Hoffman, Clare E., 1875-1967

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Republican member of U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan's Fourth District.

From the description of Clare E. Hoffman papers, 1934-1967 (bulk 1939-1962). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34419878

Clare E. Hoffman was born at Vicksburg, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1875. He was educated in Constantine, Michigan, where his parents had moved when he was one year old. He graduated from Northwestern University Law School in 1895, and then attended Valparaiso University. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1896 and immediately took up the practice of law in Allegan, Michigan.

After thirty years of local legal practice, punctuated by two terms as prosecuting attorney for Allegan County, Hoffman decided to run for Congress as a Republican from the Fourth Congressional District (the six-county western Michigan district). He was elected in 1934 (defeating the Democratic incumbent), and reelected for the next thirteen terms, serving through 1962 (from the 74th to the 87th Congresses).

Elected during Franklin Roosevelt's first term, Hoffman developed a reputation as an outspoken, even caustic, critic of the New Deal, and of those programs which appeared to Hoffman to represent an encroachment on the prerogatives of the states and the rights of the individual. Hoffman was especially concerned about the growing power of trade unions resulting from the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (often called the Wagner Act). He worked tirelessly to amend this legislation and to incorporated his views into all subsequent labor-related legislation. With his growing seniority, and his membership on the House Committee on Education and Labor, Hoffman's became a potent voice in the debate over the passage of the Taft-Hartley Law after the war.

Hoffman also served for a time on the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the House Committee on Agriculture, but it was primarily because of his position on the Education and Labor Committee and the Government Operations Committee that he wielded his greatest influence.

The House Committee on Government Operations was formerly the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Department. As ranking Republican member, Hoffman for two terms was committee chairman, and became noted for his fiscal conservatism and his efforts to bring efficiency and order to the bureaucracy of the federal executive. He perhaps made his greatest contributions in the passage into law of the Reorganization Plan that authorized the creation and activities of the so-called Hoover Commission. He also played an important part in the passage of the Armed Forces Unification Act.

Hoffman retired from Congress in 1963. He died November 3, 1967.

From the guide to the Clare E. Hoffman papers, 1934-1967, 1954-1962, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Louis H. Fead papers, 1900-1948, 1918-1942 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf McKay, Frank D., 1883-. Frank D. McKay papers, 1909-1965. Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Goebel, Paul Gordon, 1901-. Paul G. Goebel papers, 1942-1964. Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf McCall, Ernest James, 1873-1950. Ernest J. McCall papers, 1897-1900 and 1918-1950. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Ernest James McCall papers, 1897-1900 and 1918-1950 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Herbert F. Baker Papers, 1904-1926 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf McKay, Frank D., 1883-. Frank McKay papers, 1909-1965. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Blair Moody Papers, 1928-1954, 1934-1952 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Fitzgerald, Frank D. (Frank Dwight), 1885-1939. Frank Dwight Fitzgerald papers, 1928-1944. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Frank D. McKay Papers, 1909-1965 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn James Orin Murfin papers, 1896-1940 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Ann Arbor National Defense Committee (Mich.). Ann Arbor National Defense Committee records, 1940-1942, 1944, and 1946. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Wilber M. Brucker Papers, 1877-1968 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Alexander G. Ruthven Papers, 1901-1961, 1906-1951 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Stellanova Osborn papers, 1907-1988 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Howard Cyrus Lawrence Papers, 1916-1966 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Stellanova Osborn papers, 1907-1988 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Marshall L. Cook and William R. Cook papers, 1880-1945 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Murphy, Frank, 1890-1949. Papers, 1908-1949 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Paul Gordon Goebel papers, 1942-1964 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Arthur H. Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974, 1915-1951 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Gerald L. K. Smith Papers, 1922-1976 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Clare E. Hoffman papers, 1934-1967, 1954-1962 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Ludlow mss., 1898-1948 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
creatorOf Hoffman, Clare Eugene, 1875-1967. Clare E. Hoffman papers, 1934-1967 (bulk 1939-1962). Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Matson, Frank William, 1874-1949. Frank W. Matson papers, 1904-1949. Minnesota Historical Society Library
referencedIn Owen J. Cleary Papers, 1944-1959 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Millar, James,. James Millar collection, 1925-1967. Western Michigan University, Dwight B. Waldo Library
referencedIn Frank Dwight Fitzgerald papers, 1928-1944, 1930-1939 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Fead, Louis H., 1877-1943. Louis H. Fead papers, 1900-1948. Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Fead, Louis H., 1877-1943. Louis H. Fead papers, 1911-1948. Bentley Historical Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Ann Arbor National Defense Committee (Mich.) corporateBody
associatedWith Baker, Herbert F., 1862-1930 person
associatedWith Brucker, Wilber Marion, 1894-1968 person
associatedWith Cleary, Owen J., 1900-1960 person
associatedWith Clinton Machine Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Cook, Marshall L., 1858-1955 person
associatedWith Fead, Louis H., 1877-1943. person
associatedWith Fitzgerald, Frank D. (Frank Dwight), 1885-1939. person
associatedWith Fitzgerald, Frank Dwight, 1885-1939 person
associatedWith Ford Motor Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Goebel, Paul Gordon, 1901- person
associatedWith Hamilton Farm Bureau Feed Plant (Hamilton, Mich.) corporateBody
associatedWith James Heddon's Sons. corporateBody
associatedWith Lawrence, Howard Cyrus, 1890-1961 person
associatedWith Ludlow, Louis, 1873-1950 person
associatedWith Matson, Frank William, 1874-1949. person
associatedWith McCall, Ernest James, 1873-1950. person
associatedWith McKay, Frank D., 1883- person
associatedWith Millar, James, person
associatedWith Moody, Blair, 1902-1954 person
associatedWith Murfin, James Orin, 1875-1940 person
associatedWith Murphy, Frank, 1890-1949 person
associatedWith National Motor Castings Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Osborn, Stellanova, 1894-1988. person
associatedWith Remington Rand, inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Republican Party (Mich.) corporateBody
associatedWith Ruthven, Alexander Grant, 1882- person
associatedWith Shakespeare Company (Kalamazoo, Mich.) corporateBody
associatedWith Smith, Gerald L. K. (Gerald Lyman Kenneth), 1898- person
associatedWith United States. Congress. House. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Operations. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. National Labor Relations Board. corporateBody
associatedWith Vandenberg, Arthur H. (Arthur Hendrick), 1884-1951 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Allegan County (Mich.)
Berrien County (Mich.)
Benton Harbor (Mich.)
Cass County (Mich.)
Allegan County (Mich.)
Michigan, Lake.
Ohio.
Dowagiac (Mich.)
Berrien County (Mich.)
Cass County (Mich.)
Kalamazoo (Mich.)
Barry County (Mich.)
Van Buren County (Mich.)
Saint Joseph County (Mich.)
United States
Barry County (Mich.)
Clinton (Mich.)
Shoreham (Mich.)
South Haven (Mich.)
Saint Joseph County (Mich.)
Van Buren County (Mich.)
Subject
Agriculture
Erosion
Industrial buildings
Industry
Labor
Laborers
Labor laws and legislation
Labor movement
Law enforcement
Pickets
Police
Strikes
Strikes and lockouts
Strikes and lockouts
Trade-unions
Vandalism
Working class
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1875-09-10

Death 1967-11-03

Information

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SNAC ID: 18981738