Matthew Mansfield Neely (November 9, 1874January 18, 1958) was an American Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. He is the only West Virginian to serve in both houses of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and as the 21st

governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. He is also the only person to have held a full term in both Senate seats from the state.

Biography

He was born in Grove, West Virginia on November 9, 1874. He attended Salem College of West Virginia (now Salem International University), but did not earn a degree. At the outbreak of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

he entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, 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 th ...

as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

. Following the war, he earned a law degree from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. In 1903, he married Alberta Ramage."West Virginia's First Ladies," West Virginia Division of Culture and History, June 2007. He entered the practice of law in

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, eighth-most populous city in ...

and was elected its

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 ...

in 1908.

Congressman, Senator, and governor (1913-1958)

He was elected as a

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

to an unexpired term in 1913 and was re-elected through

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. In the 1920 election, he was defeated, due to his association with the policies of

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 ...

. He then ran for, and 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 ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

as a Democrat. He was defeated for re-election in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. He then ran for the state's other Senate seat in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

and was elected. He was re-elected in

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 ...

. In

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

he ran for governor and resigned the remaining two years of his Senate term. He soon regretted his decision and strongly considered resigning to run for his old Senate seat in

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. In later life he expressed strong regret for his term as governor. During Neely term as governor, child welfare laws were reformed and a State Planning Board was created

Upon the expiration of his term as governor in 1944, he ran for and was elected to his old House seat. He was, however, defeated for re-election in 1946 United States House of Representatives elections, 1946. Matthewneely

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, he was again elected to the Senate, beginning his third non-consecutive term there. He continued to serve until his death in 1958, after which he was interred in Fairmont's Woodlawn Cemetery. He was a New Deal Democrat and advocate for organized labor and civil rights. During his terms in the Senate in the 1930s he sponsored "anti-lynching" legislation, but such legislation never passed. Neely did not sign the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

despite school segregation being legally required in West Virginia prior to ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

'' (1954), but Neely did not vote on the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

. When he returned to the Senate after a term as governor and another term in the House of Representatives, he had lost his seniority, although he had many friends among the senior senators. He was assigned the Chairmanship of the U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, where he became the preeminent proponent of "home rule" for the District, effectively urging that the government of the District of Columbia be turned over to its majority of African-American citizens. He died in 1958, several years before the home rule he had sponsored finally passed both houses of Congress. Neely was also a mentor of then West Virginia attorney George W. Crockett, Jr., and later Member of Congress, who credited Neely with converting him from a Lincoln Republican to a New Deal Democrat. Neely was known through his political career as a master orator. In his honor,

Fairmont State University Fairmont State University is a public university in Fairmont, West Virginia. History Fairmont State University’s roots reach back to the formation of public education in the state of West Virginia. The first private normal school in West Vi ...

sponsors an oratory contest in his name every year. His grandson was Richard Neely, an author and politician who served as the chief justice of the

West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the state supreme court of the state of West Virginia, the highest of West Virginia's state courts. The court sits primarily at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, although from 1873 ...

Legislation

Senator Neely introduced the first

Department of Peace The Department of Peace is a proposed United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States. History The peace movement in the United States has a proposed legislative history that ...

bill in 1935. Neely reintroduced the bill in 1937 and 1939. In 1937, along with senator Homer Bone and representative

Warren Magnuson Warren Grant Magnuson (April 12, 1905May 20, 1989) was an American lawyer and politician who represented the Washington (state), state of Washington in United States Congress, Congress for 44 years, first as a United States House of Representativ ...

, Neely introduced the National Cancer Institute Act, which was signed into law by

Franklin 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 ...

on August 5 of that year. The Neely Anti-Block Booking Act gradually broke the control of the movie theaters by the studios.

References

External links

* * West Virginia & Regional History Center at

Matthew Mansfield Neely, Politician, Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neely, Matthew M. 1874 births 1958 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century West Virginia politicians American military personnel of the Spanish–American War Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Fairmont, West Virginia) Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia Democratic Party governors of West Virginia Democratic Party United States senators from West Virginia Mayors of places in West Virginia Military personnel from West Virginia People from Doddridge County, West Virginia Lawyers from Fairmont, West Virginia Salem International University alumni United States Army soldiers West Virginia lawyers West Virginia University alumni Politicians from Fairmont, West Virginia Delta Chi members 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Biography

Congressman, Senator, and governor (1913-1958)

Legislation

See also

References

External links