Thomas Watt Gregory (November 6, 1861February 26, 1933) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a progressive and attorney who served as

US Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

from 1914 to 1919 under US President

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 ...

Early life

Gregory was born in Crawfordsville, Mississippi. He graduated from the Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) in 1881 and Southwestern Presbyterian University, today known as

Rhodes College Rhodes College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. Historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Sout ...

, in 1883, and was a special student at 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 highly selective ad ...

. Gregory entered the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

in 1884 and graduated a year later with a degree in law. He began the practice of law in Austin in 1885 and served as a regent of the University of Texas for eight years.

Gregory Gymnasium Gregory Gymnasium is the 4,000-seat current home of the University of Texas Longhorn women's volleyball team, and former home of the Longhorn basketball and swimming teams. The basketball teams moved out in 1977 to the Erwin Center. It also serve ...

was named in honor of his efforts to provide an adequate exercise facility for the students and faculty of the university. He declined appointment as assistant attorney general of Texas in 1892 and an appointment to the state bench in 1896, but he "gained experience as a trust prosecutor as a special counsel for the state of Texas." He embraced the progressive rhetoric of the early 20th century by his condemnations of "plutocratic power," "predatory wealth," and "the greed of the party spoilsmen" and participated in Edward M. House's Democratic coalition. Gregory was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at St. Louis and at state delegate at-large at the Baltimore convention. He was appointed Special Assistant to the

in 1913 in the investigation and proceedings against the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.

Attorney General

In 1914, US President

appointed him

, an office that Gregory held until 1919. Despite a continuing commitment to progressive reform, Gregory provoked enormous controversy performance as attorney general because of his collaboration with Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson and others in orchestrating a campaign to crush domestic dissent during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Gregory helped frame the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which compromised the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and press, and he lobbied for their passage. He encouraged extralegal surveillance by the

American Protective League The American Protective League (1917-1919) was an organization of private citizens sponsored by the United States Department of Justice that worked with Federal law enforcement agencies during the World War I era. Its mission to identify suspected ...

and directed the federal prosecutions of more than 2000 opponents of the war: "By 1918 the Attorney General was able to declare, 'It is safe to say that never in its history has this country been so thoroughly policed.'" In 1916, Wilson wanted to appoint Gregory to the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

, but Gregory declined the offer because of his impaired hearing, his eagerness to participate in Wilson's re-election campaign, and his belief that he lacked the necessary temperament to be a judge. He was a member of Wilson's Second Industrial Conference in 1919 and 1920.

Death and legacy

During a trip to New York to confer with Franklin Roosevelt, Gregory contracted pneumonia and died. He is buried in Austin. His portrait was painted in 1917 by the Swiss-born American artist

Adolfo Müller-Ury Adolfo Müller-Ury, KSG (March 29, 1862 – July 6, 1947) was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life. Heritage and early life in Switzerland He was born Felice Adolfo Müller on 29 March ...

(1862–1947) and hangs in the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

References

External links

Handbook of Texas Online: Thomas W. Gregory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Thomas Watt 1861 births 1933 deaths Texas lawyers United States Attorneys General Woodrow Wilson administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) alumni People from Austin, Texas People born in the Confederate States