Steiwer, Frederick, b. 1883

Frederick Steiwer was born October 13, 1883, near the town of Jefferson in Marion County, Oregon, the son of John F. and Ada May Steiwer. His grandparents had come to Oregon by wagon train in the 1840s and 50s and had settled in Marion County. Frederick entered Oregon State College at 15 and graduated in 1902. After teaching school he entered the University of Oregon in 1903 and became active in student organizations. Graduating in 1906 he worked in a bank and studied law briefly in Portland, passing the Oregon bar in 1908. He then went to Pendleton, Oregon, to work in a law firm. From 1909 to 1910 he served as the deputy district attorney of Umatilla County and in 1912 was elected district attorney. His political career began in 1916 when he was elected to the Oregon State Senate from Umatilla County. In 1911 he married Freida Roesch, and the couple had two children.

With the U.S. entry into World War I, Steiwer enlisted in the army and received a commission as First Lieutenant of Field Artillery. He served on the front lines, first in the French army and then with the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1919 he returned to Pendleton to enter a law partnership, Raley, Raley & Steiwer, remaining with the firm until its dissolution in 1927. In that year he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served on the Oregon delegation until 1938.

Steiwer quickly gained prominence as a defender of Republican policies and a strong supporter of veterans. After the election of Democrat Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, Steiwer devoted considerable effort to lambasting the administration. He served on the Finance and Judiciary committees and was especially critical of the New Deal and its related programs. In 1936 he worked strenuously on behalf of the Republican presidential contender, Alfred Landon, and in the summer of that year he was asked to deliver the keynote speech to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. His "Three long years" speech, broadcast on national radio, won him many admirers as well as many enemies. In 1936 and 1937 he fought Roosevelt's legislation to expand the number of Supreme Court judges. That year he fell ill and underwent a gall bladder operation that removed him from the Senate for many months.

Although Steiwer returned to Capitol Hill and continued his active legislative work, his health further deteriorated. In November of 1937 he announced his resignation from Congress, saying he wished to return to private law practice. He died at the age of 55 in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 1939, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetary.

From the guide to the Frederick Steiwer Papers, 1903-1938, 1922-1938, (Oregon Historical Society Research Library)