Wallace H. White

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
Deputy	Kenneth S. Wherry
Preceded by	Alben W. Barkley
Succeeded by	Scott W. Lucas
Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
In office February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1949
Deputy	Kenneth S. Wherry
Preceded by	Charles L. McNary
Succeeded by	Kenneth S. Wherry
Chair of the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Burton K. Wheeler
Succeeded by	Edwin C. Johnson
Senate Minority Leader
In office February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1947 Acting: February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1945
Deputy	Kenneth S. Wherry
Preceded by	Charles L. McNary
Succeeded by	Alben W. Barkley
Secretary of the Senate Republican Conference
In office January 3, 1941 – February 25, 1944
Leader	Charles L. McNary
Preceded by	Frederick Hale
Succeeded by	Harold Hitz Burton
United States Senator from Maine
In office March 4, 1931 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	Arthur R. Gould
Succeeded by	Margaret Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1931
Preceded by	Daniel J. McGillicuddy
Succeeded by	Donald B. Partridge
Personal details
Born	Wallace Humphrey White Jr. (1877-08-06)August 6, 1877 Lewiston, Maine, U.S.
Died	March 31, 1952(1952-03-31) (aged 74) Auburn, Maine, U.S.
Resting place	Mt. Auburn Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Nina Lumbard
Relations	William P. Frye (grandfather)
Education	Bowdoin College (BA)

Background

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

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 (65th–71st Congresses). 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.

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

Family

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.

External links

• United States Congress. "Wallace H. White (id: W000396)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Wallace H. White at Find a Grave