John William Bricker (September 6, 1893March 22, 1986) was an American politician and attorney who served as a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

and the 54th

governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. He was also the Republican nominee for

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...

. Born in

Madison County, Ohio Madison County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,824. Its county seat is London. The county is named for James Madison, President of the United States and was e ...

, Bricker attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

and began a legal practice in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. He also served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He held various public offices between 1920 and 1937, including the position of Ohio Attorney General. Bricker served three terms as Governor of Ohio from 1939 to 1945. Bricker was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1944. He was

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

's running mate on the Republican ticket in the 1944 election, campaigning against the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's judicial nominees. The Republican ticket was defeated by the Democratic ticket of Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Bricker won election to the Senate in 1946. He introduced the

Bricker Amendment The Bricker Amendment is the collective name of a number of slightly different proposed amendments to the United States Constitution considered by the United States Senate in the 1950s. None of these amendments ever passed Congress. Each of them ...

, which would have limited the president's power to make treaties. Though the Bricker Amendment received support from some members of both parties, it was not passed by Congress. Bricker won re-election in 1952 but was narrowly defeated by

Stephen M. Young Stephen Marvin Young (May 4, 1889December 1, 1984) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Ohio from 1959 until 1971. Life and career Young was born o ...

in 1958. After leaving office, Bricker resumed the practice of law and died in 1986.

Early life and education

Bricker was born on a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is use ...

near Mount Sterling in Madison County in south central

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. He was the son of Laura (née King) and Lemuel Spencer Bricker. He attended

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, where he divided his time between the debating team, the varsity

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team, and the Delta Chi Fraternity. After graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Ohio State in 1916 and from its

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

school in 1920, he was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

in 1917 and began his legal practice in Columbus in 1920.

Public service

During

, Bricker served as

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

and

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

in the

in 1917 and 1918. He was subsequently the

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

for Grandview Heights, Ohio, from 1920 to 1928, assistant Attorney General of Ohio from 1923 to 1927, a member of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio from 1929 to 1932, and Attorney General of Ohio from 1933 to 1937. He was elected governor for three two-year terms, serving from 1939 to 1945, each time winning with a greater margin of victory. Bricker espoused a stance against centralized government, preferring to increase involvement in state and local governments, and made this known in his inaugural address as Governor: Bricker was the

Republican nominee for vice president, running with presidential nominee

, the

governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor h ...

who was nine years Bricker's junior. The Republicans lost handily to the Democratic ticket of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. In that campaign, Bricker proved to be a tireless campaigner, visiting thirty-one states and making 173 speeches, including 28 over a six-day period. His final remarks came on radio on election eve from the governor's office in Columbus, when he declared: "Not only has the

depleted our resources, recklessly spent our money, but it has undermined the very spiritual foundations of our government." Though most of his campaigning was in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, Bricker even visited the then-historically and -heavily Democratic state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, where in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, he called Franklin Roosevelt "a front for the

Hillman Hillman was a British automobile marque created by the Hillman-Coatalen Company, founded in 1907, renamed the Hillman Motor Car Company in 1910. The company was based in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, England. Before 1907 the company had ...

- Browder Communist Party," referring to the respective leaders of the

Congress of Industrial Organizations The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. Originally created in 1935 as a committee within the American Federation of ...

and the

Communist Party of the United States of America The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

.David Jordan, p. 295 In 1946, Bricker was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

. He was re-elected in 1952, serving from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959. Governor Dewey was the Republican presidential nominee again in 1948, but Senator Bricker was not his running mate. Dewey chose instead

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presided over a major shift in American constitutio ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the hope that the 1948 ticket would carry California, which the Dewey-Bricker ticket had failed to do. The Dewey-Warren ticket also lost California, and the absence of Bricker on the second ticket may have been a factor in Dewey's failure to win Bricker's home state of Ohio again. Bricker campaigned with Warren in 1944 in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, where Bricker attacked the politics of war-time

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

; then in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Bricker charged that Roosevelt had packed the U.S. judiciary with liberal jurists hostile to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

. However, even if Dewey had carried both California and Ohio in 1948, the two large states would have been insufficient to elect him President in that second campaign. Bricker's Senate service is best remembered for his attempts to amend the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

to limit the President's

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal per ...

-making powers (the

). He was the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce during the

83rd Congress The 83rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1953, until January 3, 1955, during the last two weeks of the Truman administration, with ...

. On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol police officer, William Louis Kaiser, fired shots at Senator Bricker as he boarded the underground subway from the Senate office building to the Capitol. The two shots, fired at close range, narrowly missed their target. Kaiser stated he was "trying to refresh" Bricker's memory. Kaiser had served on the police force as a protege of Bricker's predecessor in the Senate and had complained of losing substantial money on Columbus real estate. An investigation concluded that Kaiser may have fired blanks or else purposely missed Bricker. Bricker voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwi ...

. In 1958,

ran for the Senate against the incumbent Bricker. Bricker seemed invincible, but Young capitalized on widespread public opposition to the proposed "right to work" amendment to Ohio's constitution, which Bricker had endorsed. Few thought that Young, 70 at the time, could win; even members of his own party had doubts, particularly Ohio's other senator, Democrat

Frank J. Lausche Frank John Lausche (; November 14, 1895 – April 21, 1990) was an American Democratic politician from Ohio. He served as the 47th mayor of Cleveland and the 55th and 57th governor of Ohio, and also served as a United States Senator from Ohio ...

. In an upset amid a national Democratic trend, Young defeated Bricker by 52 to 48 percent. Bricker then retired from public life.

Professional life and death

In 1945, Bricker founded the Columbus law firm now known as

Bricker & Eckler John William Bricker (September 6, 1893March 22, 1986) was an American politician and attorney who served as a United States senator and the 54th governor of Ohio. He was also the Republican nominee for Vice President in 1944. Born in Madison C ...

. The firm now has additional offices in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, Cincinnati, Dayton, Marietta, Barnesville, and Lebanon. It is now one of the ten largest firms in the state of Ohio. The firm has maintained an office and conference room in Bricker's honor in its Columbus office featuring memorabilia from Bricker's political career. He was married to the former Harriet Day. After leaving the Senate, John Bricker resumed the practice of law. He died in Columbus on March 22, 1986 at the age of 92 and is interred at Green Lawn Cemetery.

Miscellaneous

* Bricker Hall on the Ohio State University campus is named for him. The building currently serves as the home of many of the university administrative units, including the Office of the Board of Trustees and President Dr. Michael V. Drake. Bricker was a member of the OSU Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1969. * The Bricker Building at the Ohio Expo Center (site of the annual Ohio State Fair and many other events) is named for him. * The

John W. Bricker Federal Building The John W. Bricker Federal Building is a federal office building in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The structure was designed in the Brutalist architecture style and was built in 1977 to house federal offices. It has seven stories, and is part of a fa ...

in downtown Columbus is named for him. * In Philip K. Dick's 1962 novel ''

The Man in the High Castle ''The Man in the High Castle'' (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the political intrigues b ...

'', set in an alternate timeline, Bricker succeeded

John Nance Garner John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was an American Democratic politician and lawyer from Texas who served as the 32nd vice president of the United States under Fran ...

as the 33rd President of the United States in 1940. * Bricker intervened in the 1956 deportation of Dr. Peter Tchen, father of Tina Tchen, former Time's Up CEO and Chief of Staff to

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

, by introducing a bill to grant him permanent residency.

References

External links

Former Capitol Policeman Shoots at Senator
- Ghosts of DC blog

* ttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18793/john-w_-bricker Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Bricker, John William 1893 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American politicians Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) Republican Party governors of Ohio Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio Military personnel from Ohio Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Ohio Attorneys General Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State University trustees Old Right (United States) People from Grandview Heights, Ohio People from Madison County, Ohio Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Republican Party United States senators from Ohio United States Army chaplains United States Army officers Candidates in the 1944 United States presidential election 1944 United States vice-presidential candidates World War I chaplains 20th-century American lawyers American anti-communists 20th-century American clergy United States Army personnel of World War I