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Clayton Douglass Buck (March 21, 1890 – January 27, 1965) was an American engineer and politician from New Castle Hundred,
New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. He was a veteran of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and a member of the Republican Party, who served two terms as governor and one term as U.S. Senator from Delaware. He was known by his middle name.


Early life and family

Buck was born at Buena Vista near
New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Cast ...
, son of Francis N. and Margaret Douglass Buck. His father was from
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and his mother was related to U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John M. Clayton. He married Alice Hounsfield du Pont, daughter of U.S. Senator T. Coleman du Pont, and they had two children, Clayton Douglass, Jr. and Mrs. Dorcas Van Dyke Farquhar. They were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle. He was educated at the Wilmington Friends School and attended the University of Pennsylvania Engineering School for two years, serving in the U.S. Army during World War I.


Professional and political career

By the early 20th century the Du Pont Company had become one of the world's major corporations, bringing enormous wealth to its owners and providing employment and other opportunities to their native state. One of the three key owners of the company was T. Coleman du Pont, a capable, energetic and ambitious man, who was also Buck's father-in-law. Du Pont had a vision of a superhighway running the length of Delaware, and the ambition, talent, and money to make it a reality. Construction began in 1917 and in that same year a new State Highway Department was established to oversee the work. Nevertheless, du Pont continued to pay the bills, amounting to $4 million by 1924. With his engineering education and family connections, Buck was assigned to work on the project, becoming Chief Engineer in 1921 and remaining in the role until 1929.


Governor of Delaware

Buck was elected Governor of Delaware in 1928, defeating Democrat Charles M. Wharton. During this term the New York Stock Market crashed, signaling the beginning of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. Fortunately, about the same time, Alfred I. du Pont had begun an effort to provide financial relief to those in the most need. Having failed to get such relief enacted by the
Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legi ...
, on November 1, 1929, du Pont began mailing out personal checks of sixteen dollars to some eight hundred people. After spending some $350,000 of his own money, du Pont, appointed by Buck as chairman of the Old Age Welfare Commission, persuaded the General Assembly to take over the program in late 1930. As the economic situation continued to worsen, Buck called the General Assembly into session in November 1932 and also persuaded them to pass a $2 million emergency relief measure. Buck was elected to a second term as governor in 1932, defeating Landreth L. Layton, the Democratic candidate, thereby becoming the first governor to be reelected under the Delaware Constitution of 1897. In doing so he was one of only two Republican governors elected that year, while Delaware was one of only six states voting to reelect U.S. 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 ...
. In June 1932, Delaware became the seventh state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
, allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages. Governor Buck appointed State Tax Commissioner
Pierre S. du Pont Pierre Samuel du Pont (; January 15, 1870 – April 4, 1954) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist and member of the prominent du Pont family. He was president of DuPont from 1915 to 1919, and was on its board of directors un ...
to head up a new State Liquor Commission to manage and tax newly available alcohol. Buck continued to seek relief for the distressed state and in October 1933 called the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
back into session to consider borrowing money from the Federal government. Once it was clear the General Assembly would never reach agreement on this measure, Buck took the unprecedented step of adjourning their session. Shortly thereafter teachers and state employees began taking reductions in their pay. In 1935 Buck had the State Highway Department assigned responsibility for the roads in the state that had formerly been maintained by the counties.


United States Senator

Several years later, in 1942, Buck was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat E. Ennalls Berl, a Wilmington lawyer. During the
80th Congress The 80th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 1947 ...
he was chairman of the District of Columbia Committee. Buck lost his bid for a second term in 1948 to Democrat J. Allen Frear, Jr., a businessman from
Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...
. From 1953 until 1957 he was the Tax Commissioner of Delaware, another position held frequently by a member of the du Pont family.


Death and legacy

Buck died at Buena Vista near New Castle and is buried in the Immanuel Episcopal Church Cemetery at New Castle. Remaining a conservative Republican to the end of his life, he backed Ohio U.S. Senator
Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate majority le ...
and Arizona U.S. Senator
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...
in their presidential campaigns. His home, Buena Vista, was donated to the State of Delaware and is now used as a conference center. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1971. There is a Buck Road, in Greenville, Delaware.


Almanac

Elections are held the first Tuesday after November 1. The governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and has a four-year term. U.S. Senators are popularly elected and take office January 3 for a six-year term.



References

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Images


Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress


External links


Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United StatesBiographical Dictionary of the United States Congress Buena Vista History
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, C. Douglass 1890 births 1965 deaths Du Pont family 20th-century American Episcopalians People from New Castle, Delaware Military personnel from Delaware United States Army personnel of World War I Republican Party governors of Delaware Burials in New Castle County, Delaware Republican Party United States senators from Delaware 20th-century United States senators