Wallace Humphrey White Jr. (August 6, 1877 – March 31, 1952) was an American politician and Republican leader in the United States Congress from 1917 until 1949. White was from the U.S. state of Maine and served in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate, where he was Senate Minority Leader and later Majority Leader before his retirement.

Wallace White
White c. 1924
Senate Majority Leader
In office
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
DeputyKenneth S. Wherry
Preceded byAlben W. Barkley
Succeeded byScott W. Lucas
Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
In office
February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1949
DeputyKenneth S. Wherry
Preceded byCharles L. McNary
Succeeded byKenneth S. Wherry
Chair of the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee
In office
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Preceded byBurton K. Wheeler
Succeeded byEdwin C. Johnson
Senate Minority Leader
In office
February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1947
Acting: February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1945
DeputyKenneth S. Wherry
Preceded byCharles L. McNary
Succeeded byAlben W. Barkley
Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference
In office
January 3, 1941 – February 25, 1944
LeaderCharles L. McNary
Preceded byFrederick Hale
Succeeded byHarold Hitz Burton
United States Senator
from Maine
In office
March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1949
Preceded byArthur R. Gould
Succeeded byMargaret Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1931
Preceded byDaniel J. McGillicuddy
Succeeded byDonald B. Partridge
Personal details
Born
Wallace Humphrey White Jr.

(1877-08-06)August 6, 1877
Lewiston, Maine, U.S.
DiedMarch 31, 1952(1952-03-31) (aged 74)
Auburn, Maine, U.S.
Resting placeMt. Auburn Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
SpouseNina Lumbard
RelationsWilliam P. Frye (grandfather)
EducationBowdoin College (BA)

Background

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White was born in Lewiston, Maine. His grandfather, William P. Frye, was also a prominent political figure, having served as a Senator from Maine and President pro tempore. In 1899, White graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick. After graduating, he became the assistant clerk to the Senate Committee on Commerce and later secretary to his grandfather. White studied law and was admitted to the bar, afterward beginning to practice in Lewiston.

Career

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The political career of White began when he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1916. He took office on March 4 of the following year and served until March 3, 1931 (65th71st Congresses).[1] He left the House in 1931 after being elected to the Senate in late 1930.

In Congress, White served as chairman of the House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice (66th Congress), the House Committee on Woman Suffrage (67th through 69th Congresses), the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (70th and 71st Congresses), and the Senate Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (80th Congress). He also served as a presidential appointee on a variety of commissions.

White was reelected in 1936 and 1942 and served from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1949. He was elected minority leader by his colleagues (1944–1947), and became majority leader when his party held a majority in the 80th Congress (1947–1949). According to John Gunther's 1947 book Inside U.S.A., as the titular party floor leader, "his chief function is to hold the balance between two much more dominant and vivid men, Taft and Vandenberg...Everybody likes White; few people pay much attention to him."

White was one of a handful of senators who voted against the elevation of Hugo Black to the Supreme Court in 1937 based on his previous Klan membership.[2]

He was not a candidate for renomination in 1948. In 1952, White died in Auburn and is interred at the Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

Family

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White was married twice, first to Anna Pratt of Lewiston in 1903. One son, Herbert Frye White, was born in 1904. In 1914, Anna Pratt White and an infant daughter Helen Hayden White both died in childbirth. In 1917 White married widow Nina Lumbard Lunn. Nina Lunn was the widow of Ralph Lunn and she brought to the marriage a son, Richard Lunn and daughter, Nina Katherine Lunn.

References

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  1. ^ "Senate Leaders: Wallace H. White- Powerless to his Party". U.S. Senate:Art & History Home >Senate Leaders. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  2. ^ "Dons Robe of Supreme Court Justice in October", Nashua Telegraph, Aug. 18, 1937, p. 6
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 2nd congressional district

1917–1931
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the House Justice Department Expenditures Committee
1919–1921
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the House Woman Suffrage Committee
1921–1927
Position abolished
Preceded by Chair of the House Merchant Marine Committee
1927–1931
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Maine
(Class 2)

1930, 1936, 1942
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference
1941–1944
Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Republican Leader
1944–1949
Acting: 1944–1945
Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Maine
1931–1949
Served alongside: Frederick Hale, Owen Brewster
Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Minority Leader
1944–1947
Acting: 1944–1945
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee
1947–1949
Succeeded by
Preceded by Senate Majority Leader
1947–1949
Succeeded by