Leverett Saltonstall

Leverett Saltonstall ( born September 1, 1892 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, † June 17, 1979 in Dover, Massachusetts ) was an American politician and from 1939 to 1945 Governor of Massachusetts. Between 1945 and 1967 he represented his state in the U.S. Senate.

Early years and political rise

Leverett Saltonstall, whose eponymous great-grandfather had been sitting 1838-1843 for Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives, attended the common schools and then studied until 1917 at the Harvard University law. During the First World War, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After the war he was active in Boston as a lawyer. Saltonstall joined the Republican Party. Between 1920 and 1922 he was a town councilor in Newton. At the same time he was district attorney in Middlesex County. From 1923 to 1936 he was a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, where he was president of the Chamber since 1929. In 1936 he applied unsuccessfully for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

Governor of Massachusetts

In 1938, Saltonstall was elected with 53:45 percent of the vote to Democrat James Michael Curley for governor of his state. He took up his new post on January 5, 1939 and was able to exercise it after a few re- elections until January 3, 1945. During this time, the budget deficit was reduced and lowered taxes. In addition, the governor had to deal with a strike by truck drivers. The second part of his reign was marked by the events of the Second World War, in which the United States participated since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Also in Massachusetts food and fuel were rationed. Young men were mustered for military service and the production was switched to armaments. Simultaneously, a Defense Council was formed. Governor Saltonstall was 1944 Chairman of the National Governors Association.

U.S. Senator

On November 7, 1944 Saltonstall was elected as a Class 2 senator in Congress. There he took over from the January 4, 1945 Sinclair Weeks, who was in turn was only a temporary solution after 1944 were performed resignation of Henry Cabot Lodge. In the years 1948, 1954 and 1960, Saltonstall was confirmed as a senator. So that he could exercise his mandate between 4 January 1945 and 3 January 1967. As a senator, he was from 1953 to 1955 chairman of the Armed Services Committee and temporarily faction leader and the Republican Whip.

After the end of his service in the Senate Saltonstall withdrew from politics. He was curator and director of several investment companies and charitable organizations, and died on June 17, 1979 of heart failure. With his wife Alice Wesselhoeft Saltsonstall had six children.