Alexander Mitchell Palmer
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| Alexander Mitchel Palmer | |
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| In office March 5, 1919 – March 4, 1921 |
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| President | Woodrow Wilson |
| Preceded by | Thomas Watt Gregory |
| Succeeded by | Harry M. Daugherty |
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| In office March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1915 |
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| President | William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson |
| Preceded by | Jefferson Davis Brodhead |
| Succeeded by | Henry Joseph Steele |
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| Born | May 4, 1872 White Haven, Pennsylvania |
| Died | May 11, 1936 (aged 64) Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Roberta Dixon (d. 1922)[1] Margaret Fallon Burrall |
| Profession | Statesman, lawyer |
| Religion | Religious Society of Friends |
Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 - May 11, 1936) was the Attorney General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He was nicknamed The Fighting Quaker and he directed the controversial Palmer Raids.
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[edit] Judicial, Congressional, and party service
He was appointed official stenographer of the forty-third judicial district of Pennsylvania in 1892. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1893 and practiced in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Palmer became director of various banks and public-service corporations and a member of the Democratic State executive committee of Pennsylvania. Palmer was elected as a Democrat to the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Congresses (March 4, 1909 - March 3, 1915); he was not a candidate for renomination in 1914, but ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate. Palmer was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1912 and 1916, and a member of the Democratic National Committee from 1912 - 1920. He was a supporter of the League of Nations.[2]
[edit] Attorney General
President Woodrow Wilson offered Palmer the post of Secretary of War, but Palmer declined because of his belief in pacifism. Instead, he was appointed Alien Property Custodian on October 22, 1917, by Wilson, and served until March 4, 1919, when he resigned to become Attorney General of the United States, in which capacity he served from March 5, 1919, until March 4, 1921. Palmer was a contender for the Presidential nomination at the 1920 Democratic National Convention.
[edit] Palmer Raids
His tenure as Attorney General was concurrent with the First Red Scare, and Palmer became a zealous opponent of anarchist communists, insurrectionary anarchists, and other radicals who advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Twice the intended victim of anarchist bomb attacks, the bombing and destruction of his Washington, D.C. home (which killed the bomber, Carlo Valdinoci as he was placing the bomb on Palmer's porch) undoubtedly influenced his actions in this area. His campaign against radicalism culminated in what came to be called the Palmer Raids. These were a series of police roundups, warrantless wiretaps (authorized under the Sedition Act), and mass arrests of suspected leftists and radicals, during which a total of at least 10,000 individuals were arrested. Fearful of extremist violence and revolution, the American public widely supported the raids, and outside of criticism by those apprehended, some civil libertarian groups, and the radical left, condemnation of the raids did not surface until many years later.
Palmer famously predicted that Communists would attempt to overthrow the United States government on May Day 1920. He had some reason for making this statement, as the original anarchist mail bombing had been timed to ensure delivery of the bombs by the Post Office on May Day 1919. The date came and went without incident, but on September 16 of that year, Wall Street was rocked by a violent blast, later known as the Wall Street bombing. The bomb was constructed with 100 pounds of dynamite and was wrapped with metal shrapnel in order to cause indiscriminate casualties. Concealed in a horse-drawn wagon, the bomb was precisely timed to catch people leaving for their lunch break. The Wall Street bombing killed 38 people and wounded or maimed over 400, causing extensive property damage and leaving visible marks on several Wall Street buildings to this day. In spite of the Palmer raids, the Galleanist (followers of Luigi Galleani) bomb campaign would continue for another twelve years, until most of its members had been prosecuted, deported, or become inactive.
[edit] Death
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Avrich, Paul, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background, Princeton University Press, 1991
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Mrs. Alexander Mitchell Palmer", Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1913. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ Murray, Robert K. (1955), The Red Scare, Westport: University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 0313226733
- ^ "Tribute From Cumming's.", New York Times, May 12, 1936. Retrieved on 2008-04-27. "Attorney General Cummings said today of A. Mitchell Palmer's death "He was a great lawyer, a distinguished public servant and an outstanding citizen. He was my friend of many years' standing and his death brings to me a deep sense of personal loss and sorrow.""
[edit] Multimedia
[edit] Sources
- Alexander Mitchell Palmer at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- The Political Graveyard
- Who Built America V.II
| Preceded by J. Davis Brodhead |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 26th congressional district 1909-1915 |
Succeeded by Henry J. Steele |
| Preceded by Thomas Watt Gregory |
United States Attorney General 1919–1921 |
Succeeded by Harry M. Daugherty |
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