Joseph Bracken Lee (January 7, 1899 – October 20, 1996) was an American political figure in the state of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. A Republican, he served two terms as the ninth governor of Utah (1949–1957), six two-year terms as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Price, Utah Price is a city in the U.S. state of Utah and the county seat of Carbon County. The city is home to Utah State University Eastern, as well as the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum. Price is located within short distances of both Nine Mile Canyo ...

(1935–1947), and three terms as the 27th mayor of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

(1960–1971). Lee was the most recent of three Governors of Utah who was not a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), the other two being

Simon Bamberger Simon Bamberger (February 27, 1845October 6, 1926) was a German-American entrepreneur and politician who served as the fourth governor of Utah (1917–1921) after it achieved statehood from territorial status in 1896. Bamberger retains the disti ...

(1917–1921) and

George Dern George Henry Dern (September 8, 1872 – August 27, 1936) was a German Americans, German American politician, mining man, and businessman. He co-invented the Holt–Dern ore roasting process and was United States Secretary of War from 1933 to his ...

(1925–1933).

Early life

Lee was born in

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

, to Arthur J. Lee (1870-1934) and Ida Mae (Leiter) Lee (1874–1980). When he was five, the family moved to

Fruita Fruita () is a home rule municipality located in western Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 13,395 at the 2020 United States census. Fruita is a part of the Grand Junction, Colorado Metropolitan Statistical Area and ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, where they remained until he was in the eighth grade. The family then returned to Price. During

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 ...

, Lee 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 ...

, lying about his age and passing up his high school graduation in order to enlist. During training in California, the Army kept him there as a trainer for the soldiers going to Europe, believing that he had the excellent people skills needed for this job. This was a decision that Lee initially regretted, as he wished to serve in combat. After the war, he joined his father in the insurance business in Price prior to going into politics. Lee married Nellie Pace. Their daughter, Helen (Nelson), was born in 1922 (died 2005). Two years later Nellie became seriously ill, first with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, and then with

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

, of which she died in 1926. The medical expenses placed Lee in considerable debt. Until the debts were paid, Lee moved into his own garage and rented out his house. Another way he tried to save money was by eating only one hamburger and drinking a quart of milk a day. During this time, his daughter lived with Lee's parents. This experience helped form his fiscal conservatism, as he vowed he would never go into debt again. On February 23, 1928, he married Margaret Draper (1909–1989) of

Wellington, Utah Wellington is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,605 at the 2020 census. The community was settled in 1878 by a band of thirteen Mormons led by Jefferson Tidwell. The town was named for Justus Wellington Seeley, ...

. They had three children, a son, James (1930-2021), a daughter, Jon (Taylor) (born 1935), and a son, Richard (1944-2012). Margaret fueled Lee's political ambition, encouraging his entry into politics and actively contributing to his career. Together, they made a formidable team. She had a remarkable memory for names, a skill helpful to Bracken in public life. Margaret was active in the Women's Literary Society. She also did historical research on prominent women in the West and gave speeches about them. Bracken and Margaret were married for 61 years, until her death in 1989. Lee was an avid hunter and outdoorsman, particularly enjoying the high desert in eastern Utah near Price. He played semi-professional baseball as a young man, playing

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He was also an extraordinary handyman, with skills in jewelry making and painting. He was a member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic body, Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over ...

, and

Elks The Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset (ELKS), formerly known as Linux-8086, is a Linux-like operating system kernel. It is a subset of the Linux kernel, intended for 16-bit computers with limited processor and memory resources such as machines pow ...

. Lee died in Salt Lake City and is interred in a family plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City. Dying at 97 years of age, he lived longer than any other Utah Governor.

Political career

Lee was fiscally conservative and a deep opponent of the

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

. With hefty cuts in spending, he was able to run surpluses in all of his administrations. As governor, he trimmed both spending and bureaucracy by cutting the number of departments and commissioners. He particularly angered the teachers' union for his cuts in higher education. In addition to his fierce opposition to the income tax, he opposed foreign aid and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. While Lee was the descendant of Mormons, he had no religious affiliation himself, but still enjoyed political success despite the fact that he was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Although he did not shy from criticism of the church, he was careful to maintain good diplomacy with its leadership. Lee lost his first political campaign for mayor of Price in 1931. He returned in 1935 to win by just two votes, enjoying reelection another 5 times there. He lost two runs for governor in the 1940s before a successful bid in the fall of 1948. In 1956, he lost the Republican primary, which caused him to run a strong but unsuccessful race as an independent. He ran unsuccessfully for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in both 1958 and 1962, and again for governor in 1964, though he was defeated in the Republican state convention. Under the political system at the time, if no candidate running for statewide office or House of Representatives got 80% of the delegate votes at the convention, a primary was held between the top two candidates. Lee came in third at the convention, which eliminated his candidacy. In

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

, he was the Conservative Party's nominee for president. His Running Mate was Kent Courtney. They came in 9th place by popular vote.

Firing of Police Chief Skousen

W. Cleon Skousen Willard Cleon Skousen (; January 20, 1913 – January 9, 2006) was a Canadian conservative and nationalist author associated with the John Birch Society. In addition to his role as a notable anti-communist and supporter of the John Birch Socie ...

had served as

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, police chief for four years before being fired. Salt Lake City had a weak-mayor system, with the mayor being a member of the five member commission. In 1960 Lee offered a motion to fire Skousen and the majority of the commission voted yes. This happened shortly after Skousen raided an illegal poker club, where Lee was in attendance. Lee characterized Skousen's strict enforcement of anti-gambling laws as "like a

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

Legacy

Lee's biographer, Dennis Lythgoe, regards his greatest contribution his terms as mayor of Salt Lake City, where he brought fiscal responsibility and capital improvements to the city. With age having moderated his temper somewhat, he was more effective in office while remaining true to his principles. Lee's legacy as governor is sometimes disputed. While many point to his temper, opinionated personality, and battles with educators as problems, he is also generally praised for his fiscal responsibility, and for the fact that Utah enjoyed a prosperous economy during his administration. Throughout his entire tenure, the state had a surplus rather than debt. Even Lee's political opponents respected his integrity and honest, open and straightforward ways of dealing. Lee was often compared to President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

. Though the two had differing political viewpoints and were members of opposite parties, their personalities were similar. They shared folksy manners, never shied from stating their opinions, and were bluntly honest. With the two in office at the same time from 1949 to 1953, it was easy for many to compare the two.

References

* George B. Russell, ''J. Bracken Lee: The Taxpayer's Champion'', New York: R. Speller, 1961 * Dennis L. Lythgoe, ''Let 'em holler: a political biography of J. Bracken Lee''. Salt Lake City: Utah State Historical Society, 1982. * Lee, Bracken J.
J. Bracken Lee Papers
(MSS 1375), L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

External links