Richard Lee Metcalfe

Richard Lee Metcalfe ( born October 11, 1861 in Alton, Illinois, † March 31, 1954 ) was an American politician. In the years 1913 and 1914, he was military governor of the Panama Canal Zone.

Career

Richard Metcalfe graduated from Poplar Bluff (Missouri ) an apprenticeship in the printing trade. Soon he became deputy newspaper editor. After his marriage to Bessie Buehler in 1885 the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he also went into the newspaper business. There he worked as a reporter and co-editor of several newspapers. He became a member of the Democratic Party and a friend of William Jennings Bryan. Along with this he gave 1905-1913 publishes the weekly newspaper The Commoner. From 1914 to 1920, he moved the weekly Omaha Nebraskan.

Politically, Metcalfe competed unsuccessfully for various offices. Twice failed his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. In 1910 he strove equally unsuccessful the office of governor of Nebraska. In 1913 he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson as the new Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. This office he held as a successor of Maurice Thatcher until 1914. Between 1930 and 1933, Metcalfe was mayor of Omaha. After that he was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the state director for Nebraska for the National Emergency Council.

Metcalfe practiced in the meantime from other professions. He was, among other things, advertising manager for the department store JL Brandeis & Sons. In the late 1920s he joined the construction company of his sons a ( Metcalfe Company). He died on 31 March 1954 at the age of 92 years.