Smith W. Brookhart
Encyclopedia
Smith Wildman Brookhart (February 2, 1869 November 15, 1944), was twice elected as a Republican to represent Iowa
in the United States Senate
. He was considered an "insurgent" within the Republican Party; his criticisms of the Harding
and Coolidge
Administrations and of business interests alienated others within the Republican caucus, leading to his ouster from the Senate over an election challenge. Brookhart's absence from the Senate was brief, as he took the first opportunity to return by challenging and defeating the state's senior Republican senator. He was also a strong supporter of Prohibition
and its enforcement, so as public support for prohibition waned, so too did his political career.
on a farm
in Scotland County, Missouri, the son of Abram C. and Cynthia Wildman Brookhart. He was educated in country schools
. Brookhart graduated from Bloomfield High School and then attended Southern Iowa Normal School, both in Bloomfield, Iowa
, where he graduated in 1889, with an emphasis in scientific courses. For five years he taught in country schools and high school
, meanwhile studying law
in offices in Bloomfield
and Keosauqua, Iowa
. He was admitted to the bar in 1892 and began practice in Washington,
Iowa. Four years later his brother, J. L. Brookhart, joined his firm. He served for six years as Washington County Attorney.
On June 22, 1897, he married Jennie Hearne. They had four sons and two daughters, Charles Edward Brookhart, John Roberts Brookhart, Samuel Colar Brookhart, Smith W. Brookhart Jr., Florence Hearne Brookhart Yount, and Edith A. Brookhart Millard.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish American War and World War I
, where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel
. He was renowned for his marksmanship with a rifle
. Brookhart eventually served as president of the National Rifle Association
from 1921 to 1925.
. Cummins was a progressive senator but from an earlier generation, and distrusted both corporate interests and unions
. Brookhart attempted to build his campaign around his criticism of railroad regulatory
legislation Cummins had co-authored, the Esch-Cummins Act
, which Brookhart claimed did too little to wrest ownership and control of railroads away from Wall Street
interests. Brookhart attempted to lure rank-and-file blue-collar workers to register as Republicans so that they could vote for him in the primary, prompting Cummins to associate Brookhart with radical workers movements such as "the Socialists, reds and Industrial Workers of the World
." Cummins was sidelined by illness in the weeks leading up to the primary, but nevertheless defeated Brookhart.
resigned before the completion of his term to accept an appointment as federal judge. After receiving over 41 percent of the vote in a six-way Republican primary, Brookhart was backed by the national Republican Party, and defeated future Governor and U.S. Senator Clyde L. Herring
.
As Time Magazine would later write, Brookhart's "pugnacious cowhide radicalism nettled patrician Senators."
Two years later, in the 1924 election, he made his first attempt to win a full term. Running again as the Republican nominee, Brookhart appeared to have defeated the Democratic
candidate, Daniel F. Steck
, by a small margin, with Brookhart getting 447,594 votes to Steck's 446,840. Brookhart thus took office on March 4, 1925, but Steck pursued a challenge with the Senate Committee on Elections and Privileges
. In the Committee hearings on Steck's challenge, the Iowa Republican Party sided with Democrat Steck. It filed a brief that was sharply critical of Brookhart, accusing him of disloyalty to the Republican presidential ticket in 1924 because of his support for Progressive Party
presidential candidate Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin.
Brookhart held this seat only until April 12, 1926 when the Senate voted by a margin of 45 to 41 to replace him with Steck, who then served out the remainder of the term. Because the Senate was then firmly in Republican control, his ouster was possible only because over a dozen Republicans voted with Democrats to unseat Brookhart. On other occasions the Senate has settled election disputes before a Senator took office, but this is the only time the results were overturned after the Senator was seated.
said the following morning, "Senator Cummins was highly respected by everyone who knew him. He was a man of recognized ability, and only a real political revolution could have defeated him." In the general election, Brookhart defeated conservative Democrat Claude R. Porter
, a former U.S. Attorney during the Wilson Administration
.
Brookhart was an harsh critic of the Federal Reserve: "A more sinister or evil device could not be arranged for using the people's savings to their own injury and the destruction of their property values".
He served a full six-year term. However, in the 1932 Republican primary he was defeated by Henry Field, a Shenandoah, Iowa
nurseryman. Field had attacked Brookhart's absences from the Senate while on speaking tours, and the number of his relatives who held federal jobs. Brookhart then ran in the 1932 general election as a "progressive" candidate, but received fewer than 33,000 votes out of over 890,000 cast.
, Brookhart began a nationwide tour, during which time he debated Congressman Fiorello LaGuardia, Clarence Darrow
, and other prominent "wets" or opponents of Prohibition.
Brookhart favored dramatically increasing Prohibition enforcement appropriations by 240 million dollars. This was a very unpopular position because of widespread unemployment and underemployment during the Great Depression. Those favoring repeal argued that legalizing alcoholic beverages would stimulate the economy and provide desperately needed tax revenue.
, until he resigned in 1935 and returned to Iowa. In this role, he was an early advocate for United States
recognition
of the Soviet Union.
Upon his return to Iowa, Brookhart made a final attempt to return to the Senate. He joined an already-crowded field of candidates for the Republican nomination for Senate in 1936, but finished a distant second to incumbent L. J. Dickinson. He then announced a plan to unite diverse progressive
elements under a new banner, declined an opportunity to run for the Senate under a Farmer-Labor Party
nomination, and endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt
's 1936 re-election
.
After the 1936 election, Brookhart opened a law office in Washington, D. C., and remained there until 1943, when he went to Arizona
for his health. He died in Prescott, Arizona
, on November 15, 1944.
One of his sons, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Smith W. Brookhart Jr., served as an assistant trial counsel for the prosecution
at the Nuremberg War Trials.
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
in 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...
. He was considered an "insurgent" within the Republican Party; his criticisms of the Harding
Warren 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...
and Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
Administrations and of business interests alienated others within the Republican caucus, leading to his ouster from the Senate over an election challenge. Brookhart's absence from the Senate was brief, as he took the first opportunity to return by challenging and defeating the state's senior Republican senator. He was also a strong supporter of Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
and its enforcement, so as public support for prohibition waned, so too did his political career.
Personal background
Brookhart was born in a cabinLog cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in Scotland County, Missouri, the son of Abram C. and Cynthia Wildman Brookhart. He was educated in country schools
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
. Brookhart graduated from Bloomfield High School and then attended Southern Iowa Normal School, both in Bloomfield, Iowa
Bloomfield, Iowa
Bloomfield is a city in Davis County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,601 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Davis County.-Geography:Bloomfield is located in the southeastern part of Iowa near the Missouri border....
, where he graduated in 1889, with an emphasis in scientific courses. For five years he taught in country schools and high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, meanwhile studying law
Legal education
Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law or business...
in offices in Bloomfield
Bloomfield, Iowa
Bloomfield is a city in Davis County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,601 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Davis County.-Geography:Bloomfield is located in the southeastern part of Iowa near the Missouri border....
and Keosauqua, Iowa
Keosauqua, Iowa
Keosauqua is a city in Van Buren County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,066 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Van Buren County.-History:...
. He was admitted to the bar in 1892 and began practice in Washington,
Iowa. Four years later his brother, J. L. Brookhart, joined his firm. He served for six years as Washington County Attorney.
On June 22, 1897, he married Jennie Hearne. They had four sons and two daughters, Charles Edward Brookhart, John Roberts Brookhart, Samuel Colar Brookhart, Smith W. Brookhart Jr., Florence Hearne Brookhart Yount, and Edith A. Brookhart Millard.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish American War and 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...
, where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...
. He was renowned for his marksmanship with a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
. Brookhart eventually served as president of the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
from 1921 to 1925.
First run for U.S. Senate (1920)
In early 1920 Brookhart announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held since 1908 by Republican Albert B. CumminsAlbert B. Cummins
Albert Baird Cummins was the 18th Governor of Iowa, U.S. Senator and two-time presidential candidate. Cummins was perhaps the most influential leader in Iowa politics in the first quarter of the 20th century...
. Cummins was a progressive senator but from an earlier generation, and distrusted both corporate interests and unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
. Brookhart attempted to build his campaign around his criticism of railroad regulatory
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
legislation Cummins had co-authored, the Esch-Cummins Act
Esch-Cummins Act
The Esch–Cummins Act of 1920, or Railroad Transportation Act, was a United States federal law that returned railroads to private operation after World War I, with much regulation...
, which Brookhart claimed did too little to wrest ownership and control of railroads away from Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
interests. Brookhart attempted to lure rank-and-file blue-collar workers to register as Republicans so that they could vote for him in the primary, prompting Cummins to associate Brookhart with radical workers movements such as "the Socialists, reds and Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
." Cummins was sidelined by illness in the weeks leading up to the primary, but nevertheless defeated Brookhart.
1922-1926
On his second attempt, Brookhart was elected to the Senate in 1922. A special election was required because Iowa Senator William S. KenyonWilliam Squire Kenyon
William Squire Kenyon was a Republican U.S. Senator from Iowa, and a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.-Background:...
resigned before the completion of his term to accept an appointment as federal judge. After receiving over 41 percent of the vote in a six-way Republican primary, Brookhart was backed by the national Republican Party, and defeated future Governor and U.S. Senator Clyde L. Herring
Clyde L. Herring
Clyde LaVerne Herring , an American politician and Democrat, served as the 26th Governor of Iowa, and then one of its U.S. Senators, during the last part of the Great Depression and the first part of World War II....
.
As Time Magazine would later write, Brookhart's "pugnacious cowhide radicalism nettled patrician Senators."
Two years later, in the 1924 election, he made his first attempt to win a full term. Running again as the Republican nominee, Brookhart appeared to have defeated the Democratic
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...
candidate, Daniel F. Steck
Daniel F. Steck
Daniel Frederic Steck , was the only Iowa Democrat in the United States Senate between the American Civil War and the Great Depression. He was sworn in as Senator only after an extraordinary election challenge, in which his apparent defeat at the polls by a Progressive Party ally running as a...
, by a small margin, with Brookhart getting 447,594 votes to Steck's 446,840. Brookhart thus took office on March 4, 1925, but Steck pursued a challenge with the Senate Committee on Elections and Privileges
United States Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections
The Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections was a committee of the United States Senate. It was established March 10, 1871 and terminated January 2, 1947, when its functions were transferred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.-Chairmen:...
. In the Committee hearings on Steck's challenge, the Iowa Republican Party sided with Democrat Steck. It filed a brief that was sharply critical of Brookhart, accusing him of disloyalty to the Republican presidential ticket in 1924 because of his support for Progressive Party
Progressive Party (United States, 1924)
The Progressive Party of 1924 was a new party created as a vehicle for Robert M. La Follette, Sr. to run for president in the 1924 election. It did not run candidates for other offices, and it disappeared after the election except in Wisconsin. Its name resembles the 1912 Progressive Party, which...
presidential candidate Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin.
Brookhart held this seat only until April 12, 1926 when the Senate voted by a margin of 45 to 41 to replace him with Steck, who then served out the remainder of the term. Because the Senate was then firmly in Republican control, his ouster was possible only because over a dozen Republicans voted with Democrats to unseat Brookhart. On other occasions the Senate has settled election disputes before a Senator took office, but this is the only time the results were overturned after the Senator was seated.
1927-1932
Immediately upon his ouster from the Senate in April 1926, Brookhart ran for Iowa's other Senate seat, which was still held by Cummins. In the Republican primary, Brookhart stunned his former colleagues and the Iowa Republican establishment by decisively defeating Cummins. As Idaho Republican William Edgar BorahWilliam Edgar Borah
William Edgar Borah was a prominent Republican attorney and longtime United States Senator from Idaho noted for his oratorical skills and isolationist views. One of his nicknames later in life was "The Lion of Idaho."...
said the following morning, "Senator Cummins was highly respected by everyone who knew him. He was a man of recognized ability, and only a real political revolution could have defeated him." In the general election, Brookhart defeated conservative Democrat Claude R. Porter
Claude R. Porter
Claude R. Porter was a member of the Iowa General Assembly, United States Attorney, and perennial Democratic runner-up to Republican victors in three races for Iowa governor and six races for U.S. senator. In an era in which Republicans in Iowa won so often that Senator Jonathan P...
, a former U.S. Attorney during the Wilson Administration
Wilson Administration
Wilson Administration may refer to the administration of:*Woodrow Wilson*Harold Wilson...
.
Brookhart was an harsh critic of the Federal Reserve: "A more sinister or evil device could not be arranged for using the people's savings to their own injury and the destruction of their property values".
He served a full six-year term. However, in the 1932 Republican primary he was defeated by Henry Field, a Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah is a city in Fremont and Page Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 5,546 at the 2000 census.Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Company and the radio station KMA, founded by Earl May...
nurseryman. Field had attacked Brookhart's absences from the Senate while on speaking tours, and the number of his relatives who held federal jobs. Brookhart then ran in the 1932 general election as a "progressive" candidate, but received fewer than 33,000 votes out of over 890,000 cast.
Prohibition politics
Brookhart was what was known as a “fervent dry.” In a futile effort to stop the growing sentiment for the repeal of ProhibitionRepeal of Prohibition
The Repeal of Prohibition in the United States was accomplished with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 5, 1933.-Background:...
, Brookhart began a nationwide tour, during which time he debated Congressman Fiorello LaGuardia, Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
, and other prominent "wets" or opponents of Prohibition.
Brookhart favored dramatically increasing Prohibition enforcement appropriations by 240 million dollars. This was a very unpopular position because of widespread unemployment and underemployment during the Great Depression. Those favoring repeal argued that legalizing alcoholic beverages would stimulate the economy and provide desperately needed tax revenue.
After his defeat
After his 1932 defeat, Brookhart was a special advisor to the federal government on Soviet tradeForeign trade of the Soviet Union
Soviet foreign trade played only a minor role in the Soviet economy. In 1985, for example, exports and imports each accounted for only 4 percent of the Soviet gross national product. The Soviet Union maintained this low level because it could draw upon a large energy and raw material base, and...
, until he resigned in 1935 and returned to Iowa. In this role, he was an early advocate for United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
recognition
Diplomatic recognition
Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...
of the Soviet Union.
Upon his return to Iowa, Brookhart made a final attempt to return to the Senate. He joined an already-crowded field of candidates for the Republican nomination for Senate in 1936, but finished a distant second to incumbent L. J. Dickinson. He then announced a plan to unite diverse progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
elements under a new banner, declined an opportunity to run for the Senate under a Farmer-Labor Party
Farmer-Labor Party
The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. Economic dislocation caused by American entry into World War I put agricultural prices and workers' wages into imbalance with rapidly escalating retail prices during the war years, and farmers and workers sought...
nomination, and endorsed 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...
's 1936 re-election
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
.
After the 1936 election, Brookhart opened a law office in Washington, D. C., and remained there until 1943, when he went to Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
for his health. He died in Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, on November 15, 1944.
One of his sons, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Smith W. Brookhart Jr., served as an assistant trial counsel for the prosecution
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
at the Nuremberg War Trials.