Stephen Geyer Porter (May 18, 1869 – June 27, 1930) was a Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Biography

Porter was born near

Salem, Ohio Salem is a city in Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 11,915 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Salem was founded by Quakers in 1806 and played a key role in the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist ...

. In 1877, he moved to Pennsylvania with his parents, who settled in

Allegheny, Pennsylvania Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

(now part of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

). He attended

Allegheny High School Allegheny High School is a former high school in the Allegheny Center neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which operated from 1883 to 1983. The school's two surviving buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 198 ...

and studied medicine for two years, after which he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in December 1893 and commenced practice in Pittsburgh. He was city solicitor of Allegheny from 1903 to 1906. He was chairman of the Republican State convention in 1912. Porter was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the nine succeeding Congresses and served until his death. He was the Chairman of the

United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affair ...

during the Sixty-sixth through Seventy-first Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for

Mayor of Pittsburgh The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh. Prior to the 1816 city charter, the Borough of Pittsburgh had its c ...

in 1913. He was appointed in 1921 to represent the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

on the advisory committee to the

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conference on armament limitations, and he represented the

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at the centennial of

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’s independence, in 1922. He was a member and chairman of the American delegation to the Second International Conference on Opium, at

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in 1924 and 1925, although he unexpectedly withdrew the American delegation prior to the Conference's conclusion. The American delegation's proposals for more stringent drug control were rejected. Porter also served as chairman of the

House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affair ...

, in which capacity he drafted the "Porter Resolution", passed by the House, which authorized the president to place the United States' relations with China on a footing of equality. He was also chairman of the

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from 1926 to 1930. He died in Pittsburgh and was interred in Highwood Cemetery.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Stephen G. 1869 births 1930 deaths Lawyers from Pittsburgh Politicians from Pittsburgh Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People from Salem, Ohio 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Biography

See also

Sources