John Thomas Taylor

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
John Thomas Taylor
Cross of the Legion of Honor
RelationsLouis Elizabeth Catlin, wife; Stuart Taylor, son
Other workLobbyist for the American Legion

John Thomas Taylor (1886 – May 21, 1965) was an American

U.S. Congress that benefited veterans[3]
and was on the cover of Time magazine.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[4] He graduated from Temple University where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity in 1909.[3] He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.[5]

Military career and personal life

Taylor enlisted in the

U.S. Army on the day the U.S. entered World War I. During that war he attained the rank of captain and was in four offensives during his seventeen months in Europe. He served with both the 27th and 79th divisions. At the end of the war his unit was stationed in occupied Germany.[5][3][6]

Taylor married Louis Elizabeth Catlin on August 21, 1926, in

Washington, DC.[7] They would have one son, Stuart, in 1940.[8]

In 1941, three months before

Sicily, Italy, and Southern France.[3] During this time he was promoted to Brigadier General.[5]

American Legion lobbyist

At the end of World War I, Taylor was a delegate to the caucus in Paris that established the American Legion. After returning to the United States in 1919, he became Vice Chairman of the Legion's National Legislative Committee and chief lobbyist. His law office in Washington served as the organization's temporary headquarters and he would spend most of the next thirty-one years with the organization.[3][5] He also witnessed President Woodrow Wilson's signing the articles of incorporation for the Legion.[6]

Taylor was described by one reporter, Clarence Woodbury of

servicemen by more than 13 billion dollars.[3] Another reporter, with the North American Review, suspected that he received "a good deal more fun out of his profession than the average lobbyist."[9] In 1932, when President Herbert Hoover described "a locust swarm of lobbyists" that haunted the halls of Congress, Time magazine named Taylor as one of the agents who was paid $10,000 per year for their actions.[10] He made it a point to know every member of Congress by their first name.[6]

John Pershing
in 1938 or 1939

Almost immediately upon his return from Europe at the end of World War I, Taylor became an effective

U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1922 for a referendum they conducted on the soldiers' bonus plan. The referendum came out against the plan, so Taylor sent a letter to every U.S. Senator explaining the American Legion's position.[12] He was eventually able to get the World War Adjusted Compensation Act passed in 1924.[6]

In 1931, Taylor was appointed to the President's Advisory Committee on Veteran Preference. In April of that year it recommended that veterans be given preference in civil service hiring. This resulted in President Hoover signing

Executive Order 5610 on April 24.[13]

Taylor appeared on the January 31, 1935 cover of

Cross of the Legion of Honor from Marshall Philippe Pétain.[6]

During a bitter vote on bonuses in the 1930s, Taylor brought the Speaker of the House a petition with 1.5 million signatures and had fifty crippled officers placed in the House gallery's front row to watch the debate.[6]

The Legion saw itself as the defender of veterans as well as

John Elliott Rankin.[18]

When Taylor returned to the U.S. after World War II, he was not satisfied with the original version of the

G.I. Bill of Rights. He was able to have it amended in ten different places.[6] He also worked with President Harry S. Truman and others to create several national cemeteries.[19]

Death

Taylor died of a heart attack and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Sec: 2, Site: 3408-4 .[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "Legion invites Roosevelt". Library of Congress.
  2. ^ Chenelly, Joseph R. (3 October 2011). "The 1930s: Challenging Times". Disabled American Veterans.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Sigma Pi In The News, The Veterans' One-Man Army" (PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 33, no. 3. November 1946. p. 130.
  4. ^ "United States Census, 1930". National Archives and Records Administration.
  5. ^ a b c d e "J. T. TAYLOR, ONE OF LEGION FOUNDERS, DIES". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. May 22, 1965. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "John Thomas Taylor Dies" (Press release). Indianapolis, Indiana: American Legion News Service. May 28, 1965. pp. 179–180. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  7. ^ "District of Columbia Marriages, 1811–1950, John Thomas Taylor and Louise Elizabeth Catlin, 1926". District of Columbia.
  8. ^ "United States Census, 1940". National Archives and Records Administration.
  9. OL 1860441M
    .
  10. ^ "National Affairs. Locusts". Time. May 16, 1932.
  11. ^ Bureau of Veteran Reestablishment: Hearing Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives, Sixty-sixth Congress, Third Session, on H.R. 14961. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1921. pp. 6–8. Retrieved April 18, 2017., Vol. 64, Pg. 6-8
  12. ^ "POLL ON THE BONUS ASSAILED BY LEGION". The New York Times. New York, New York. April 3, 1922. p. 14. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "Executive Order 5610—Amendment of the Civil Service Rules Relating to Veterans' Preference". The American Presidency Project.
  14. ^ "Time Magazine - John Thomas Taylor, American Legion Lobbyist - January 31,1935". ebay.com.
  15. ^ "The American Legion 40th National Convention: official program [1958]". The American Legion. 1958.
  16. ^ Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, Hearings. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1947. pp. 3–20. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  17. ^ Krishnaiyer, Kartik (4 September 2015). "Flashback Friday: 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, "Murder at Matecumbe"". The Florida Squeeze.
  18. ISBN 978-0-8027-7738-6
  19. ^ "The President's Day". Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Thomas_Taylor&oldid=1197983348"