Stanley, Augustus Owsley, 1867-1958

Legislator, Governor.

A.O. Stanley was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky in 1867. He was elected to Congress from the Second Congressional District of Kentucky in 1902, and was re-elected for five successive terms. In 1915 he was elected governor of Kentucky, resigning in May, 1919, after being elected to the United States Senate. He was defeated for re-election to the Senate in 1924. In 1930 Herbert Hoover named him to the International Joint Commission, a post he held until 1954, serving as chairman of the United States Section from 1933 to his retirement. His chief activity in the House was in antitrust ligislation. He was chairman of the congressional committee investigating the United States Steel Corporation and is credited with being a principal draftsman of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. He championed the cause of the tobacco growers in a dispute with the American Tobacco Company.