Thomas Watt Gregory

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"Attorney General Gregory" redirects here. For the Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands, see Matthew Gregory (attorney).
Thomas Gregory
James C. McReynolds
Succeeded byMitchell Palmer
Personal details
Born
Thomas Watt Gregory

(1861-11-06)November 6, 1861
Crawfordsville,
C.S.
DiedFebruary 26, 1933(1933-02-26) (aged 71)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationRhodes College (BA)
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
University of Texas, Austin (LLB)

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

US Attorney General from 1914 to 1919 under US President Woodrow Wilson
.

Early life

Gregory was born in

Southwestern Presbyterian University, today known as Rhodes College, in 1883, and was a special student at the University of Virginia. Gregory entered the University of Texas at Austin
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 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."[2]

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

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company
.

Attorney General

Gregory golfing in 1920

In 1914, US President

US Attorney General, 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
.

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 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.'"[3]

Thomas Watt Gregory (front) in 1920


In 1916, Wilson wanted to appoint Gregory to the

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

References

  1. ISBN 9781107729391
    .
  2. ^ "The new Attorney General". The Independent. August 31, 1914. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  3. ^ Peterson, H. C.; Fite, Gilbert C. (1957). Opponents of War, 1917-1918. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 20.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
James C. McReynolds
 United States Attorney General
1914–1919 		Succeeded by
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