Gerald Nye
Encyclopedia
Gerald Prentice Nye was a United States
politician, representing North Dakota
in the U.S. Senate
from 1925-45. He was a Republican
and supporter of WWII-era isolationism
, chairing the Nye Committee
which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I.
to Irwin Raymond Nye and Phoebe Ella Nye (née Prentice). Both of his grandfathers had served in the Civil War
: Freeman James Nye in the 43rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
and George Washington Prentice in the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.
He was the first of four children. In his first year he and his parents moved to Wittenberg, Wisconsin
, where his father became owner and editor of a small newspaper. Three more children were born there: Clair Irwin, Donald Oscar, and Marjorie Ella. Nye's father was a staunch supporter of Progressive Robert M. La Follette
, and Nye personally remembered his father's taking him to hear Senator La Follette speak and then meet the Senator afterwards. (Years later, Gerald Nye and Robert LaFollette the younger would serve in the U.S. Senate together.) His uncle, Wallace G. Nye
, was Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
when Gerald was in his teens.
His mother, Ella, had been diagnosed with tuberculosis
. Family history indicates that she may have been asthmatic. She made trips to the South for recuperation, but on October 19, 1906 she died. He was thirteen; his brothers, ten and eight; and his baby sister, six. He was comforted by the presence of his four grandparents at the funeral.
Nye graduated from Wittenberg High School in 1911, at age 18, and moved back to his grandparents' town of Hortonville, Wisconsin
.
, The Fryburg Pioneer.
. When U.S. Senator Edwin F. Ladd
died on June 22, 1925, he and others gathered in the office of North Dakota Governor A.G. Sorlie, who told the group that he had decided to appoint "Jerry over here" to fill the seat.
Nye and his young family moved to Washington in 1925. Nye's youth and lack of sophistication were the talk of the town. He had a bowl haircut that was ridiculed. But he became a very active, popular and outspoken Senator, and North Dakotans elected him to three full terms, in 1926, 1932, and 1938.
He served on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Defense Committee and the Public Lands Committee. As Chairman of Public Lands, he dealt with the Teapot Dome investigations and the formation of Grand Teton National Park
. He was instrumental in passing legislation to protect public access to the sea coasts. He initially supported Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt
and his New Deal
. He supported the political positions of Robert M. La Follette
, and legislation for agricultural price supports.
's interior secretary Albert B. Fall
had uncompetitively leased a government oil field to Mammoth Oil Company, in return for contributions to the Republican National Committee
. The resulting scandal gave Nye the nickname of "Gerald the Giant-Killer".
as it was commonly known, drew national and international attention. Nye's appointment to the chairmanship of this committee came from Senator George Norris. According to peace activist, Dorothy Detzer
, Norris said, "Nye's young, he has inexhaustible energy and he has courage. Those are all important assets. He may be rash in his judgments at times, but it's the rashness of enthusiasm." Senator Norris proposed Nye as "...the only one out of the 96 whom he deemed to have the competence, independence and stature for the task."
Nye created headlines by drawing connections between the wartime profits of the banking and munitions industries to America's involvement in World War I
. Many Americans felt betrayed: perhaps the war hadn't been an epic battle between the forces of good (democracy) and evil (autocracy). This investigation of these "merchants of death" helped to bolster sentiments for isolationism. A leading member of the Nye Committee staff was Alger Hiss
.
According to the United States Senate
website:
. In 1941, Nye accused Hollywood of attempting to “drug the reason of the American people,“ and “rouse war fever.“ He was particularly hostile to Warner Brothers.
Upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor
on the evening of December 7, 1941, Nye addressed an America First
meeting in Pittsburgh, and was quoted as saying, "this was just what Britain had planned for us" and that "we have been maneuvered into this by the President". However, the next day Nye joined the rest of the Senate in voting for a unanimous declaration of war.
, a Democrat
. Nye chose to remain in the Washington area. He and his wife had purchased 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of pasture land in Chevy Chase, part of a farm on a hill above Rock Creek Park. Their two sons had been born in 1943 and 1944.
Nye organized and became president of Records Engineering, Inc., in Washington, D.C. The pre-computer age firm created, organized, and managed records of industrial and government clients. In 1960 he was appointed to the Federal Housing Administration
as Assistant to the Commissioner and in charge of housing for the elderly. In 1963, he accepted an appointment to the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging. 1966 saw his grand retirement party at the U.S. Capitol. It was attended by the Senators Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy
and hosted by Senator Everett Dirksen
, who presented Nye with a typewriter and desk lamp and orders to begin his memoirs. Nye became a consultant to churches and private groups desiring government funds for the building of retirement housing.
and attended Grace Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C.
On August 16, 1916, he married Anna Margaret Johnson in Iowa where she lived with her maternal grandparents and had taken their name, Munch. In 1919, they moved to Cooperstown where Gerald was the editor and publisher of the Sentinel Courier. Anna and Gerald had three children: Marjorie (born 1917), Robert (born 1921), and James (born 1923). His eldest three children grew up on Grosvenor Street in Washington, D.C. and attended high school there. Every summer, Gerald would take the children to Yellowstone National Park
where Marjorie and a young Gerald Ford
were teenage friends.
In March 1940, Nye divorced his first wife, and on December 14, 1940, he remarried, to an Iowa schoolteacher, A. Marguerite Johnson. They had three children, all born in Washington, D.C. -- Gerald Jr. (born 1943), Richard (born 1944), and Marguerite (born 1950).
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician, representing North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
in the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1925-45. He was a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and supporter of WWII-era isolationism
Isolationism
Isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
, chairing the Nye Committee
Nye Committee
The Nye Committee, officially known as the Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, was a committee of the United States Senate which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I...
which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I.
Early life
Gerald Nye (whose first name was pronounced with a hard "G"), was born in Hortonville, WisconsinHortonville, Wisconsin
Hortonville is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,711 at the 2010 census.-History:The village was founded in 1848 by landowner Alonzo Horton. One of Father Horton's first priorities was to dam Black Otter Creek, creating the Black Otter Lake...
to Irwin Raymond Nye and Phoebe Ella Nye (née Prentice). Both of his grandfathers had served in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
: Freeman James Nye in the 43rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
43rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 43rd Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 43rd Wisconsin was organized at Madison, Wisconsin and mustered into Federal service by companies between August 8 and September 30, 1864.The Forty-Third...
and George Washington Prentice in the 3rd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry Regiment.
He was the first of four children. In his first year he and his parents moved to Wittenberg, Wisconsin
Wittenberg, Wisconsin
Wittenberg is a village in Shawano County, Wisconsin, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,177 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Town of Wittenberg.-Geography:Wittenberg is located at ....
, where his father became owner and editor of a small newspaper. Three more children were born there: Clair Irwin, Donald Oscar, and Marjorie Ella. Nye's father was a staunch supporter of Progressive Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
, and Nye personally remembered his father's taking him to hear Senator La Follette speak and then meet the Senator afterwards. (Years later, Gerald Nye and Robert LaFollette the younger would serve in the U.S. Senate together.) His uncle, Wallace G. Nye
Wallace G. Nye
Wallace George Nye was the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1913 to 1917.-Career:Nye worked in Minneapolis as a pharmacist. In 1905, Nye was a leading member of the Minneapolis Public Affairs Committee, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the business and municipal affairs of the city...
, was Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
when Gerald was in his teens.
His mother, Ella, had been diagnosed with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. Family history indicates that she may have been asthmatic. She made trips to the South for recuperation, but on October 19, 1906 she died. He was thirteen; his brothers, ten and eight; and his baby sister, six. He was comforted by the presence of his four grandparents at the funeral.
Nye graduated from Wittenberg High School in 1911, at age 18, and moved back to his grandparents' town of Hortonville, Wisconsin
Hortonville, Wisconsin
Hortonville is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,711 at the 2010 census.-History:The village was founded in 1848 by landowner Alonzo Horton. One of Father Horton's first priorities was to dam Black Otter Creek, creating the Black Otter Lake...
.
Newspaper years
Gerald and his brother Clair had grown up helping around their father's newspaper business and learned the trade. Gerald took the editing end and Clair operated the presses. In 1911, after graduation, Nye became editor of The Hortonville Review. Three years later, he was the editor of the Creston Daily Plain Dealer in Iowa. In May 1916, he bought a weekly paper in Fryburg, North DakotaFryburg, North Dakota
Fryburg is an unincorporated community in Billings County, North Dakota. The Fryburg oil field is located here....
, The Fryburg Pioneer.
Political years
Nye was a supporter of the agrarian reform movement. His editorials lambasted big government and big business. He took the side of the struggling farmers. In 1924, Nye unsuccessfully sought election as a progressive Republican to the U.S. HouseUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. When U.S. Senator Edwin F. Ladd
Edwin F. Ladd
Edwin Fremont Ladd was a United States Senator from North Dakota. Born in Starks, Maine, he attended the public schools and Somerset Academy and graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1884...
died on June 22, 1925, he and others gathered in the office of North Dakota Governor A.G. Sorlie, who told the group that he had decided to appoint "Jerry over here" to fill the seat.
Nye and his young family moved to Washington in 1925. Nye's youth and lack of sophistication were the talk of the town. He had a bowl haircut that was ridiculed. But he became a very active, popular and outspoken Senator, and North Dakotans elected him to three full terms, in 1926, 1932, and 1938.
He served on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Appropriations Committee, the Defense Committee and the Public Lands Committee. As Chairman of Public Lands, he dealt with the Teapot Dome investigations and the formation of Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
. He was instrumental in passing legislation to protect public access to the sea coasts. He initially supported Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and his New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
. He supported the political positions of Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette
Robert M. La Follette is the name of:* Robert M. La Follette, Sr. , senator, congressman, governor of Wisconsin and candidate for President, * Robert M. La Follette, Jr. , his son, also a senator from Wisconsin...
, and legislation for agricultural price supports.
Teapot Dome Scandal
In the 1920s, as Chairman of the Public Lands Committee, Nye uncovered the fact that Warren G. HardingWarren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th President of the United States . A Republican from Ohio, Harding was an influential self-made newspaper publisher. He served in the Ohio Senate , as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and as a U.S. Senator...
's interior secretary Albert B. Fall
Albert B. Fall
Albert Bacon Fall was a United States Senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal.-Early life and family:...
had uncompetitively leased a government oil field to Mammoth Oil Company, in return for contributions to the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
. The resulting scandal gave Nye the nickname of "Gerald the Giant-Killer".
Nye Committee
Between 1934 and 1936, Nye headed an investigation of the munitions industry. The Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry investigated profiteering in the munitions and banking industry and the possibility that greed was a significant factor in leading us into World War I. The Nye CommitteeNye Committee
The Nye Committee, officially known as the Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, was a committee of the United States Senate which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I...
as it was commonly known, drew national and international attention. Nye's appointment to the chairmanship of this committee came from Senator George Norris. According to peace activist, Dorothy Detzer
Dorothy Detzer
Dorothy Detzer was for twenty-two years the National Executive Secretary of the U.S...
, Norris said, "Nye's young, he has inexhaustible energy and he has courage. Those are all important assets. He may be rash in his judgments at times, but it's the rashness of enthusiasm." Senator Norris proposed Nye as "...the only one out of the 96 whom he deemed to have the competence, independence and stature for the task."
Nye created headlines by drawing connections between the wartime profits of the banking and munitions industries to America's involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Many Americans felt betrayed: perhaps the war hadn't been an epic battle between the forces of good (democracy) and evil (autocracy). This investigation of these "merchants of death" helped to bolster sentiments for isolationism. A leading member of the Nye Committee staff was Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss
Alger Hiss was an American lawyer, government official, author, and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official...
.
According to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
website:
The investigation came to an abrupt end early in 1936. The Senate cut off committee funding after Chairman Nye blundered into an attack on the late DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
President Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. Nye suggested that Wilson had withheld essential information from Congress as it considered a declaration of war. Democratic leaders, including Appropriations CommitteeUnited States Senate Committee on AppropriationsThe United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
Chairman Carter GlassCarter GlassCarter Glass was a newspaper publisher and politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He served many years in Congress as a member of the Democratic Party. As House co-sponsor, he played a central role in the development of the 1913 Glass-Owen Act that created the Federal Reserve System. Glass...
of Virginia, unleashed a furious response against Nye for 'dirtdaubing the sepulcher of Woodrow Wilson.' Standing before cheering colleagues in a packed Senate Chamber, Glass slammed his fist onto his desk until blood dripped from his knuckles.
Antiwar movement
Nye was instrumental in the development and adoption of the Neutrality Acts that were passed between 1935 and 1937. To mobilize antiwar sentiments, he helped establish the America First CommitteeAmerica First Committee
The America First Committee was the foremost non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at 800,000 members, it was likely the largest anti-war organization in American history. Started in 1940, it became defunct after the attack on Pearl Harbor in...
. In 1941, Nye accused Hollywood of attempting to “drug the reason of the American people,“ and “rouse war fever.“ He was particularly hostile to Warner Brothers.
Upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on the evening of December 7, 1941, Nye addressed an America First
America First
America First may refer to:*America First Committee, a group that opposed entry of the United States into World War II*America First Credit Union, a credit union in Utah*America First Party , an isolationist political party...
meeting in Pittsburgh, and was quoted as saying, "this was just what Britain had planned for us" and that "we have been maneuvered into this by the President". However, the next day Nye joined the rest of the Senate in voting for a unanimous declaration of war.
Post-Senate years in Washington
In November 1944, Nye was defeated in his re-election attempt by Governor John MosesJohn Moses
John Moses was the 22nd Governor of North Dakota from 1939 to 1945, and served in the United States Senate in 1945 until his death that year.-Biography:...
, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Nye chose to remain in the Washington area. He and his wife had purchased 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of pasture land in Chevy Chase, part of a farm on a hill above Rock Creek Park. Their two sons had been born in 1943 and 1944.
Nye organized and became president of Records Engineering, Inc., in Washington, D.C. The pre-computer age firm created, organized, and managed records of industrial and government clients. In 1960 he was appointed to the Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
as Assistant to the Commissioner and in charge of housing for the elderly. In 1963, he accepted an appointment to the professional staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging. 1966 saw his grand retirement party at the U.S. Capitol. It was attended by the Senators Robert Kennedy and Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
and hosted by Senator Everett Dirksen
Everett Dirksen
Everett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate...
, who presented Nye with a typewriter and desk lamp and orders to begin his memoirs. Nye became a consultant to churches and private groups desiring government funds for the building of retirement housing.
Personal life
Nye was a FreemasonFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and attended Grace Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
On August 16, 1916, he married Anna Margaret Johnson in Iowa where she lived with her maternal grandparents and had taken their name, Munch. In 1919, they moved to Cooperstown where Gerald was the editor and publisher of the Sentinel Courier. Anna and Gerald had three children: Marjorie (born 1917), Robert (born 1921), and James (born 1923). His eldest three children grew up on Grosvenor Street in Washington, D.C. and attended high school there. Every summer, Gerald would take the children to Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
where Marjorie and a young Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
were teenage friends.
In March 1940, Nye divorced his first wife, and on December 14, 1940, he remarried, to an Iowa schoolteacher, A. Marguerite Johnson. They had three children, all born in Washington, D.C. -- Gerald Jr. (born 1943), Richard (born 1944), and Marguerite (born 1950).