin traveled to

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

, Arkansas, for a regional Republican meeting called by the state party chairman Osro Cobb, a former member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

, to unveil a potential strategy to make the party competitive in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. "We came away from the meeting more determined and better prepared to advance the two-party system in the South," recalled Cobb in his memoirs, as the Republicans won at the presidential level that year in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. Martin was in the Speaker's chair and presided over the House on March 1, 1954 when four Puerto Rican independence activists opened fire on the House, wounding five Representatives. Martin declared the House in recess as he sought cover behind a marble pillar on the rostrum. Martin would be the last Republican to serve as Speaker of the House until the appointment of

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

of Georgia 40 years later. Martin remained the leader of the House Republicans until

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, when the party experienced heavy losses in that year's elections. In the aftermath, Martin was ousted from the leadership by his deputy,

. Despite the defeat, Martin chose to remain as a backbench member of the House. Eight years later, in 1966, he was ousted from his seat in the Republican primary by a more liberal Republican, Margaret Heckler, who was 46 years his junior. He was also one of seven Speakers to serve more than one non-consecutive term and the second Republican to do so. Martin voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. Martin died in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, Florida, on March 6, 1968.

Legacy

Today in his hometown of North Attleborough, the Joseph W. Martin Jr. Elementary School bears his name, as does the Joseph W. Martin Institute for Law and Society which houses his personal archives. The Martin Institute is located at

Stonehill College Stonehill College is a Private college, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on ...

North Easton Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area. Easton is governed by an elected Select Board. Open Town Meeting acts as the legislative branch ...

, Massachusetts. In 2007, the North Attleborough High School Alumni Association established the Joseph W. Martin Jr. Distinguished Alumni Award to recognize the outstanding professional and civic achievements of the men and women who are former students of North Attleborough High School.

References

External links