Stephen Albion Day (July 13, 1882 – January 5, 1950) was a
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
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
.
Biography
Day was born in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
, the son of Mary Elizabeth (née Schaefer) and
William R. Day, who was a diplomat and jurist.
Day attended the public schools at Canton, the University School at
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, and
Asheville School in
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. He graduated from the
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1905, and subsequently served as secretary to
Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller of the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
from 1905 to 1907.
He studied law at the
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...
. He 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 1907 and commenced practice in Cleveland. He moved to
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...
, in 1908 and continued the practice of law in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. He served as special counsel to the
Comptroller of the Currency
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to corporate charter, charter, bank regulation ...
from 1926 to 1928.
Day was elected as a
Republican to the
Seventy-seventh and
Seventy-eighth Congresses (January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1945). He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1944 to the
Seventy-ninth Congress. During his term, Day opposed U.S. involvement in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, claiming it would entail "national suicide" and "economic slavery". His reputation suffered when his name was linked to
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
agent
George Sylvester Viereck. Day published a book, ''We Must Save the Republic'', through Flanders Hall, a small company with ties to registered Nazi agents. In an investigation of Viereck's links to Congress, Day was named as one of four federal politicians who had knowingly collaborated with Viereck.
Day resumed the practice of law in Evanston, where he died on January 5, 1950.
See also
*
*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 10)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Stephen Albion
1882 births
1950 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
American anti–World War II activists
American collaborators with Nazi Germany
Candidates in the 1936 United States presidential election
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
University of Michigan Law School alumni
20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives