Frederick Steiwer (October 13, 1883February 3, 1939) was an American politician and lawyer in the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. A native of the state, he was county district attorney and member of the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the State legislature (United States), statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. Ther ...

from eastern Oregon and 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 ...

. A Republican, he was elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and served from 1927 to 1938. Twice a candidate for the Republican nomination to the presidency, he delivered the keynote address during the 1936 Republican National Convention.

Early life

Born in Oregon on a farm near Jefferson in Marion County, Steiwer's parents were John F. and Ada (née May) Steiwer. He received his education in the local public schools,Colmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. 1910. ''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. p. 229. and entered Oregon State Agricultural College (now

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

) at Corvallis at age 15 in 1898 and graduated four years later with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. Steiwer then attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in Eugene where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1906 before attending the school's law school, then located in Portland. In 1908, he was admitted to the Oregon State Bar and began practicing law for the Portland firm Snow & McCamant, where he had already been employed. In March 1909, he left the firm and moved to eastern Oregon where he formed a partnership with G. W. Phelps in Pendleton. A member of the Masons and a farmer, he also joined the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.

Political career

Steiwer started his career in public office in 1909 as the deputy

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for Umatilla County, serving until 1910. In 1912, he was elected as the district attorney for the county and served until 1916. That year he was elected to the

state senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

as a Republican representing Umatilla County and District 20. Steiwer only served during the 1917 legislative session, resigning to enlist in the U.S. Army during the

First World War 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 ...

. He served from 1917 to 1919 in the Sixty-fifth Field Artillery with rank of

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 se ...

. In 1926, Steiwer was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate, defeating incumbent Robert Stanfield in the primary. He won with only 39% of the vote, running against Democrat and later judge Bert Haney and Stanfield, then running for re-election as an independent. In 1928, he was one of many candidates for the Republican presidential nomination at the

National Convention The National Convention () was the constituent assembly of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for its first three years during the French Revolution, following the two-year National Constituent Assembly and the ...

, with

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 ...

winning the nomination and then the fall election. At the 1936 Republican National Convention he was the keynote speaker and temporary chairman, as well as an unsuccessful candidate for the nomination. Steiwer was re-elected in 1932 and served from March 4, 1927, until January 31, 1938, when he resigned to return to the practice of law after suffering health problems. He had undergone gall bladder surgery in November 1936. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments (Seventy-second Congress). He also served on the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

and helped oppose President Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court. Steiwer was an opponent of Roosevelt and The New Deal. In April 1937, he proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to create a nationwide primary for selection of the candidates for the U.S. presidency and vice-presidency. No amendment was ever passed.

Later years and family

On December 12, 1911, he married Frieda Roesch in Pendleton, and they had two children.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 234. One daughter, named Elizabeth, had a son who married the daughter of Thomas J. Watson, Jr. of IBM fame. His uncle was Winlock W. Steiwer, a state senator. Upon leaving the Senate, he returned to the full-time practice of law in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Steiwer died in the District of Columbia at the age of 55 on February 3, 1939, and was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

in neighboring

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

References

External links

1936 Keynote speech
- ''Time'' magazine
Arlington National Cemetery
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiwer, Frederick 1883 births 1939 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I District attorneys in Oregon Oregon lawyers Republican Party Oregon state senators Oregon State University alumni Republican Party United States senators from Oregon United States Army officers Candidates in the 1928 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1936 United States presidential election University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon School of Law alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Washington, D.C., Republicans American Freemasons People from Marion County, Oregon 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from Oregon 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly

Early life

Political career

Later years and family

See also

References

External links