Barratt O'Hara
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Barratt O'Hara | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district | |
In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1969 | |
Preceded by | Richard B. Vail |
Succeeded by | Abner Mikva |
In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951 | |
Preceded by | Richard B. Vail |
Succeeded by | Richard B. Vail |
30th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois | |
In office February 3, 1913 – January 8, 1917 | |
Governor | Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne |
Preceded by | John G. Oglesby |
Succeeded by | John G. Oglesby |
Personal details | |
Born | St. Joseph, Michigan | April 28, 1882
Died | August 11, 1969 Washington, D.C. | (aged 87)
Political party | Democratic |
Barratt O'Hara (April 28, 1882 – August 11, 1969) of Chicago was an American Democratic politician serving as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois and lieutenant governor of Illinois. He was the last Spanish–American War veteran to serve in Congress.
Early life
[edit]Barratt O'Hara was born in Saint Joseph, Michigan (Berrien County) April 28, 1882; attended the public schools of Berrien Springs and Benton Harbor; went to Nicaragua with his father and attended school at San Juan del Norte; at the age of fifteen years enlisted during the Spanish–American War and served as a corporal in Company I, Thirty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, at the Siege of Santiago. In 1906, O'Hara married Florence Hoffman who was the daughter of hymn writer Elisha Hoffman.
Newspaper service
[edit]After two years O'Hara returned to Benton Harbor and graduated from high school; reporter, Benton Harbor Evening News, 1900; attended Missouri University in 1901 and 1902 and Northwestern University in 1909 and 1910; graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1912; sporting editor of St. Louis, Mo., Chronicle in 1902 and the Chicago American 1903–1905; editor with Chicago Chronicle in 1906, Chicago Examiner 1907–1910, and Chicago Magazine and Sunday Telegram 1910–1912; Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 1913–1917; chairman of Illinois senate vice and wage investigations 1913–1915; was admitted to the bar in 1912 and commenced the practice of law in Chicago, Ill..
Political career
[edit]O'Hara was elected lieutenant governor of Illinois in 1912 and served from 1913 through 1917.
O'Hara was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in 1914; during the First World War served as a major with the Eightieth and Twelfth Infantry Divisions and later as divisional judge advocate of the Fifteenth Division; president of the Arizona Film Co., in 1916 and 1917; unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1920, and for Congressman-at-large in 1936 to the Seventy-fifth Congress; radio commentator in Chicago 1933–1935; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-first Congress (January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1950 to the Eighty-second Congress; elected to the Eighty-third and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1969); unsuccessful Democratic candidate for renomination in 1968; died in Washington, D.C., August 11, 1969; interment in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.
References
[edit]This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-09
External links
[edit]Media related to Barratt O'Hara at Wikimedia Commons