Finis J. Garrett

Finis James Garrett (* August 26, 1875 at Ore Springs, Weakley County, Tennessee; † 25 May 1956 Washington DC ) was an American politician. Between 1905 and 1929 he represented the state of Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Finis Garrett attended the common schools and the Clinton College in Kentucky. After that, he was until 1897 at Bethel College in McKenzie. He also studied law. In the following years, Garrett worked as a newspaper editor, teacher and lawyer. Between 1900 and 1905 he held the office of Master in Chancery legal.

Politically, Garrett was a member of the Democratic Party. In the congressional elections of 1904 he was elected the ninth constituency of Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, where he became the successor of Rice Alexander Pierce on March 4, 1905. After eleven re- election he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1929 twelve legislatures. In this time of the First World War fell. Between 1913 and 1920, the 16th, the 17th, the 18th and the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in Congress were adopted. From 1917 to 1919, Garrett Chairman of the Committee on Insular Affairs. Since 1923, he led the Democratic group in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Minority Leader. In 1924 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in New York, was nominated for the John W. Davis as a presidential candidate.

In 1928, Finis Garrett gave up another candidacy. Instead, he aimed at his party's nomination for election to the U.S. Senate, but safely again went to incumbent Kenneth McKellar. Between 1929 and 1955, Garrett was a judge at the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals. Since 1937, he presided at this now defunct federal court. He died on 25 May 1956 in the German capital Washington and was buried in Dresden ( Tennessee).