William Ellery Sweet (January 27, 1869 – May 9, 1942) was an American banker and politician who served as the 23rd

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

from 1923 to 1925.

Early life and career

William was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, on January 27, 1869, to Channing and Emeroy Sweet. His family moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1872 when William was two. He attended school there, and graduated from high school in 1887. After high school, he went to college in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, at Swarthmore College. He graduated from Swarthmore in 1890, after three years attending, and earned his

Bachelor Degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

. He also excelled playing quarterback for the college football team and was a member of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

fraternity. On October 19, 1892, Sweet married Joyeuse L. Fullerton in Philadelphia. After their marriage, William moved to Denver. He decided to start up an investment banking

firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

, which led the Sweet family to become wealthy, and even let William to retire in 1922. He donated much of his money to charities, including the Denver

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

. It wasn't until 1922 that he became active in politics. He joined the Democratic Party, and he gained most of his support from the farm and labor groups. He was a strong advocate against the Ku Klux Klan, which he believed was why he lost the following election to Clarence Morley, because they were a major influence on Colorado politics at the time. Sweet made two unsuccessful attempts to run for the

U.S. 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 pow ...

in 1926 and 1936. In the final years of his life, William was a proud supporter of the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

, and even supported

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

's bid for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. He died on May 9, 1942, in his Denver home. He had a

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...

style mansion in what is now the Humboldt Street Historic District.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet, William Ellery 1869 births 1942 deaths Democratic Party governors of Colorado Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Denver Candidates in the 1924 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians Colorado Progressives (1924)