Davis, John W. (John William), 1873-1955

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DAVIS, JOHN WILLIAM, (son of John James Davis), a Representative from West Virginia; born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, W.Va., April 13, 1873; attended various private schools; was graduated from the literary department of Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va., in 1892; taught school; reentered the university and was graduated from its law department in 1895; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Clarksburg, W.Va.; professor of law at Washington and Lee University in 1896 and 1897; resumed the practice of law in Clarksburg, W.Va., in 1897; member of the State house of delegates in 1899; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1904; president of the West Virginia Bar Association in 1906; appointed a member of the West Virginia Commission on Uniform State Laws in 1909; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses and served from March 4, 1911, to August 29, 1913, when he resigned; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1912 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Robert W. Archbald, judge of the United States Commerce Court; Solicitor General of the United States 1913-1918; appointed Ambassador to the Court of St. James and served from November 21, 1918, to March 31, 1921; member of the American delegation for conference with Germany on the treatment and exchange of prisoners of war, held in Berne, Switzerland, in September 1918; honorary bencher of the Middle Temple, London, England; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 1924; delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1932; was a resident of Nassau County, N.Y., and practiced law in New York City until his death; died in Charleston, S.C., March 24, 1955; interment in Locust Valley Cemetery, Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y.

<p>John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1924 and lost to Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge.</p>

<p>Born and raised in West Virginia, Davis briefly worked as a teacher before beginning his long legal career. Davis's father, John J. Davis, had been a delegate to the Wheeling Convention and served in the United States House of Representatives in the 1870s. Davis joined his father's legal practice and adopted many of his father's political views, including opposition to anti-lynching legislation and support for states' rights. Davis served in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913, helping to write the Clayton Antitrust Act. He held the position of solicitor general from 1913 to 1918, during which time he successfully argued for the illegality of Oklahoma's "grandfather law" in <i>Guinn v. United States</i>.</p>

<p>While serving as the ambassador to Britain from 1918 to 1921, Davis was a dark horse candidate for the 1920 Democratic presidential nomination. After he left office, Davis helped establish the Council on Foreign Relations and advocated for the repeal of Prohibition. The 1924 Democratic National Convention nominated Davis for president after 103 ballots. His nomination made him the second nominee (Wilson, the first, had been nominated in 1912) from a former slave state, Virginia since the Civil War, and Davis remains the only major party presidential candidate from West Virginia. Running on a ticket with Charles W. Bryan, Davis lost in a landslide to Coolidge.</p>

<p>Davis did not seek public office again after 1924 but remained a prominent attorney, representing many of the country's largest businesses. Over a 60-year legal career, he argued 140 cases before the United States Supreme Court. He famously argued the winning side in <i>Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer</i>, in which the Supreme Court ruled against President Harry Truman's seizure of the nation's steel plants. Davis also unsuccessfully defended the "separate but equal" doctrine in <i>Briggs v. Elliott</i>, one of the companion cases to <i>Brown v. Board of Education</i>.</p>