Dwight Herbert Green (January 9, 1897 – February 20, 1958) was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of the US state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, serving from 1941 to 1949. Green was a Republican. Prior to being elected governor, he served as

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

(1931–1935), and ran unsuccessfully as his party's nominee in the 1939 Chicago mayoral election.

Earily life and career

Green was born in Ligonier,

Noble County, Indiana Noble County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 47,457. The county seat is Albion. The county is divided into 13 townships which provide local services. Noble County comprises th ...

, son of Harry Green and Minnie (Gerber) Green. On June 29, 1926, he married Mabel Victoria Kingston. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during World War I. Dwight and Mabel's children were Gloria and Nancy—they attended Springfield High School in LaPorte County. Nancy married Dr. James Gilbert and they had two daughters, Susie and Gloria. Gloria married Dr. Warren McPherson and they had two children, Scott and Victoria. Nancy Green Gilbert died in 2019. Gloria Green McPherson died in 1985. Green attended

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville () is a city in Montgomery County, Indiana, Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The c ...

, where he was a member of the Alpha-Pi chapter of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity. He attended

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at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, practiced law, and served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

in 1931–35. It would be Green's primary responsibility to help fight the organized crime operations—such as

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...

's gang—which virtually ruled Chicago and much of the state in the 1930s. The government team prosecuting Al Capone for Tax Evasion consisted of U.S. Attorney George E. Q. Johnson, and his prosecutors Dwight H. Green, Samuel Clawson, Jacob Grossman and William Froelich. In 1939, Green was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for

mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

. He defeated former mayor

William Hale Thompson William Hale Thompson (May 14, 1869 – March 19, 1944) was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931. Known as "Big Bill",Paul Reynolds (BBC journalist), Reynolds, Paul (November 29, 200 ...

by a broad margin in the Republican

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, but lost the general election to incumbent mayor Edward Joseph Kelly (a Democrat).

Governor of Illinois

In 1940, a

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against the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

and the U.S. Democratic Party had begun to affect Illinois and many other states, especially in the

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

. The Republican Green, with his record as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

and established opposition to the big-city Chicago

political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership c ...

, was elected governor of Illinois in the 1940 Illinois gubernatorial election. He was inaugurated on January 13, 1941. At the end of the same year,

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

thrust Governor Green into the job of leading one of the largest U.S. state governments during World War II. He won widespread support during the war and was reelected in 1944 to serve a second full term. The coming of peace in 1945 created new challenges for America's big cities and state governments. In particular, there was a sharp shortage of

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

for returning

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s and their families, as little had been built during the war or 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 ...

. The Chicago Democratic party slated an intellectual lawyer,

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

, to oppose Green for a third term in office. In a surprising upset, Stevenson defeated Green in November 1948, ending Green's political career; the defeat was in part owing to his negligence in preventing the deaths of 111 miners in the Centralia mine disaster. Though the disaster was likely accidental, the buildup to the mine explosion was due to the governmental regulators following a "weak, ineffectual, and indifferent policy toward enforcement of state mining laws".

Later years

Governor Green returned to private life after his 1948 defeat. He died February 20, 1958, and was buried at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is a historic rural cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. At , it is the largest cemetery in the city of Chicago and its first private cemetery. The Entrance Gate and Administration ...

in Chicago.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Dwight H. 1897 births 1958 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I American prosecutors Burials at Rosehill Cemetery Republican Party governors of Illinois People from Ligonier, Indiana Politicians from Chicago Military personnel from Indiana United States attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois Candidates in the 1948 United States presidential election Wabash College alumni