Gerrit John Diekema (March 27, 1859 – December 20, 1930) was a politician from the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
.
Biography
Diekema was born in
Holland, Michigan
Holland is a city in Ottawa County, Michigan, Ottawa and Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located in the West Michigan, western region of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula, the city is si ...
, where he attended the common schools and graduated from
Hope College
Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan, United States. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman coll ...
in 1881. In 1883, he graduated from the law department of the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
at
Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
** Chocolate bar
* Protein bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...
, and commenced practice in Holland.
Career
Diekema became a city attorney and a member of the
Michigan State House of Representatives
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, Indiana and Illinois to the southwest, Ohio ...
serving from 1885 to 1891 from Ottawa County 1st District, serving as speaker from 1889 to 1890. He became mayor of Holland in 1895 and chairman of the
Michigan Republican Party
The Michigan Republican Party is the state affiliate of the national Republican Party in Michigan, United States, sometimes referred to as MIGOP.
Ronna Romney McDaniel was the chairwoman of the party, having been elected in 2015 by delegates ...
ten consecutive years from 1900 to 1910. He was a delegate to the
1896 Republican National Convention
The 1896 Republican National Convention was held in a temporary structure south of the St. Louis City Hall in St. Louis, Missouri, from June 16 to June 18, 1896.
Former Governor William McKinley of Ohio was nominated for president on the first ...
and a member of the
Spanish Treaty Claims Commission
The Spanish Treaty Claims Commission was established by the United States at the conclusion of the Spanish–American War for the purpose of carrying out one of the terms of the treaty ending the war.Republican from
Michigan's 5th congressional district
Michigan's 5th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It includes all of Branch, Cass, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Monroe (except for the city of Milan), and St. Joseph counties, s ...
to the Sixtieth Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Alden Smith. He was subsequently re-elected to the Sixty-first Congress, serving from May 15, 1907, to March 3, 1911. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1910 to the Sixty-second Congress and resumed the practice of law in Holland, Michigan.
He became manager of the Republican Speakers’ Bureau in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 1912 and a candidate in the primary for
Governor of Michigan
The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...
in 1916. He was a delegate to the
1924 Republican National Convention
The 1924 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Public Auditorium, from June 10 to 12.
Incumbent President Calvin Coolidge was nominated for a full term and went on to win the general election. The convention nomina ...
from Michigan. After seventeen years he was re-elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, serving from 1927 to 1929, a record total of twelve years.
Diekema was appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands by President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
on August 20, 1929, and served until December 1930.
Personal life
On December 20, 1930, Diekema died in
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Diekema was interred in Pilgrim Home Cemetery, Holland, Michigan.
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...