William Cabell Bruce (March 12, 1860May 9, 1946) was an American politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who represented the State of Maryland 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 ...

from 1923 to 1929.

Background

Bruce was born in

Charlotte County, Virginia Charlotte County is a United States county located in the south central part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is the town of Charlotte Court House. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 11,529. Charlotte County is p ...

to Charles and Sarah Alexander (Seddon) Bruce (a sister of

James Seddon James Alexander Seddon (July 13, 1815 – August 19, 1880) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a Representative in the U.S. Congress, as a member of the Democratic Party. He was appointed Confederate States Secre ...

), and received an academic education at Norwood High School and College in

Nelson County, Virginia Nelson County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,775. Its county seat is Lovingston. Nelson County is part of the Charlottesville, VA Metropolitan Statistica ...

. He later attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

where he bested

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 P ...

in both a highly contested formal debate and an essay competition. In 1882, he graduated from the

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S. Its location places Maryland ...

Career

Bruce was admitted to the Maryland

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

the same year and commenced law practice in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. In addition to his career in law, Bruce was also writer, and received a Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for his book '' Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed''. Bruce began his political career in the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

, serving from 1894 to 1896, and was appointed as president of the Senate in 1896. He served as head of the city law department of Baltimore from 1903 to 1908; as a member of the Baltimore Charter Commission in 1910; and as general counsel to the Maryland Public Service Commission from 1910 to 1922, at which time he resigned. Bruce was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator in 1916, but achieved election six years later in the election of 1922. Bruce was defeated in the next election in 1928 by Republican

Phillips Lee Goldsborough Phillips Lee Goldsborough I (August 6, 1865October 22, 1946), was an American Republican politician and member of the United States Senate representing State of Maryland from 1929 to 1935. He was also the 47th Governor of Maryland from 1912 to ...

, and resumed the practice of law in Baltimore until 1937, when he retired.

Personal and death

Bruce married Louise Este Fisher on October 15, 1887. They had four sons, William Fisher Bruce, James Cabell Bruce, William Cabell Bruce, and David K. E. Bruce. He died in Ruxton, Maryland, on May 9, 1946. He is buried at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church Cemetery in Garrison, Maryland.

Select works

* ''Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed: A Biographical Sketch and Critical Study Based Mainly on His Own Writings''; New York, London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1917. (Available online
Vol. IVol. II
) * ''Below the James: A Plantation Sketch''; New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1918. (Availabl
online
) * ''John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773–1833; A Biography Based Largely on New Material'', in 2 volumes; New York, London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1922. (Available online
Vol. IVol. II
) * ''Imaginary Conversations with Franklin'', G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1933. * ''Recollections: and, The Inn of Existence'', 1936. * (1891)

References

External links