Leverett Saltonstall

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Senator Saltonstall" redirects here. For other uses, see Senator Saltonstall (disambiguation).
For his great-grandfather, see Leverett Saltonstall I. For his grandfather, see Leverett Saltonstall II.
Leverett Saltonstall
Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
In office
January 1929 – January 1937
Preceded byJohn Hull
Succeeded byHorace T. Cahill
Personal details
Born(1892-09-01)September 1, 1892
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJune 17, 1979(1979-06-17) (aged 86)
Dover, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Alice Wesselhoeft
​
(m. 1916)​
EducationHarvard University (BA, LLB)
NicknameSalty
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1917−1919
Rank First Lieutenant
Unit301st Field Artillery
Battles/warsWorld War I

Leverett A. Saltonstall (September 1, 1892 – June 17, 1979) was an American lawyer and politician from

55th Governor of Massachusetts, and for more than twenty years as a United States senator (1945–1967). Saltonstall was internationalist in foreign policy and moderate on domestic policy, serving as a well-liked mediating force in the Republican Party. He was the only member of the Republican Senate leadership to vote for the censure of Joseph McCarthy
.

Early years

Miss Eleanor Brooks (Mrs. Richard Middlecott Saltonstall), John Singer Sargent, 1890

Leverett Saltonstall was born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to Richard Middlecott Saltonstall and Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall. The Saltonstall family, a wealthy Boston Brahmin family, had deep colonial roots, as did that of his mother.[2] Saltonstall was able to trace his ancestral roots to the Mayflower;[3] his grandfather and great-grandfather, both also named Leverett Saltonstall. His father was a lawyer; his mother was the daughter of Peter C. Brooks III,[4] a beneficiary of the large fortune of his same-named grandfather.[5]

He was educated at the private

crew team that won the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1914 – the first American crew ever to do so.[8] He also played football and hockey,[9] scoring a dramatic overtime goal in a 1914 win over Hobey Baker's Princeton team.[10]

Saltonstall married Alice Wesselhoeft (1893–1981) of

Richard Byrd and a former WAVE; Peter Brooks Saltonstall, killed in action on Guam in 1944; William L. Saltonstall (1927–2009), a member of the Massachusetts Senate; and Susan (1930–1994), a horse breeder.[citation needed
]

Military service and entry into politics

After graduation, Saltonstall entered the

76th Division in World War I, spending six months in France. He was discharged in 1919,[11] and then entered the law firm of his uncle.[2]

Saltonstall, a socially progressive

Speaker of the House, which he held from 1929 to 1937.[2]

In 1930 Saltonstall became a compatriot of the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Governor of Massachusetts

Saltonstall as governor.
See also: 1939 Massachusetts legislature, 1941–1942 Massachusetts legislature, and 1943–1944 Massachusetts legislature

In 1936, Saltonstall decided to seek the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts. In the party convention, conservative forces prevailed in securing the nomination for John W. Haigis. Saltonstall's friends were able to engineer his nomination for lieutenant governor. Both Haigis and Saltonstall were defeated by their Democratic rivals, although Saltonstall's margin of defeat, just over 7,000 votes, was small enough to merit a recount; he demurred. He ran again for governor two years later, and won a decisive victory over former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, who had been involved in a bruising Democratic primary fight against the incumbent Charles F. Hurley.

He was reelected in 1940 and 1942; the 1940 election win was by an extremely narrow margin. During his tenure, Saltonstall mediated a Teamsters strike, reduced taxes, and retired 90 percent of the state's debt. He served as president of the National Governors Association from 1943 to 1944. In 1944, he also served as the fifth president of the Council of State Governments.

U.S. Senator

Saltonstall with Boston Mayor John F. Collins (1960–1968). In 1966, Collins ran to succeed Saltonstall when he retired but lost in the Democratic primary to former Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody (who in turn lost to Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke).

In 1944, Saltonstall was elected to the

Senate Republican Conference, 1957–1967. He was viewed as a political moderate, and served as a mediating force between the party's conservative and progressive wings. He was an unspectacular but effective legislator, good at drafting legislation and finding compromise language. When he left office, after more than thirty years in politics, he had few political enemies.[12] Saltonstall voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[13][14] 1960,[15] and 1964,[16] as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[17][18][19] Saltonstall was one of thirteen Republican senators to vote in favor of the creation of Medicare. As a senator, Saltonstall was described by The Washington Post as neither liberal or conservative, but as being on the side of common sense.[20][21]

Death and legacy

Saltonstall opted not to run for reelection in 1966, in part to provide an opportunity for his seat to Edward Brooke, a rising star in Massachusetts Republican circles. He retired to his farm in Dover, where he spent his remaining years as a gentleman farmer.[12]

Leverett Saltonstall died of

Saltonstall Building in downtown Boston
is named for him.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tobin Becomes State's 53d Governor Today". The Boston Globe. January 4, 1945. p. 1. Retrieved March 16, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Reichard, p. 223
  3. ^ Rosenberg, p. 266
  4. ^ "Saltonstall-Brooks-Lewis family papers (1863-1982)>Biographical Sketches", Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  5. ^ Saltonstall, p. 251
  6. ^ "Leverett Saltonstall Papers, 1906-1981". Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
  7. ^ Bingmann, p. 27
  8. ^ "Leverett Saltonstall and his Harvard Crew". Life Magazine. June 13, 1949. p. 39.
  9. ^ "Massachusetts: Blueblood". Life Magazine. October 17, 1938. p. 13.
  10. ^ Falla, p. 212
  11. ^ Mead, p. 836
  12. ^ a b Reichard, p. 224
  13. ^ "Senate – August 7, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (10). U.S. Government Printing Office: 13900. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  14. ^ "Senate – August 29, 1957" (PDF). Congressional Record. 103 (12). U.S. Government Printing Office: 16478. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  15. ^ "Senate – April 8, 1960" (PDF). Congressional Record. 106 (6). U.S. Government Printing Office: 7810–7811. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  16. ^ "Senate – June 19, 1964" (PDF). Congressional Record. 110 (11). U.S. Government Printing Office: 14511. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  17. ^ "Senate – March 27, 1962" (PDF). Congressional Record. 108 (4). U.S. Government Printing Office: 5105. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  18. ^ "Senate – May 26, 1965" (PDF). Congressional Record. 111 (2). U.S. Government Printing Office: 11752. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "Senate – August 4, 1965" (PDF). Congressional Record. 111 (14). U.S. Government Printing Office: 19378. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  20. ^ TO PASS H.R. 6675, THE SOCIAL SECURITY AMENDMENTS OF 1965
  21. ^ Leverett Saltonstall, "Ex-Senator From Massachusetts, Dies; Richard Pearson," The Washington Post, June 18, 1979

Sources

External links
Political offices
Preceded by
Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

1929–1937 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Massachusetts
1939–1945 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the National Governors Association
1943–1944 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts
1938, 1940, 1942 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Class 2)
1944, 1948, 1954, 1960
 Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Republican Whip
1949–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Chair of the Senate Republican Conference

1957–1967 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by
United States Senator (Class 2) from Massachusetts
1945–1967
Served alongside: David I. Walsh, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., John F. Kennedy, Benjamin A. Smith II, Ted Kennedy
 Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Minority Whip
1949–1953 		Succeeded by
Earle C. Clements
Preceded by Senate Majority Whip
1953–1955
Preceded by
Earle C. Clements
 Senate Minority Whip
1955–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
1953–1955 		Succeeded by
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