Charles Joseph Bonaparte
Charles Bonaparte | |
---|---|
46th United States Attorney General | |
In office December 17, 1906 – March 4, 1909 | |
President | Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | William Moody |
Succeeded by | George W. Wickersham |
37th United States Secretary of the Navy | |
In office July 1, 1905 – December 16, 1906 | |
President | Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | Paul Morton |
Succeeded by | Victor H. Metcalf |
Personal details | |
Born | Charles Joseph Bonaparte June 9, 1851 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
Died | June 28, 1921 Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 70)
Resting place | Loudon Park Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Ellen Channing Day (m. 1875) |
Relatives | Jérôme Napoléon Bonaparte (father) Susan May Williams (mother) See Bonaparte family |
Education | Harvard University (BA, LLB) |
Charles Joseph Bonaparte (/ˈboʊnəpɑːrt/; June 9, 1851 – June 28, 1921) was an American lawyer and political activist for progressive and liberal causes. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, he served in the cabinet of the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt. He was a descendant of the House of Bonaparte: his grandfather was Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon.[1]
Bonaparte was the
Early life and education
Bonaparte was born in
Bonaparte graduated from
Career
In 1899, Bonaparte was the keynote speaker for the first graduating class of the Roman Catholic women's institution run by the Order of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the College of Notre Dame of Maryland (now Notre Dame of Maryland University). He spoke on "The Significance of the Bachelor's Degree".
Bonaparte lived in a townhouse in the north Baltimore neighborhood of
Politics
Bonaparte was a founder of the Reform League of Baltimore, organized in 1885. The League gained a clean sweep of municipal elections in 1895: long-time minority progressive liberal Republicans ousted many Democratic machine politicians in heavily Democratic wards. The League men governed with clean hands for a brief time, providing a certain amount of efficient municipal government.
Bonaparte was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners from 1902 to 1904, chairman of the National Civil Service Reform League in 1904, and appointed a trustee of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
In the
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Bonaparte Secretary of the Navy. In 1906 Bonaparte moved to the office of Attorney General, which he held until the end of Roosevelt's term. He was active in suits brought against the trusts and initiated the suit which broke up the monopolistic American Tobacco Company. He became known as "Charlie, the Crook Chaser". In 1908, Bonaparte established a Bureau of Investigation (BOI) within the Department of Justice, under the direction of the Attorney General himself. The BOI later became the FBI.
In the
Personal life
On September 1, 1875, Bonaparte married Ellen Channing Day (1852–1924), daughter of attorney Thomas Mills Day and Anna Jones Dunn. They had no children.
In 1903, he was awarded the
Death
Bonaparte died in Bella Vista at age 70 and is interred at southwest Baltimore's landmark
After Bonaparte's death, the house was later owned by bootleggers Peter and Michael Kelly. After they left, it was destroyed in a fire caused by faulty wiring on January 20, 1933. The site was replaced by a poured concrete mansion, but a large carriage house, dating back to 1896, is still on the estate.[6]
Sources
- Bishop, Joseph Bucklin (1922), Charles Joseph Bonaparte: His Life and Public Services, New York: C. Scribner's Sons
- Goldman, Eric F. (1943), Charles J. Bonaparte: Patrician Reformer, His Earlier Career, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press
References
- .
- ^ Annual Report of the Maryland State Bar Association. Vol. 26. Maryland State Bar Association. 1921. pp. 43–45.
- ^ "FBI — 1935 Washington Star Article". Fbi.gov. Archived from the original on April 11, 2010. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ Shahab Keshavarz. "Charles J. Bonaparte". Italian Historical Society of America. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "Baltimore's Civil Rights Heritage (1885–1929)". baltimoreheritage.github.io. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
White Republican party leaders, including prominent Baltimore lawyer Charles J. Bonaparte, also played a role in rallying opposition to these proposals. Historian Jane L. Phelps noted Bonaparte's opposition to the Poe and Strauss Amendments in 1905 and 1908 (Phelps, "Charles J. Bonaparte and Negro Suffrage in Maryland.") <56>.
- ^ a b Kelly, Jacques. "Houses – Bella Vista". Baltimore County Public Library Legacy Web. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
- ^ Don Bloch (August 18, 1935). "Bonaparte Founded G-Men". FBI. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- ^ Too Close to Call: Presidential Electors and Elections in Maryland, featuring the Presidential Election of 1904. Archives of Maryland Documents for the Classroom.
- ^ "1904 Presidential Electors - Maryland". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ^ Charles Joseph Bonaparte, his life and public services. pp. 256–267.
- ^ "Recipients | The Laetare Medal". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
External links
- Works by or about Charles Joseph Bonaparte at Internet Archive
- Charles Joseph Bonaparte at Find a Grave
- If Walls Could Talk: Chateau Bonaparte on K Street – Ghosts of D.C. blog post on the Bonaparte residence in Washington, DC