Charles Marron Fickert (February 23, 1873 – October 19, 1937) was American lawyer, politician, and college football player and coach. He was the district attorney of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

from 1909 until 1920, best known for prosecuting

Thomas Mooney Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 – March 6, 1942) was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It quickly became apparent that ...

and

Warren Billings Warren Knox Billings (July 4, 1893 – September 4, 1972) was a labor leader and political activist, who was convicted with Thomas Mooney of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It is believed that the two were wrongly convicted ...

for the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916.

College and football career

Born in Kern County, California, Fickert entered Stanford University in 1894, where he studied law and played guard on the university's football team. In 1901, Fickert was the first Stanford alumnus to serve as head football coach at his alma mater. He led Stanford to a 3–2–2 record in 1901 and an appearance in the first ever college football

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...

, the

1902 Rose Bowl Originally titled the "Tournament East–West football game," what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was first played on January 1, 1902, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California, starting the tradition of New Year's Day bowl games. The inaug ...

, where his team lost, 49–0, to the Michigan Wolverines.

Head coaching record

Political career

Admitted to the California Bar in 1895 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, he arrived in San Francisco and joined the law offices of

Edward Robeson Taylor Edward Robeson Taylor (September 24, 1838 – July 5, 1923) was the 28th Mayor of San Francisco, serving from July 16, 1907, to January 7, 1910. Early life Edward Robeson Taylor was born on September 24, 1838, in Springfield, Illinois, the onl ...

, who soon replaced Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz when Schmitz was indicted during the graft trials. Fickert's first public office was assistant

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, serving for two years. He then successfully opposed special prosecutor for the DA's office Francis J. Heney for DA in the fall of 1909. He was regularly reelected until defeat by Matthew Brady in 1920. In 1918, he ran for the

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 ...

nomination for Governor of California, but was defeated by incumbent William Stephens. Fickert was in office in 1916 and drew national attention and scandal for his prosecution of labor leaders

and Warren K. Billings during the Preparedness Day Bombing. Witnesses claimed Fickert coached them to perjure themselves in subsequent hearings in order to defend the original convictions. Fickert continued his battles with his fists, first against Heney at the Olympic Club and later against editor Fremont Older at the Palace Hotel. A 1919 grand jury exonerated Fickert from charges made by John B. Densmore, investigator from Washington, Director General of Employment, in the framing of Mooney and Billings and for his having conspired with Pete McDonough in the freeing of wealthy defendants. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

declared, "anyone assailing Fickert for prosecuting anarchists should be deprived of citizenship".

Later life

Fickert's wife, Ethel Wallace Fickert, obtained a divorce from him in 1935, citing excessive drinking and gambling and was awarded the Fickert home at 1060 Green Street in San Francisco. Fickert died of pneumonia at October 19, 1937 at Franklin Hospital.

References

Additional sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fickert, Charles 1873 births 1937 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football guards California local politicians California Republicans District attorneys in California Lawyers from San Francisco Stanford Cardinal football players Stanford Cardinal football coaches People from Kern County, California Coaches of American football from California Players of American football from California