John L. Bates

John Lewis Bates ( born September 18, 1859 in Easton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, † June 8, 1946 in Boston, Massachusetts ) was an American politician and from 1903 to 1905 Governor of Massachusetts.

Early years and political rise

John Bates attended the public schools of his home and then to 1882 the Boston University. After a subsequent study of law at the Law Faculty of the University, he was admitted to the bar in 1885. Then he started in Boston to work in his new profession. Politically, he was a member of the Republican Party. Between 1894 and 1899 he was a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and from 1900 to 1903, he served as Deputy Governor Deputy Governor Winthrop M. Crane, his successor was elected on November 4, 1902. He sat down with 49:40 percent of the vote against the Democrats by William Alexander Gaston.

Governor of Massachusetts

John Bates took up his new post on January 8, 1903, and could exercise after a re-election in 1903 to 5 January 1905. During this time, his appointment of Judge Emmons chief of police of the city of Boston was very controversial because it would in Boston prefers a candidate of their own. Bates was also at times suspected of taking bribes from a lobbyist.

After the end of his governorship Bates remained politically active and practiced as a lawyer. From 1917 to 1919 he was chairman of a commission to revise the constitution of Massachusetts. Bates was also a member of the American Bar Association. He died in June 1946 at the age of 86 years. With his wife Clara Elizabeth Smith, he had three children.