John Garibaldi Sargent (October 13, 1860 – March 5, 1939) was an American lawyer and government official. He served as United States Attorney General during the administration of President Calvin Coolidge.
John Sargent | |
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53rd United States Attorney General | |
In office March 7, 1925 – March 4, 1929 | |
President | Calvin Coolidge |
Preceded by | Harlan Stone |
Succeeded by | William Mitchell |
Attorney General of Vermont | |
In office October 8, 1908 – October 3, 1912 | |
Governor | George H. Prouty John A. Mead |
Preceded by | Clarke C. Fitts |
Succeeded by | Rufus E. Brown |
Personal details | |
Born | John Garibaldi Sargent October 13, 1860 Ludlow, Vermont, U.S. |
Died | March 5, 1939 Ludlow, Vermont, U.S. | (aged 78)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Mary Gordon |
Children | 1 |
Education | Tufts University (BA) |
Biography
editJohn G. Sargent was born in Ludlow, Vermont on October 13, 1860, the son of John Henmon Sargent and Ann Eliza Hanley.[1] He graduated from Black River Academy, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts College in 1887.[2][3] Sargent was married to the former Mary Lorraine Gordon on August 4, 1887.[4] They had a daughter, Gladys Gordon Sargent.[5]
Sargent studied law at a firm in Ludlow, was admitted to the bar in 1890, and became a partner in the firm of William W. Stickney, a cousin of Calvin Coolidge.[6] Among the prospective attorneys who studied under Sargent and Stickney were Julius A. Willcox, who later served as an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court,[7] and Joseph F. Radigan, who served as Vermont's United States Attorney from 1961 to 1969.[8]
In addition to practicing law, Sargent was active in the insurance business, served as President of the Ludlow Savings Bank, and was a member of the board of directors of several railroads and other corporations.[9][10][11]
A Republican, he served as Windsor County State's Attorney from 1898 to 1900.[12] Sargent was Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs (chief assistant) for Stickney during Stickney's term as Governor of Vermont from 1900 to 1902.[13]
From 1908 to 1912 Sargent was Vermont Attorney General.[14] In 1912, Sargent received an honorary master's degree from Tufts.[15][16]
In 1925, President Coolidge's nominee for Attorney General, Charles B. Warren, was rejected by the United States Senate.[17] Coolidge then nominated Sargent, whom he had known since childhood.[18] Sargent was confirmed unanimously, and served until March 4, 1929.[19][20]
After the leaving office, Sargent returned to practicing law; he brought into the firm as a partner Paul A. Chase, who had served as his special assistant while he was U.S. Attorney General.[21] He was also Chairman of the Vermont Commission on Uniform State Laws, and a trustee of the Black River Academy.[22][23]
Sargent died in Ludlow on March 5, 1939, and was buried at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Ludlow, Vermont.[24]
John G. Sargent's honors included honorary LL.D. degrees from Tufts, Norwich University, Middlebury College, and Dartmouth College.[25]
References
edit- ^ Volney Sewall Fulham, The Fulham Genealogy, 1910, page 260
- ^ E. Thompson Company, Law Notes, Volume 29, 1925, page 16
- ^ Funk & Wagnalls, The Literary Digest, Volume 75, 1925, page 44
- ^ William Henry Smith, History of the Cabinet of the United States of America, 1925, pages 355-356
- ^ Robert I. Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members, Volume 2, 1975, page 544
- ^ James Terry White, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 25, 1967, page 337
- ^ Bigelow, Walter J. (1919). Vermont, Its Government. Montpelier, VT: Historical Publishing Company. p. 138.
- ^ "Radigan Out for House". Rutland Herald. Rutland, VT. July 25, 1956. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Vexler, The Vice-Presidents and Cabinet Members
- ^ Standard Publishing, The Standard
- ^ Boston and Maine Railroad, Annual Report, 1919, page 4
- ^ William Richard Cutter, American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Volume 24, 1926, page 137
- ^ Robert Sobel, Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774-1989, 1990, page 320
- ^ Vermont Attorney General, Past Vermont Attorneys General Archived 2012-05-19 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved January 31, 2014
- ^ Vermont Bar Association, Report of Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, Volume 33, 1939, page 39
- ^ The Green Bag magazine, The Academic Roll of Honor, July 1912, page 375
- ^ Joseph Pratt Harris, The Advice and Consent of the Senate, 1953, page 260
- ^ Federal Writers' Project, Vermont; a Guide to the Green Mountain State, 1934, page 255
- ^ Meenekshi Bose, Rosanna Perotti, editors, From Cold War to New World Order: The Foreign Policy of George H.W. Bush, 2002, page 373
- ^ Phyllis Raybin Emert, Attorneys General: Enforcing the Law, 2005, page 155
- ^ "Chase Leaves Office of Attorney General to Join Sargent Firm". Hartford Courant. Hartford, VT. Associated Press. July 2, 1930. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Standard Publishing, The Standard, Volume 124, 1939, page 292
- ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, Congressional Record, 1929, page 3817
- ^ Newsweek magazine, Deaths: John G. Sargent, Volume 13, 1939, page 57
- ^ George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, editors, The American Mercury, Volume 12, 1927, page 477