John Frost Nugent (June 28, 1868September 18, 1931) was an American attorney and Democratic politician from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. He served three years in 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 ...

, from 1918 to 1921.

Early life and education

Born in

La Grande, Oregon La Grande () is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Oregon, Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,082 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. The La Grande metro population ...

while his parents were visiting, Nugent attended public schools in

Silver City, Idaho Silver City is a ghost town in northwestern Owyhee County, Idaho, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). At its height in the 1880s, it was a gold and silver mining town with a population of around 2,50 ...

, where his father, Edward, was a judge.

Career

He worked in

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

s in Idaho and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

. Nugent was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1898, commencing practice back in Silver City, and was

prosecuting attorney 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. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

Owyhee County Owyhee County ( ) is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,913. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in I ...

from 1899 to 1906. Following the murder of former governor

Frank Steunenberg Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861December 30, 1905) was the fourth governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He was assassinated in 1905 by onetime union member Harry Orchard, who was also a paid informant for the Cripple ...

in late 1905, Nugent joined

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

in defending three members of the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into ...

Charles Moyer Charles H. Moyer (1866 – June 2, 1929) was an American labor leader and president of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) from 1902 to 1926. He led the union through the Colorado Labor Wars, was accused of murdering an ex-governor of the ...

, president of the union,

Bill Haywood William Dudley Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928), nicknamed "Big Bill", was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socia ...

, its secretary, and

George Pettibone George A. Pettibone (May 1862 – August 3, 1908) was an Idaho miner. Pettibone was best known as a defendant in trial of three leaders of the Western Federation of Miners for the 1905 assassination by bombing of Frank Steunenberg, former governo ...

, a former member. All three were acquitted, while prime suspect

Harry Orchard Albert Edward Horsley (March 18, 1866 – April 13, 1954), best known by the pseudonym Harry Orchard, was a miner convicted of the 1905 political assassination of former Idaho Governor of Idaho, Governor Frank Steunenberg. The case was one of the ...

was convicted and died at the state penitentiary in 1954. In January 1918, Governor

Moses Alexander Moses Alexander (November 13, 1853 – January 4, 1932) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 11th governor of Idaho, the second elected Jewish governor of a U.S. state, and the first who actually practiced that religion. ...

appointed Nugent to the U.S. Senate to succeed Republican

James Brady James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American public official who served as assistant to the U.S. president and the 17th White House Press Secretary, serving under President Ronald Reagan. In 1981, John Hinckley J ...

, who died in office. Nugent defeated former Governor Frank Gooding by 970 votes in a special election that November to finish the term. In the Senate, Nugent served as chairman of the Committee on Fisheries. Nugent faced Gooding again in 1920 for a full six-year term, but was defeated. Nugent resigned in January, prior to the end of his term in March, to accept an appointment from lame duck President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

to the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

. He served until 1927. Nugent ran a third time for Senate in 1926, but finished third behind Gooding and Progressive candidate H. F. Samuels. He resumed the 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 ...

, and remained in the area until his death after a brief illness in 1931 at age 63.

Personal life

Nugent, his wife Adelma (1870–1943), and their son George (1896–1979) are buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in

Suitland, Maryland Suitland is a suburb of Washington, D.C., approximately one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Washington, D.C. Suitland is a census designated place (CDP), as of the 2020 census, its population was 25,839. Prior to 2010, it was part of the Suitland ...

References

External links

* 1868 births 1931 deaths People from La Grande, Oregon Democratic Party United States senators from Idaho Idaho Democrats American prosecutors American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Federal Trade Commission personnel Woodrow Wilson administration personnel Harding administration personnel Coolidge administration personnel 20th-century United States senators {{Idaho-politician-stub