George Gray (senator)
George Gray ( born May 4, 1840 in New Castle, Delaware; † August 7, 1925 in Wilmington, Delaware) was an American lawyer and politician (Democratic Party), who represented the state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate.
George Gray attended the public schools and then Princeton University, where he graduated in 1859. After he had studied law with his father Andrew C. Gray, he continued his education at Harvard Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1863 and commenced practice in New Castle.
From 1879 to 1885 Gray served as Attorney General of the State of Delaware. He resigned this post when he was nominated by the Democratic party as the successor of the retiring Thomas F. Bayard in the U.S. Senate. He chose the by-election for himself and moved on March 18, 1885 in Congress, where he remained after multiple re-election to March 3, 1899. During this time he was chairman of several committees. Moreover, he was in 1898 at a Peace Commission, whose goal was to end the Spanish-American War.
After Gray had missed his reelection to the Senate, U.S. President William McKinley appointed him a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third District Court. Following his confirmation by the Senate, he took office on 18 December 1899. He remained at the Federal Court of Appeal until June 1, 1914, when he retired. During this time he was also chairman of a commission to investigate the miners strike in Pennsylvania in 1902, at the settlement he had major contributors. Moreover, he was a member of the executive of the Smithsonian Institution 1890-1925; Furthermore, he was Vice President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
President McKinley appointed Gray also in 1900 to represent the USA in the permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague; his successor, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson confirmed him in each case in this office. He also served on numerous committees for the settlement of international disputes. In 1908 he ran for his party's nomination as a presidential candidate, but had no chance against William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic National Convention.