Thomas Hopkinson Eliot (June 14, 1907 – October 14, 1991) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis and as a congressman in the

United States House of Representatives 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 ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Early life

A great-grandson of Samuel Atkins Eliot and grandson of

Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfor ...

, Eliot was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, Massachusetts into the prominent

Eliot family Eliot family may refer to: * Eliot family (America) * Eliot family (South England) **Earl of St Germans, subsidiary title Baron Eliot See also *Elliot Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which ...

. He attended Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1928 and was a student at Emmanuel College in

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, from 1928 to 1929. He graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

in 1932 and was admitted to the bar in 1933, commencing practice in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. He served as assistant solicitor in the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...

from 1933 to 1935 and as general counsel for the Social Security Board from 1935 to 1937. He was a lecturer on government at

from 1937 to 1938, and regional director of the Wage and Hour Division in the Department of Labor from 1939 to 1940.

Career

Congressman Tom Eliot of Massachusetts chatting with a delegate from his state8d23158v

In 1938 Eliot, a Democrat, ran for election to the Seventy-sixth Congress, losing to

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 ...

Robert Luce Robert Luce (December 2, 1862 – April 7, 1946) was a United States representative from Massachusetts. Biography Born in Auburn, Maine, Luce attended the public schools of Auburn and Lewiston, Maine, and Somerville, Massachusetts. He gra ...

. Eliot defeated Luce in a rematch in 1940, winning election to the Seventy-seventh Congress (January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1942 to the Seventy-eighth Congress and for nomination in 1944 to the Seventy-ninth Congress; both times his successful opponent was the colorful longtime Boston politician

James M. Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...

. Eliot saw war service in 1943 as director of the British Division, Office of War Information, London, England, and special assistant to the United States Ambassador. From 1943 to 1944 he was chairman of the appeals committee of the National War Labor Board. He served with the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

in 1944, and from November 1944 to November 1945 was chief counsel of the Division of Power, U.S. Department of the Interior. In addition, Eliot served as

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

chairman of the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universitie ...

. After the war, Eliot engaged in the practice of law in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

from 1945 to 1950, before returning to university life. From 1950 to 1952 he served as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Special Commission on the Structure of the State Government. In 1952 he was appointed professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis, where he wrote ''Governing America; the Politics of a Free People: National, State, and Local Government'', and ''American Government: Problems and Readings in Political Analysis''. He was a professor of constitutional law from 1958 to 1961. In 1961 he moved to the Washington University College of Liberal Arts, serving as dean from 1961 to 1962, and chancellor from 1962 to 1971. He also served as vice chairman of the United States Commission on Intergovernmental Relations from 1964 to 1966 and as president of the Salzburg Global Seminar from 1971 to 1977; and as a teacher at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts (his high school alma mater, which had merged with another school), from 1977 to 1985.

Personal life and Death

He married Lois Jameson and they had two children. Eliot was a resident of Cambridge until his death there in 1991. He was interred at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brah ...

, Massachusetts.

Bibliography

* Eliot, Thomas H. ''Recollections of the New Deal: When the People Mattered.'' Edited with an introduction by

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through t ...

. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992; * Eliot, Thomas H. ''Public and Personal.'' Edited by Frank O'Brien. St. Louis: Washington University Press, 1971.

References

External links

Biographical entry
at Washington University in St. Louis

at the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify f ...

Salzburg Global Seminar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliot, Thomas Hopkinson 1907 births 1991 deaths American Unitarians Eliot family (America) Harvard Law School alumni Chancellors of Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis faculty Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni 20th-century American politicians Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from Buffalo, New York Lawyers from St. Louis Lawyers from Boston Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel Truman administration personnel Alumni of the University of Cambridge Harvard University alumni