James D. Phelan

James Duval Phelan ( born April 20, 1861 in San Francisco, California; † August 7, 1930 in Saratoga, California ) was an American politician (Democratic Party) and banker.

Early years

Phelan was born in San Francisco, the son of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy in the gold rush. He graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1881. Afterwards he studied law at the University of California at Berkeley and was like his father a banker.

Career

From 1897 to 1902 was Phelan mayor of San Francisco, where he could find enough money through the introduction of government bonds to enforce major reform projects (see History of the City of San Francisco). He was succeeded by Eugene Schmitz.

Around the turn of the century bought Phelan on large tracts of land in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay and acquired the water rights to the Tuolomne River. He wanted to make sure the public water and power supply in " Greater San Francisco ". Although tried to stop the then Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock Phelan, whereupon he was but called back by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Use in the wake of the earthquake of 1906

Phelan was appointed to the Committee of Fifty, which was used after the momentous earthquake of 1906 to tackle the crisis. When Edward Thomas Devin then managed the funds of the Red Cross on behalf of the President, Phelan was appointed to his side. This mainly so Eugene Schmitz none of it got into the hands because there were significant allegations of bribery against Schmitz ( which eventually also led to his arrest ). Following the resignation of Devin Phelan took over the post at the top of the Red Cross.

Senator

1915 Phelan ran for the Democrats for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He won the election and was one of 4 March 1915 to March 3, 1921 for this to. In 1920 he lost re-election to Republican Samuel M. Shortridge, possibly because of its overly conservative campaign. One of his campaign posters was to "Keep California White" ( California hold white) is subtitled.

Villa Montalvo and his legacy

After his time in the Senate, Phelan returned to banking and collected art. He died in 1930 at his home in Saratoga. After his death, he bequeathed his estate to the Californian people. Montalvo is a state-run cultural center today. Also, a portion of his correspondence can be seen in the local library. Phelan is buried in the family mausoleum in Colma.

Among other things, the Phelan Avenue in San Francisco is named after him. The small village Phelan High Desert also bears his name.