Thomas Ryum Amlie (April 17, 1897 – August 22, 1973) was a

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 ...

from

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 ...

, elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

as a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

from 1931 to 1933 and again from 1935 to 1939 as a member of the

Wisconsin Progressive Party The Wisconsin Progressive Party (1934–1946) was a political party that briefly held a dominant role in Wisconsin politics. History The Party was the brainchild of Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., the sons of the famous Wiscon ...

Biography

Born on a farm near

Binford, North Dakota Binford is a city in Griggs County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 170 at the 2020 census. Binford was founded in 1899. History The Johnson Land Company of Iowa purchased a flax field owned by Gabriel Gabrielson when the Northe ...

, Amlie went to the

Cooperstown, North Dakota Cooperstown is a city in Griggs County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Griggs County. The population was 983 at the 2020 census. Cooperstown was founded in 1882. History The city is named for R. C. Cooper, a bonanza farme ...

high school and then to the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

and

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Amlie received his law degree from

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

and practiced law first in

Beloit, Wisconsin Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people. History Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire, created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sent ...

and then in

Elkhorn, Wisconsin Elkhorn is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located southwest of Milwaukee. As of the 2020 census, it was home to 10,247 people, up from 10,084 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat. Geography Elkhorn is located ...

. In October 1931, Amlie was elected as a Republican to represent

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Racine County, and most of Walworth County, as well as portions of Rock County ...

in the

72nd United States Congress The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 ...

, replacing Henry A. Cooper who had died in office, and served until March 1933. He then switched to the

, an alliance established in 1934 between the longstanding "Progressive" faction of the

of Wisconsin, led by the

La Follette family The La Follette family is a prominent family in the United States, especially in Wisconsin. Many of the family members have pursued political office. Members * Robert M. La Follette, Sr. (1855–1925), District Attorney of Dane County, Wisconsi ...

and their political allies, and certain radical farm and labor groups active in Wisconsin at the time He was reelected on the party ticket to the 74th and

75th United States Congress The 75th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 ...

es and served from January 3, 1935, till January 3, 1939. From 1936, Amlie and the WPP were informally allied with the New Deal coalition and supported the reelection of

President Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. After Amlie left Congress in 1939, the President nominated him to the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

, but Amlie asked that the nomination be withdrawn. In 1938, Amelie served on a committee for the defense of

Fred Beal Fred Erwin Beal (1896–1954) was an American labor-union organizer whose critical reflections on his work and travel in the Soviet Union divided left-wing and liberal opinion. In 1929 he had been a ''cause célèbre'' when, in Gastonia, North Car ...

. Returned from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Beal was facing recommittal in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

where in 1929 as a union organiser he had been convicted in a conspiracy trial. He had been deserted by the Communist-controlled International Labour Defense because of the witness he was now bearing to the realities of

Soviet collectivization The Soviet Union introduced the collectivization (russian: Коллективизация) of its agricultural sector between 1928 and 1940 during the ascension of Joseph Stalin. It began during and was part of the first five-year plan. Th ...

. Serving with Amlie on the committee were Homer Martin of the

UAW The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American Labor unions in the United States, labor union that represents workers in the Un ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Jerry Voorhis Horace Jeremiah "Jerry" Voorhis (April 6, 1901 – September 11, 1984) was a Democratic politician and educator from California who served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1947, representing the 12th ...

; the sociologist and pacifist

Emily Greene Balch Emily Greene Balch (January 8, 1867 – January 9, 1961) was an American economist, sociologist and pacifist. Balch combined an academic career at Wellesley College with a long-standing interest in social issues such as poverty, child labor, a ...

, the New York attorney and feminist

Dorothy Kenyon Dorothy Kenyon (February 17, 1888 – February 12, 1972) was a New York (state), New York attorney at law, attorney, judge, feminist and political activist in support of civil liberties. During the era of McCarthyism, McCarthyite persecution, she ...

and the poet

Sara Bard Field Sara Bard Field (September 1, 1882 – June 15, 1974) was an American poet, suffragist, free love advocate, Georgist, and Christian socialist. She worked on successful campaigns for women's suffrage in Oregon and Nevada. Working with Alice Paul ...

. The Committee reported hostile pressure from members of the ILD and anonymous threats. Returning from Washington DC, Amlie resumed the practice of law in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, where he resided until his death August 22, 1973. Through his brother Hans, he was the brother-in-law of

Milly Bennett Milly Bennett (May 22, 1897 – November 7, 1960) (born Mildred Jacqueline Bremler, also known as Mildred Mitchell and Mildred Amlie) was an American journalist and writer who covered political conditions in China, social conditions in the Soviet ...

Notes

External links

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Amlie, Thomas Ryum 1897 births 1973 deaths People from Griggs County, North Dakota University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin lawyers Wisconsin Progressives (1924) Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin Progressive Party (1924) members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century American politicians People from Elkhorn, Wisconsin 20th-century American lawyers