Martin Leonard Sweeney Sr. (April 15, 1885 – May 1, 1960) was a Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and the father of Robert E. Sweeney.

Biography

Born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, Sweeney attended

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a ...

and public schools in the area, including St. Bridget's Parochial School.SWEENEY, MARTIN L.
''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''. Retrieved January 27, 2022. Prior to his political career, Sweeney worked as a laborer, hoisting engineer and a salesman from 1901 to 1913. He served as a member of the State House of Representatives in 1913 and 1914 and graduated from the

Cleveland Law School Cleveland State University College of Law is the law school of Cleveland State University, a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It traces its origins to Cleveland Law School, founded in 1897, which merged in 1946 with the John Marsh ...

Baldwin-Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...

in 1914. Sweeney was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

that same year and begin practicing law in Cleveland. From 1924 to 1932 Sweeney was judge of the

municipal court A city court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cas ...

of Cleveland, where he vocally opposed

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. Sweeney also served as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in 1932. From 1927 to 1931, Sweeney was national president of the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

. Sweeney was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Seventy-second Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles A. Mooney. He was re-elected to the Seventy-third and the four succeeding Congresses, serving from November 3, 1931, to January 3, 1943. Although Sweeney initially supported President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, he later turned against Roosevelt and sided with antisemitic priest and social justice activist

Charles Coughlin Charles Edward Coughlin ( ; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a Canadian-American Catholic Church, Catholic priest based near Detroit. He was the founding priest of the National Shrine of the Lit ...

. Sweeney's re-elections in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

without support from the national Democratic Party led him to continue his independent congressional course in an increasing swing towards non-interventionist politics. In September 1939, syndicated columnists Drew Pearson and

Robert S. Allen Robert Sharon Allen (July 14, 1900 — February 23, 1981) was an American journalist, Washington bureau chief for ''The Christian Science Monitor'', and military officer. Background Robert Sharon Allen was born on July 14, 1900, in Latonia, Covi ...

accused Sweeney of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, reporting that he had opposed the appointment of foreign-born Jews to the Cleveland federal bench. They also labeled Sweeney as the "Congressional spokesman for Father Coughlin." Sweeney filed 70 libel suits against Pearson and Allen, as well as the papers that carried his column, demanding $250,000 from each. Each of the cases was dismissed. In the summer of 1940, a bill establishing a peacetime military draft, H.R. 10132, was introduced. Sweeney denounced the bill as an attempt to drag America into World War II on the side of Great Britain. Beverly Vincent (D-KY) said Sweeney was a traitor and a "son of a bitch." Sweeney swung at Vincent, who counterpunched with a hard right to Sweeney's head. The House doorkeeper called it the best fistfight he had witnessed in the House in his fifty years at his post. Sweeney was an unsuccessful candidate for re-nomination in 1942 after being targeted for his stand against British Lend Lease and his alleged

isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...

. He was defeated in the primary by Michael Feighan, who represented Cleveland in Congress for the next twenty-eight years. He was unsuccessful for the Democratic nomination for

mayor of Cleveland The mayor of Cleveland is the head of the executive branch of Local government in the United States, government of the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. As the chief executive in Cleveland's Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government fo ...

in 1933 and in 1941, and for the gubernatorial nomination in 1944. He practiced law in Cleveland until his death there on May 1, 1960. He was interred in Calvary Cemetery.

Family

His daughter was married to the son of

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

Sheriff Martin O'Donnell (1886–1941). His first cousin was Dr. Francis E. Sweeney, (1894–1964) the prime suspect in the Cleveland Torso Murders (1934–1938)

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Martin Leonard 1885 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Ohio state court judges Activists from Ohio American anti–World War II activists Antisemitism in Ohio Baldwin Wallace University alumni Burials in Calvary Cemetery (Cleveland) Cleveland Municipal Court judges Lawyers from Cleveland Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives 20th-century American lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio 20th-century American far-right politicians 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly