James M. Beck Explained

James M. Beck
State:Pennsylvania
Term Start:November 8, 1927
Term End:September 30, 1934
Predecessor:James M. Hazlett
Successor:William H. Wilson
Office1:17th United States Solicitor General
Term Start1:June 1, 1921
Term End1:May 11, 1925[1]
President1:Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Predecessor1:William L. Frierson
Successor1:William D. Mitchell
Office2:9th United States Assistant Attorney General
President2:William McKinley
Term Start2:1900
Term End2:1903
Predecessor2:James Edmund Boyd
Successor2:James Clark McReynolds
Birth Name:James Montgomery Beck
Birth Date:July 9, 1861
Birth Place:Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting Place:Rock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Party:Republican
Otherparty:Democratic (before 1900)
Alma Mater:Moravian College
Profession:Lawyer

James Montgomery Beck (July 9, 1861 – April 12, 1936) was an American lawyer, politician, and author from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Solicitor General and U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.

Early life and education

Beck was born July 9, 1861, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Margaretta C. (née Darling) and James Nathan Beck.[2] In 1880, he graduated from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was employed as clerk for a railway company in 1880 and studied law at night, was admitted to the bar in 1884 and commenced practice in Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar of New York City in 1903, and to the bar of England in 1922.

Career

Beck served as assistant United States Attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892 and as United States attorney in Philadelphia from 1896 to 1900. In 1898, he ran for District Attorney of Philadelphia, but lost to P. Frederick Rothermel. Switching from a Pro-Cleveland Democrat to a Republican in 1900, he was appointed by President William McKinley as Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. at the U.S. Department of Justice in the same year, where he served until his resignation in 1903. He then returned to the full-time practice of law, joining the firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York City. In 1917, he left that firm to become senior partner in Beck, Crawford & Harris, and retired from active practice in 1927 to run for Congress from Philadelphia.[3]

At the outbreak of World War I, he took a strong stand against the German Empire in extensive writings and addresses.[4] He was elected a bencher of Gray's Inn in 1914, the first foreigner in 600 years to receive that distinction. He also received decorations from France and Belgium and authored several books and articles on World War I and on the Constitution of the United States. Among his books are The Evidence in the Case (1914) and War and Humanity (1916).[4]

Beck was an elected member of the American Philosophical Society (1926).[5]

Solicitor General

He was appointed by President Warren G. Harding as Solicitor General of the United States in 1921 and served until his voluntary resignation in 1925, when he again resumed the practice of law. During his term as solicitor general, he had charge of more than 800 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He personally and successfully argued more than 100 of these cases, including Ozawa v. United States.

His conservative views are reflected in his 1924 book The Constitution of the United States, which was a best-seller and went through seven printings in ten months. A special edition of 10,000 copies, with a foreword written by President-elect Calvin Coolidge, was distributed to schools and libraries across the country.

U.S. Representative

After resigning as solicitor general, Beck became involved in the legal fight of William S. Vare, who was elected to the U.S. Senate but denied a seat because of irregularities in the election. In response, Beck wrote The Vanishing Rights of States in which he argued that the U.S. Constitution did not permit the U.S. Senate to exclude a member chosen through an election. The debate that followed the book's publishing, raising Beck's public profile and making him a prominent option to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by the resignation of James M. Hazlett.

Beck was elected to the Seventieth Congress, was reelected to the Seventy-first, Seventy-second, and Seventy-third Congresses and served from November 8, 1927, until his resignation on September 30, 1934.

He was active in the movement to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, which he said had no place in the constitution. He also fended off legal questions about his official residence and thus eligibility to represent Philadelphia.

Legal battles

Beck resigned his seat in the House of Representatives over strong objections to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In a statement released at the time of his resignation, he stated that Congress had become "merely a rubber stamp for the Executive."

He joined the lawsuit against the New Deal-created Tennessee Valley Authority and argued the case in the Supreme Court in December 1935, declaring the organization unconstitutional and socialistic. In the final weeks before his death, he served as counsel in the case of an oil stock dealer accused of violating the Securities Act of 1933.

Personal life

Beck was married to Lilla Lawrence Mitchell (1861–1956), the daughter of James and Emeline Lawrence Mitchell of Philadelphia and later of Baltimore. They had two children together:

Death

Beck died April 12, 1936, in Washington, D.C., at age 74, and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[11] Beck's widow, Lilla Lawrence Mitchell, died over 20 years later, on August 1, 1956.[12]

References

"The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the rise of the American Nation State" LISA McGIRR; New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2016 (pp. 174–175)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Jost, Kenneth . 1993 . The Supreme Court A to Z . CQ Press . 428 . 9781608717446.
  2. Web site: The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Beck to Beckbissinger.
  3. Web site: Solicitor General: James M. Beck . www.justice.gov . 23 October 2014 . . 3 June 2024 . en.
  4. Beck, James Montgomery.
  5. Web site: APS Member History . 2023-08-07 . search.amphilsoc.org.
  6. News: JAMES M. BECK DIES; A SOCIETY FIGURE, 80 . 27 April 2022 . . 6 December 1972.
  7. Web site: Hon. Clarissa ('Clare') Tennant (Tennyson, later Beck) . www.npg.org.uk . . 27 April 2022 . en.
  8. News: Mrs. James Beck, Founded Newport Music Carnival . 27 April 2022 . . 18 April 1974.
  9. News: TIMES . Special to THE NEW YORK . MISS BEATRICE BECK. BRIDE OF S. P. TUCK JR.; President and Mrs. Coolidge at the Wedding of Daughter of Solicitor General. . 27 April 2022 . . 26 October 1924.
  10. News: TIMES . Special to THE NEW YORK . MRS. BEATRICE TUCK IS BRIDE AT CAPITAL; Daughter of Late James M. Beck Is Married to Col. Snowden Andrew Fahnestock. . 27 April 2022 . . 30 April 1936.
  11. News: TIMES . Special to THE NEW YORK . JAMES M. BECK, 74, NEW DEAL FOE, DIES; One of Foremost Authorities on the Constitution Stricken Suddenly in Capital. . 27 April 2022 . . 13 April 1936.
  12. News: Times . Special to The New York . MRS. JAMES M. BECK, 98; Widow of Onetime Solicitor General of U.S. Is Dead . 27 April 2022 . . 2 August 1956.