Frederick Hale

From Conservapedia

Frederick Hale

Former U.S. Senator from Maine
From: March 4, 1917 – January 3, 1941

Predecessor

Charles Johnson

Successor

Ralph Owen Brewster

Former State Representative from Maine
From: 1905–1906

Predecessor

???

Successor

???

Information

Party

Republican

Religion

Congregationalist^[1]

Frederick Hale (October 7, 1874 – September 28, 1963) was a Maine Republican who was as the state's U.S. senator from the late 1910s to the early 1940s, previously for a term in the lower state legislature. He came from a political dynasty, as both his father Eugene Hale and abolitionist maternal grandfather Zachariah Chandler were also senators.^[2]

His cousin Robert S. Hale was also a state representative, and in addition represented Maine's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight consecutive terms.

1 Early life and career
2 Political career
- 2.1 U.S. Senate
  - 2.1.1 1910s and 20s
  - 2.1.2 FDR presidency
3 Death
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Early life and career[edit]

Hale was born in Detroit, Michigan to the former Mary Douglass Chandler and Eugene Hale. After attending preparatory schools in Massachusetts and New Jersey, he enrolled in Harvard University, graduating in 1896. Hale then attended Columbia University, and practiced law in Portland, Maine after being admitted to the bar.

He had an older brother, Chandler Hale (1873–1951), and a younger brother, Eugene Hale, Jr. (1876–1932). The former was the Third Assistant Secretary of State under the presidency of William Howard Taft while the latter was a member of the New York Stock Exchange.^[3]

Political career[edit]

Hale was from 1912 to 1918 a member of the Republican National Committee.

Hale in the 1910s.

U.S. Senate[edit]

Hale was narrowly elected to the Senate in the 1916 elections,^[4] and handily won re-election in 1922^[5] and 1928.^[6] In the latter race, he faced the KKK-backed governor Ralph Owen Brewster in the primary, though was easily nominated by a landslide.^[7]

1910s and 20s[edit]

Hale (left) in 1930 with senatorial colleagues Guy D. Goff, Robert Carey, and Robert La Follette, Jr.

Hale opposed^[8] and voted against^[9] the Sedition Act of 1918 during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. He also opposed the globalist League of Nations.^[10]

During the presidency of Calvin Coolidge, a proposal was made by fellow Republican senator Reed Smoot of Utah to reduce the top income tax rate to 32%.^[11] Although the majority of the GOP including Hale supported the measure, it was defeated in a 36–47 vote.^[12] Hale also voted against an amendment introduced by the bigoted, racist North Carolina insurrectionist Furnifold Simmons^[11] to raise the maximum income tax rate by 2.5%.^[13]

FDR presidency[edit]

A fierce opponent of the liberal agenda during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hale resisted New Deal programs^[10] at an even greater frequency than his Maine senatorial colleague Wallace H. White.^[14] This includes his vote against the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act), which White supported.^[15] Along with White in 1937, he was one of sixteen senators to vote against the confirmation of Klansman Hugo Black to the United States Supreme Court.^[16]

Hale faced a strong challenge in the 1934 Midterm Elections; even though Maine was a strongly Republican state during the era, the Great Depression and resulting heavy backlash against the GOP proved to be formidable. He was only re-elected over Democrat opponent F. Harold Dubord by a margin of 0.43 percentage points.^[17]

Hale retired from the Senate in 1940 and was succeeded by his intraparty foe Brewster. He missed 10% of all roll call votes during his tenure.^[18] Throughout his career, he voted with the conservative side an average of 91% of the time, according to an ideology tracking method by FascinatingPolitics.com.^[19]