Albert B. Fall: tempest in a teapot

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Though President Warren G. Harding was never implicated in any of the scandals befalling his administration, his preference for giving his Cabinet unregulated control over their departments helped contribute to their abuse of power. Of his Secretary of the Interior, Albert Bacon Fall, Harding once said, "If Albert Fall isn't an honest man, I'm not fit to be President of the United States." Harding died unexpectedly in August of 1923, just a couple of months shy of the scandal that would show how he had misplaced his trust.

Fall was born in November of 1861 into a hardscrabble life in Frankfort, Kentucky. He worked at a cotton mill in his youth to help support his family, and later became a drugstore clerk and teacher. From an early age, Fall suffered from respiratory problems. He moved to Mexico in the hope that the climate would be more tolerable for this health issue and worked in the mining industry before returning to the United States, studying law in Texas. He moved to Las Cruces in New Mexico, then a U.S. territory, where he pursued employment in real estate, mining, and livestock interests while also opening a bookstore. Fall began practicing law after he was admitted to the bar in 1891, choosing Mexican law as his area of expertise.

By the time he got into the legal field, Fall had already started on a political career. After unsuccessfully running for the territory's house of representatives in 1888, he won a seat in the body in 1890; the year before, he was elected the irrigation commissioner of Dona Ana County. In 1893, he was appointed judge of the third judicial district in 1893. However, he soon left to return to private practice after an accusation that he deliberately discounted returns in an election in order to favor the Democratic candidate. He became the territorial attorney general in 1897 and 1907, the terms bookending another term in the legislature which Fall managed to serve despite opening a new law practice in El Paso, Texas. He was in a different party in 1904, having switched to join the Republicans. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Fall served as a captain in Company H of the First Territorial Infantry.

When New Mexico was admitted as a state, the legislature named Fall as one of the first people to represent the state in the Senate. It was a contentious choice; 32 were in favor, but a coalition of Democrats, progressive Republicans, and one other Republican did not cast a vote. The legislature's chairman argued that the choice was not valid because 37 votes were needed, but the Republicans said the decision stood because it was made with a majority of those present. Governor William C. McDonald, a Democrat, did not sign Fall's credentials. However, Fall was re-elected without incident in January of 1913 for a term commencing in March. In 1918, with the Senate electoral process changed from legislatures to popular vote, Fall won a second term.

Fall quickly became a controversial figure for his role in the relations between the United States and Mexico. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, said Fall's demands amounted to an ultimatum which could lead to war. These included Fall's contention that the country was not doing enough to collect from Mexico for damages done to American property in skirmishes with rebels along the border. There was a minor scandal in 1913 when Fall denounced provisional Mexican president General Victoriano Huerta as a "traitorous and treacherous assassin" and demanded the repeal of a joint resolution allowing the President to authorize arms shipments to Mexico. The Mexican government in turn accused Fall of fomenting revolution and providing the rebellion with $200,000 to protect his property interests in the country. Fall denied the charge, saying, "The whole trouble is that I know the Mexican people, that I am thoroughly in sympathy with the great masses of the Mexican people and that I am not in sympathy with traitors nor assassins of any race. Huerta and his associates know these facts and they fear my statements concerning them, and they are driven to desperation when they threaten any exposé of myself or my facts."

When Harding was elected President in 1920, Fall accepted an offer to join his Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior and resigned from the Senate in March of 1921. He would become known as one of the members of the "Ohio gang," the members of the Harding Administration who achieved the most autonomy only to abuse this power. A rumor arose that Fall would resign at the end of his first year in the job due to irreconcilable disagreements with Harding over the issues of soldiers' bonuses and farm legislation. Fall said this was not true, and also denied suggestions that he had received offers to become affiliated with oil companies. It was an early hint of the scandal that would rock the country for several years. Though Fall did not resign in 1922, he did leave the post on his two-year anniversary. The reported reason for his departure was similar to the 1922 rumor: he and Harding remained friends, but disagreed over a variety of issues including U.S. intervention in Mexico and policies involving Alaska and conservation. Harding named the Postmaster General, Hubert Work, to take Fall's place.

The resignation came about five months before the lid blew off in a corrupt bargain that would come to be known as the Teapot Dome Scandal. This issue had its roots in the U.S. Navy's conversion from coal to diesel to fuel its ships. In order to ensure an adequate supply of fuel for the vessels, the administrations of William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson had set aside reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and Elk Hills in California. During his time as Secretary of the Interior, Fall convinced Harding that the jurisdiction of the reserves should fall under his department rather than the Navy. He argued that neighboring private companies were inadvertently draining the reserves, and that it would make more sense to lease the fields to these companies and have them give the government a portion of the tapped oil. With Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby agreeing with the recommendation, Harding acquiesced.

In April of 1922, Fall leased the Teapot Dome reserve to the Mammoth Oil Company, owned by Harry F. Sinclar. Sinclair gained control of the Teapot Dome reserve without ever going to bid; the 20-year lease promised to pay government between 12.5 to 50 percent of proceeds, depending on production. These funds would be paid in certificates that could be exchanged for fuel or Mammoth's services in constructing oil storage factories. Edward Doheny, a close friend of Fall's and owner of the Pan American Petroleum Company, won control over most of the Elk Hills reserve. He also submitted a successful bid for the construction of oil storage facilities at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Congress investigated the transactions in 1922, but it wasn't until October of 1923 that a Senate inquiry began to uncover the seedy details of the leases. A Wyoming congressman questioned why they had not gone out to bid, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an exposé alleging corruption in the deals. The Senate Public Lands Committee called in witnesses to see if any criminal activity had taken place, and eventually uncovered gifts and loans made to Fall by Sinclair and Doheny. Sinclair admitted that Fall had been his personal guest on several occasions, and the committee later determined that he gave Fall $260,000 in Liberty bonds as well as a herd of cattle and other gifts in exchange for control of the Teapot Dome reserve. Fall claimed that an additional $100,000 loan uncovered by the committee was given to him by Washington newspaper publisher E.B. McLean to purchase additional ranch properties in New Mexico. But in January of 1924, Doheny admitted that he had given this money to Fall in a black satchel during the lease negotiations. Further investigation determined that Fall was suffering from significant financial difficulties when he joined the Harding Administration, and that he had used the money to pay off his debts, renovate his ranch, and purchase adjoining property.

The blatant disregard for the public office horrified the American public, and the scandal sent shock waves through the Cabinet. Though not implicated in any criminal wrongdoing, Denby was heavily criticized for ceding control of the reserves to Fall and resigned under fire. Attorney General Harry Daugherty was also not found to be personally culpable, but resigned in 1924 amid accusations that he dealt in Sinclair stock and should have caught the misconduct. The leases were quickly annulled, and the Supreme Court upheld the decisions in two separate cases in 1927.

An indictment came down against Sinclair in March of 1924, and others were issued against Fall and Doheny three months later. The government charged that the men conspired to get control of the reserves between July of 1921 and December of 1922. However, the court quashed the indictments in April of 1925 since the assistant attorney general was present during the grand jury proceedings. The relief for Fall and the oil men was short-lived; all were re-indicted a month later. However, Fall and Doheny were acquitted of the conspiracy charges in December of 1926.

The legal proceedings continued to grind slowly forward, as both Fall and Doheny still faced bribery charges. Sinclair avoided these charges, but his refusal to cooperate with investigators earned him a conviction for contempt of both the Senate and Supreme Court in March of 1927; he was sentenced to serve three months in jail and pay a $500 fine. In the autumn of this year, the government tried to finally bring Fall's case to trial only to run into troubles with securing witnesses and other factors. Moreover, Fall was then 66 years old and "near death" with serious congestion in his right lung. The trial was put on hold. In the spring of 1928, Fall said that Harding had insisted upon leasing the oil fields and that Denby had been the person to request it. The transaction was above board and not done in secret, he asserted.

The case finally came before a jury in October of 1929. Fall was present in a wheelchair, attended by a medical staff. The main witness in his defense was Doheny, who would later be acquitted at his own trial. Doheny characterized the $100,000 payment to Fall not as a bribe, but as a loan to a friend. He also made the rather clairvoyant assertion that the deal was also made in the interests of deterring Japanese power, as he felt it would help keep the Navy well-prepared against the threat of an attack by this country. Doheny claimed that a Navy officer had urged him to seek control over an oil reserve as part of a contract for the oil storage facilities at Pearl Harbor, so that a Pacific power could be kept in check. "That government was Japan and fortunately the [September 1923] earthquake in Japan destroyed the very thing that was the menace, thousands of barrels of oil," Doheny testified.

The jury was not moved by this passionate appeal, and found Fall guilty of bribery. Fall was the first member of a presidential cabinet to be convicted of a crime. Doheny, who felt the case had been significantly directed by the bench, angrily cried, "The jury didn't try the case, the judge tried it!" Nevertheless, the jury recommended leniency for Fall due to his age and illness. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and a $100,000 fine. After unsuccessfully appealing the verdict, Fall arrived at the prison by ambulance to begin serving his sentence in July of 1931. He was released in May of 1932. The scandal would have a major effect on conservation policy, notably leading to the creation of the Federal Oil Conservation Board.

Fall resumed his business pursuits in New Mexico, but the scandal and his illness prevented him from meeting with much success in these areas. The 750,000-acre ranch he lived on had been purchased at foreclosure auction by the Doheny-led Petroleum Securities Company in 1929, and in 1935 the company moved to evict him. Fall fought the action, and was able to hold onto the ranch house and 100 acres. Nearly broke, Fall spent the last two years of his life suffering from continued illness in a hospital. He died in November of 1944 in El Paso.

Sources: The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Ohio History Central, "Queer Tactics in New Mexico Senate" in The Day on June 6 1912, "Would Discipline Mexico" in the New York Times on July 23 1912, "U.S. Senator is Accused of Aiding Rebels" in the New York Times on June 29 1913, "Fall Denies Diaz Charge" in the New York Times on July 2 1913, "Gompers Sees War With Mexico If Sen. Fall's Program is Carried Out" in the Lewiston Daily Sun on June 4 1920, "Fall Denies Report That He Will Resign" in the New York Times on Feb. 11 1922, "Work Given Fall's Place" in the Evening Independent on Feb. 27 1923, "Sinclair Bares Oil Lease Facts" in the Miami News-Metropolis on Oct. 29 1923, "Fall is Under Fire" in the Prescott Evening Courier on Dec. 27 1923, "Technicality Knocks Out Fall-Doheny True Bill" in the Reading Eagle on Apr. 3 1925, "New Indictments Against Teapot Dome Celebrities Drop the Bribery Charges" in the Evening Independent on May 28 1925, The Oxford Companion to United States History edited by Paul S. Boyer, "Sinclair Oil Lease Annulled" in the Providence News on Oct. 10 1927, "Here's History of Naval Oil Lease Cases" in the San Jose Evening News on Oct. 18 1927, "Fall Near Death" in the Pittsburgh Press on Nov. 5 1927, "Fall Continues With Account of Oil Leases" in the San Jose News on Mar. 27 1928, "Doheny Weeps in Testifying at Fall Trial" in the Milwaukee Sentinel on Oct. 18 1929, "Convict Fall, Ask Mercy of Court" in the Pittsburgh Press on Oct. 25 1929, "Fall Arrives at Prison to Start Term" in the Schenectady Gazette on Jul. 21 1931, "Fall To Be Released From Prison Today" in the Reading Eagle on May 9 1932, "Albert B. Fall, 83, Dies in Hospital" in the Pittsburgh Press on Dec. 1 1944, Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime edited by Lawrence M. Salinger, The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal by George C. Kohn

Joe Waggonner: solicitation immunity

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A close friend of Wilbur Mills, a fellow member of the House of Representatives, Joseph David Waggonner, Jr. was there to support Mills following revelations that he had a dubious relationship with a stripper and was struggling with alcohol problems. Two years later, Waggonner weathered his own scandal.

Waggonner was born in Plain Dealing, Louisiana in September of 1918. He graduated from Plain Dealing High School in 1935 before earning a bachelor's degree from Louisiana Tech University in 1941. Although he entered the business world after this graduation, he joined the Navy for the duration of World War II and returned for service in the Korean War between 1951 and 1952.

Waggonner's first experience with politics began in 1954, when he was elected to the Bossier Parish school board. He served there for six years, spending his last year as a member of the Louisiana state board of education as well. In 1961, he was the president of both the United Schools Committee of Louisiana and Louisiana School Boards Association. Waggonner also ran unsuccessfully for state comptroller in 1959.

When Representative Overton Brooks died in September of 1961, the district held a special election in December to fill the vacancy. Waggonner was chosen as the Democratic nominee and faced off against Republican candidate Charlton H. Lyons, Sr. Both men were extremely conservative and in favor of segregation; in fact, Waggonner had briefly left the Democratic Party in 1960 to run in the general election as an elector for the States Rights Party. When the results came in, Waggonner had defeated Lyons. He would be re-elected in 1962 and in each of the next seven congressional elections.

During his time in Congress, Waggonner was credited with bringing a number of improvements to his district. These included the establishment of an interstate between Lafayette and Shreveport, development to make the Red River navigable, helping convince General Motors to set up a plant in Shreveport, and acquiring funding for the Barksdale Air Force Base and Fort Polk. Waggonner served on the Ways and Means Committee as well as the House committee that administered the space program. He became one of the most prominent leaders of the conservative Southern Democrats and a vocal opponent of liberal Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, whom he accused of engaging in paid activity while a judge as well as a $200,000 payment to a mobster while Douglas was the head of the Albert Parvin Foundation.

Waggonner also became an outspoken critic of civil rights measures and other initiatives by President Lyndon Johnson. He led the fight against Johnson's school aid and antipoverty measures, declaring, "There's no demand, for the first time in many years, for this legislation except from those who are politically motivated." He described the civil rights group Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as a "radical, Communist-infiltrated gangs of agitators...dedicated to violence for the sake of the party line." Waggonner claimed that civil rights measures unfairly targeted the South. He said that congressmen were "blackmailed into acting" on a bill on housing discrimination since it was being pushed through Congress at the same time as a number of violent incidents in the South. In response to President Richard Nixon's 1969 civil rights bill, Waggonner complained, "You've got to quit whipping the South."

Despite this criticism, Waggonner was a strong Nixon supporter. He was taken aback when transcripts related to the Watergate scandal were released in August of 1974. "The only thing I've got to say is it hurts," he told a reporter. "I'll let the dust settle before I say more, and think the whole thing through." Yet the men remained close enough that Nixon consulted with Waggonner as the scandal reached its crescendo. Waggonner told Nixon that he could probably rally 70 Democrats to oppose the President's impeachment, but warned that if he did so there would still be a demand to hold Nixon in contempt of the Supreme Court for refusing to turn over his audio tapes as ordered. The advice no doubt played a part in Nixon's ultimate decision to resign. "After my call with Joe Waggonner...realized that we are really looking at about thirty days in which the climactic decision with regard to whether we are able to stay in office," he recorded in his journal.

In June of 1976, reports surfaced that Waggonner had briefly been detained by the Washington, D.C. police earlier in the year after soliciting a police officer posing as a prostitute. According to the police, three vice officers were stationed at a corner frequented by prostitutes and Waggonner circled the block three times before motioning to one of the women. He arranged to meet with her and pay $50 for sex, at which point the policewoman tapped the top of his car as a signal for officers in the area to arrest him. After a trip to the police station, however, Waggonner was released without being charged.

Waggonner had a different version of events, claiming he had been the victim of entrapment. He said a woman was trying to entice him and he refused, but when an unmarked car pulled up he became frightened and fled the scene. He said officers caught him after a short foot chase, but were ultimately satisfied with his account of the events. He was nevertheless none too pleased when the media found out about the incident. The New York Post broke the story, accusing the police and U.S. Attorney's Office of trying to cover the matter up. They quoted Waggonner as saying, "Gentlemen, this will destroy me. This will destroy my family. Do you want to destroy me?"

The incident did have the effect of abolishing a century-old practice in the nation's capital. Soliciting a prostitute was a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and a $250 fine. Yet as Police Chief Maurice J. Cullinane explained, members of Congress had immunity from all misdemeanors. The original intent of the law was to prevent the arrest of congressmen in relation to civil charges, but the matter involving Waggonner prompted the department to consider changing the policy. After a legal review, the misdemeanor immunity for congressmen was scrapped in July of 1976.

The matter had no effect on the year's election. Waggonner easily won the Democratic nomination in August and had no Republican rival in the general election. In fact, there had been five other sex scandals involving Democratic congressmen in 1976 and most of the officials involved survived for another term. Only Wayne Hays, who opted to resign before the election, and Allan Howe, a Utah representative defeated in the election after his conviction on a charge of soliciting a prostitute, would not return to Congress.

The new term Waggonner won would be his last. His most notable work at this point was his advocacy of the oil and gas industries. In February of 1978, he announced that he was retiring after the completion of his term "to be with my family and to share with them...God's abundance of life." He died in October of 2007 in Shreveport.

Sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, The Waggonner Center at Louisiana Tech University, "Democrat Is Favored In Election" in the Spokesman-Review on Dec. 19 1961, "House May Not Accept Open Housing Amendment" in the News and Courier on Mar. 11 1968, "Congress Passes Rights Bill; LBJ Vows 'Early' Signature" in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Apr. 11 1968, "Voting Rights Measure Clears House" in the News and Courier on Dec. 12 1969, "House Set To Vote On Cambodia Funds" in The Telegraph on May 10 1973, "Justice Douglas Target Of New Probe Demands" in the Press-Courier on May 10 1973, "Disclosure Stuns Backers" in the Bangor Daily News on Aug. 6 1974, "'Flatfoot Floozie' Catches A Congressman, Paper Says" in the Miami News on June 17 1974, "Hays Will Resign From House Post" in the Free-Lance Star on June 18 1976, "GOP Predicts, Democrats Dispute, Prediction Of House Gains" in the Herald-Journal on Jul. 15 1976, "Immunity Ended For Congressmen" in the Spokesman-Review on July 26 1976, "Incumbent Defeated" in the Spokesman-Review on Aug. 15 1976, "Books Closed on Sex Scandal" in The Telegraph on Dec. 9 1976, "2 Demos To Retire" in the Deseret News on Feb. 11 1978, "2 More Congressmen To Retire" in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on Feb. 11 1978, "Joe Waggonner, La. Congressman" in the Boston Globe on Oct. 10 2007, Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History by James M. Cannon, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s by Clayborne Carson

William Woods Holden: a divided legacy

Image from northcarolinahistory.org

The competing legacies of William Woods Holden have ensured that opinions on the North Carolina governor continue to vary greatly. He has been praised for cracking down on the Ku Klux Klan during his tenure and criticized for the way he carried out this goal. Even 140 years later, when the topic of Holden's impeachment again appeared in the state senate, there were some who bitterly considered the governor a renegade who had trampled individual rights.

Holden was born in Hillsborough, North Carolina in November of 1818. At age 10, he apprenticed with the hometown newspaper, the Hillsborough Recorder. Holden later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841, but soon found himself back in the newspaper business. He worked at the Raleigh Star, and later became the owner and editor of the North Carolina Standard. Through this organ, he advocated for causes such as equal suffrage, universal education, and improved labor conditions.

First entering politics as a Whig, Holden joined the Democratic Party in 1843. A year later, he began serving in the state's house of commons and held a seat there until 1847. Holden was absent from politics for several years, although in 1858 he was rejected as both a gubernatorial and U.S. Senate candidate. Though he defended states' rights to secede and supported the expansion of states and territories allowing slavery, Holden initially opposed the idea of North Carolina's secession since he thought it would lead to war. However, following the secession of several other states and the attack on Fort Sumter, he took part in a secession convention in May of 1861 which led the state to break away from the Union and join the Confederacy.

Holden's views changed again during the Civil War as he continued to publish his newspaper. He began to criticize the Confederate government and call for peace, saying it would be better for the South to meet a negotiated end to the conflict rather than fall in unconditional surrender. Some residents denounced Holden as a traitor, and in 1863 troops from Georgia attacked his office, destroyed his type, and seized personal papers. Yet Holden continued to publish until the Confederacy suspended the right of habeas corpus.

Holden's views impressed President Andrew Johnson enough that he appointed Holden the provisional governor of North Carolina during the postwar Reconstruction. This term was to last through December, and Holden worked to revise state constitution to recognize federal authority and begin restoring the economy. In December, Jonathan Worth defeated him in a re-election bid. Holden was offered a chance to represent the state in the U.S. Senate, but declined in order to return to publishing. Yet Holden remained politically active, changing parties again and becoming instrumental in organizing the state's Republican Party. He led the party's ticket in 1868 and was returned to the governor's office, although there was a brief standoff when Worth refused to recognize the Republican victory. This was resolved with an intervention by General Edward Canby to enforce the Reconstruction laws.

When he returned to office, Holden focused on initiatives such as prison reform, universal education, internal improvements such as railroad development, and equal justice. He also oversaw North Carolina's acceptance of Reconstruction efforts. The state had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in July of 1868 and officially returned to the United States. In March of 1869, the state ratified the Fifteenth Amendment. These additions to the Constitution sought to extend rights to former slaves, declaring that people born or naturalized in the United States were citizens and that color or past servitude did not prevent them from voting.

What did prevent them from voting was the campaign of terror waged by the Ku Klux Klan. The hooded vigilante group carried out lynchings, assaults, and other violent acts in an effort to suppress the black and Republican vote. Holden began to receive urgent requests for protection as civil authorities proved unable to unwilling to take on the KKK. In October of 1869, the governor threatened to declare Lenoir and Jones counties in insurrection. Holden also appealed to local law enforcement to take stronger action against the Klan, while the state legislature passed a law making it illegal to appear disguised in public for the purpose of violence or intimidation.

Though the actions helped cut down on the violence, it did not quash it entirely. Holden was especially concerned with continued KKK atrocities in Alamance and Caswell counties. In the former county, a band of men dragged Wyatt Outlaw, a black councilman and president of the local Union League, from his home and lynched him in February of 1870. Three months later, Republican state senator John W. Stephens attended a Democratic Party convention in Caswell County in an attempt to ease tensions by lending his support to the party's conservative candidate for sheriff. Instead, the candidate and several other attendees took him to the basement and stabbed him to death.

Under the Shoffner Act, recently passed by the state legislature, Holden had the power to declare counties to be in insurrection, raise militias to quell the rebellion, and suspend the right of habeas corpus. In March of 1870, he declared Alamance County to be in a state of rebellion. He said he had waited to see if there would be a public outcry against the KKK but that one never materialized, presumably because people were afraid of reprisal. "The laws must be maintained," Holden declared. "These laws are all over. Every citizen, of whatever party or color, must be absolutely free to express his political opinions, and must be safe in his own house. These outrages and these violations of law must and shall cease." In June, citing the murder of Stephens and six others in five counties, Holden declared Caswell County to be in a state of insurrection as well.

Holden put the task of raising a militia to Col. George W. Kirk, who commanded Union troops in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. These troops moved into Alamance and Caswell counties and also posted a presence in Cleveland County, where state KKK leader Plato Durham lived. As the troops arrested suspected agitators, some accused Holden of perpetrating the same crime he was purportedly trying to stop. With state elections coming up in August, opponents felt the militia troops were terrorizing innocent civilians and trying to intimidate voters. There were complaints of brutal behavior by Kirk's troops, including two men who had been hanged by their necks in an effort to get them to divulge information on the Klan.

Democrats criticized the move as unconstitutional, claiming Holden's accounts of violence were exaggerated and that civil authorities were capable of handling the crime that was occurring. One address declared, in part, "It is true that murders and other outrages have been committed, but they have not been confined to any particular locality or any political party; and when Governor Holden represented to the President and to Congress that these acts are evidence of disloyalty, he is guilty of a willful libel upon the people whose rights he has sworn to protect." The party theorized that Holden could even be trying to provoke a violent conflict with the KKK, allowing him to put the entire state under martial law.

A standoff between Holden, Kirk, and judicial authorities began in the summer when Chief Justice Richard Pearson of the state's supreme court served a writ of habeas corpus on Kirk ordering four prisoners to be delivered before the court. Kirk refused, since Holden had instructed him not to surrender any prisoners to civil authorities. Pearson contacted Holden on the issue, and the governor responded that he felt the civil courts were " no longer a protection to life, liberty, and property; assassinations and outrage go unpunished, and civil magistrates are intimidated." He wanted the prisoners to be tried before federal military tribunals. While Pearson deliberated the issue, Holden wrote to President Ulysses S. Grant seeking federal troops to bolster the militia. "The organization is widespread and numerous, is based on the most deadly hostility to the Reconstruction acts, and is in all respects very unfriendly to the government of the reconstructed states and to the United States," he said. Grant immediately ordered the Secretary of War to comply with the request.

Pearson's ruling was slightly critical of Holden, determining that the governor did not have the right to suspend habeas corpus but that his actions in declaring the counties to be in rebellion and putting them under occupation had been legal. He also tacitly supported the governor by determining that Kirk had "sufficient reason" to not deliver the prisoners when ordered, and that the judiciary's role would be exhausted once he sent the writ to Holden for approval. In other words, he did not agree that Holden should suspend habeas corpus but he did not demand enforcement of the writ. Holden, of course, flatly refused to approve the writ once it came across his desk.

With the state authorities proving unhelpful, the prisoners now appealed to U.S. District Court Judge George Brooks. When Brooks also ordered a writ of habeas corpus for the men, Holden again looked to Grant for help. He argued that if the federal army demanded the prisoners, the court's writ would not apply to them. Attorney General Amos T. Ackerman replied that this would amount to the government blocking the judicial process. Holden relented, telling Kirk to obey the writ, and the federal proceedings were called off. Most of the prisoners arrested by Kirk's troops would later be released. In November, Holden declared that the situation had improved enough that he could lift the martial law. It was the end of what became known as the "Kirk-Holden War," but only the beginning of the proceedings against Holden.

The hotly contested state elections had occurred in August, and the new legislature assembled at the end of November. If Holden had truly been trying to influence the election with his actions, the plan had backfired. The Democrats won a majority in the legislature, which now had 32 members in the state senate and 75 in the house of commons. The party immediately pushed for the governor's impeachment, and in December the house voted 60-46 to remove Holden for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Holden stepped down while the impeachment proceedings got underway, and Lieutenant Governor Tod Caldwell took over for him. Meanwhile, the black members of the house issued a joint address supporting Holden, saying the impeachment proceedings were retaliatory; the governor, they said, had "thwarted the designs of a band of assassins, who had prepared to saturate this state in the blood of the poor people on the night before the last election, on account of their political sentiments, and to prevent them from voting."

Holden's trial began in the senate in February of 1871. He was charged with eight articles of impeachment, which alleged that he had illegally declared the two counties in insurrection, illegally arrested two men (including Joshia Turner Jr., the anti-Republican editor of the Raleigh Sentinel), willfully ignored a writ of habeas corpus, and unlawfully recruited and paid troops. The house would also approve a ninth charge, accusing Holden of conspiracy to defraud the state on railroad bonds, but this never went before the senate. The trial lasted until March and heard 170 witnesses. Ultimately, the senate voted 36-13 to convict him of six counts and remove him from office. It was only the second time in U.S. history that a governor was impeached, and the first time that one was convicted.

The unrest in North Carolina had a direct effect on national politics. At the same time that Holden's impeachment trial was going on, Congress was taking steps aiming to better enforce Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment rights. Just a month after Holden was convicted, Congress passed what was dubbed the Ku Klux Klan Act. This made it a federal offense for anyone to conspire to deny someone from voting, running for office, or otherwise utilizing their citizenship rights, with the special note that it was also unlawful to do this while disguised. The measure essentially allowed federal intervention to take place in the states if any groups were in violation of the law. It specifically denied some of the actions Holden had advocated, including martial law and trials before military tribunals, but it did allow the President to suspend habeas corpus at his discretion in these cases.

The Ku Klux Klan renewed its activities in North Carolina, waging a new campaign of terror in Rowan County shortly after Holden was impeached. Caldwell received appeals for aid, but felt his hands were tied. The Shoffner Act had been repealed by the new legislature, and he was powerless to raise a militia to address the problem. When the Ku Klux Klan Act passed, he requested help from Grant and federal troops were called in to restore order.

Holden, barred from holding political office as a result of his impeachment, was offered ministerial posts to Peru and Argentina but declined both. He moved to Washington, D.C. for awhile to again resume his newspaper career by editing the Daily Chronicle. In 1873, he returned to North Carolina and became the postmaster of Raleigh, holding the position for the next decade. Although several legislators made efforts to pardon him and clear his political disabilities, none were successful. Holden continued to write and serve as something of an unofficial head of the Republican Party until his death in March of 1892.

The pardon effort resurfaced in 2011, but the legislators behind it found that Holden's reputation was still a touchy subject. What was intended to be a simple vote, symbolically held on the 140th anniversary of Holden's conviction, was derailed when an anonymous person managed to sneak a two-page report onto the senators' desks denouncing Holden as “a bitter, unscrupulous and arrogant demagogue.” As the vote was delayed, the Caswell County Historical Association joined in condemning the former governor. Its members said the governor had been rightly convicted for wrongful acts in the county, including carrying out an illegal rebellion that never resulted in the conviction of any KKK members. A pardon would "condemn Caswell’s history on the state level and put us all to shame and glorify Governor Holden, making rights truly wrongs," one historian with the group complained.

The association appealed to the senator from Alamance, who also joined in the call to further study the issue. Doug Berger, a Democratic co-sponsor of the bipartisan proposal, said the bill had the support of a state historian who considered Holden's impeachment to be motivated mostly by racism and party politics. Berger said he was willing to dedicate more study to the issue, but thought it would lead to "the Civil War being fought all over again."

Ultimately, the flare-up settled down. In April of 2011, in a special session held in the old capitol building where Holden was removed from office, the North Carolina senate unanimously voted to pardon the former governor.

Sources: National Governors Association, The North Carolina History Project, The North Carolina Civil War Sesquicentennial, "Debate on Holden Pardon Delayed by 'Scurrilous' Report" in the New Bern Sun Journal on March 22 2011, "High School Student Halts Holden's Pardon" on WRAL on March 24 2011, "N.C. State Senate Pardons Governor Who Stood Up to Klan" in Reuters on April 12 2011, Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated Almanac by William Murray Vincent, The Long Shadow of the Civil War: Southern Dissent and Its Legacies by Victoria E. Bynum, The Dictionary of North Carolina Biography edited by William S. Powell, Lectures on the Growth and Development of the United States edited by Edwin Wiley and Irving Everett Rines and Albert Bushnell Hart, Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction by Richard Zuczek, The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events, North Carolina in the Civil War by Michael C. Hardy, The Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to an American Subculture by Marty Gitlin, Carpetbaggers, Cavalry, and the Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Invisible Empire During Reconstruction by J. Michael Martinez, Declarations of Dependence: The Long Reconstruction of Popular Politics in the South, 1861-1908 by Gregory P. Downs, The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1870

Ernest K. Bramblett: the Pearson payroll triple

Image from the Pittsburgh Press

When it came to exposing political corruption, Drew Pearson's muckraking column "The Washington Merry-Go-Round" had a significant role in discovering the misuse of office payrolls. Having already had a role in uncovering such scandals related to Representatives J. Parnell Thomas and Walter Brehm, in 1953 Pearson added Ernest King Bramblett to the list.

Born in Fresno, California in April of 1901, Bramblett graduated from Stanford University in 1925. He stayed at the school for graduate work, supplementing it with other work at San Jose State University and the University of Southern California. His first jobs were in the insurance and auto industries from 1925 to 1928, but for the greater part of his life he worked in education. He was in this field from 1928 to 1946, and held his first political offices during this time as well.

In 1939, Bramblett became the mayor of Pacific Grove. He also became coordinator of the Monterey County schools in 1943 and a member of the Republican Central Committee in 1944. He held all of these roles until 1946, when he won a seat in the House of Representatives. He won the next three elections to retain this office as well.

Pearson's first complaints about Bramblett were mainly critical about the congressman's ethics. In May of 1952, newspaper columnist Drew Pearson criticized the congressman for putting his wife on his payroll as a secretary. Bramblett explained in a letter to his constituents, "We know that Communist agents are everywhere around us. They're in place in every strategic place in the nation, particularly so in California." Bramblett said the uncertainty had reached a point where his wife was the one person he knew he could trust with the sensitive material in his office. Pearson retorted that Bramblett, as a member of the Agriculture Committee, "has access to nothing more top secret than the latest cure for chicken lice."

Pearson followed up this column with the accusation that Bramblett's wife had been on the payroll since 1947, before Communism became an overriding concern. He added that his wife was earning $8,192.04 a year, more than some FBI agents who were certainly doing more to combat any Communist subterfuge. Pearson also alleged in October of 1952 that Bramblett had offered to boost the salary of secretary Vivian DeWitt from $2,400 to $5,000 if she paid him $5,000 in advance; DeWitt refused, Pearson said, and was dropped from Bramblett's staff three months later.

Pearson's suspicions were not confirmed until 1953. In May, a federal grand jury opened an investigation into Bramblett's payroll. Two months later, he was indicted on 18 counts of making false statements. These specific charges alleged that Bramblett had attempted to alter his records to conceal $4,036 in kickbacks from former clerks Margaret M. Swanson and Olga Hardaway.

The trial began in February of 1954. The prosecutor charged that Bramblett collected Swanson's salary for 17 months and Hardaway's for seven months. Swanson, the state said, did "no work whatever" while on Bramblett's staff. Swanson's husband, who also worked as a House clerk, gave the curious testimony that he suggested to Bramblett that he take his wife off the payroll to avoid criticism and put Margaret on. Swanson's husband even recalled that he had offered to send her salary to Bramblett, and that it was under this arrangement that Margaret had been hired. Bramblett rehired his wife at a later date without the Swansons' knowledge, the prosecution said. Moreover, they said that Hardaway had been placed on the payroll without her knowledge, with Bramblett having her sign her checks face down so she did not know they were being transferred over to him.

The state's case related to Hardaway was weakened when it was shown that Hardaway, whose husband was Bramblett's former campaign manager, did some work for Bramblett. However, Bramblett was convicted of the remaining seven counts involving the collection of $3,300 from Swanson. The judgment was stayed after the defense challenged the applicability of the false statements law to the legislative branch. Meanwhile, Bramblett opted to not run for re-election in 1954.

The Supreme Court agreed to review the false statements law, but unanimously upheld the conviction in April of 1955. Two months later, Bramblett received a sentence of four months to one year in prison, all suspended, along with a year of probation and $5,000 fine. His attorney, Edward B. Williams, complained that Bramblett had been professionally, economically, and socially "immobilized" by the charges and lost the reputation he had built up over the years. As a result, Williams said, Bramblett had no immediate prospects for employment. The judge granted an additional 60 days for the payment of the fine.

Bramblett made one last attempt to appeal the conviction, but the Federal Court of Appeals upheld it in January of 1956. Later that year, he was the target of a federal lawsuit charging that the amount diverted into Bramblett's bank account was much higher than alleged in at his trial. The suit asked for the return of $35,408 it said had been funneled to Bramblett, as well as $36,316 in damages for a total of $71,724. It is unclear how this suit was resolved.

Bramblett began working as a consultant. He spent some time in Washington, D.C. after leaving Congress, but returned to California to live the rest of his life in Woodland Hills. He died in December of 1966.

Sources: The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "How to Put Wife on the Pay Roll" in the St. Petersburg Times on May 13 1952, "Washington Merry-Go-Round" in the Oxnard Press-Courier on Jun. 2 1952, "Jury to Study Office Pay Roll of Lawmaker" in the St. Petersburg Times on May 16 1953, "Four Bramblett Employees Called in Payroll Probe" in the Oxnard Press-Courier on May 28 1953, "Rep. Bramblett Denies Charges" in the St. Petersburg Times on Jun. 19 1953, "Congressman Accused on Pay to Wife" in the Oxnard Press-Courier on Feb. 2 1954, "Lawmaker on Trial for 'Padding' Payroll" in the Pittsburgh Press on Feb. 3 1954, "High Court Agrees to Rule on Alleged Bramblett Kickback" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Oct. 18 1954, "Ex-Lawmaker Loses in Scandal Plea" in the Milwaukee Sentinel on Apr. 5 1955, "Bramblett Gets Fine, Probation" in the Oxnard Press-Courier on Jun. 15 1955, "Bramblett Loses Kickback Appeal" in the New York Times on Jan. 20 1956, "Bramblett Sued for $71,724" in the Tri City Herald on Nov. 1 1956

John Milton Elliott: the most ignominious game

Image from kaintuckeean.com

The fact that John Milton Elliott's defection from the United States during the Civil War did not negatively affect his life after the conflict shows just how common such actions were. Rather, Elliott is another politician best known for his dramatic and tragic end.

Elliott was born in Scott County, Virginia in May 1820. He moved to Morgan County (now renamed for Elliott) in Kentucky. He returned to Virginia to attend Emory and Henry College in Emory, graduating in 1841. From there, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1843, and began a practice in Prestonburg, Kentucky.

In 1847, Elliott became a member of the state's house of representatives. Five years later, he was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives. He was re-elected twice and chose not to run for re-election in 1858. Upon his departure, he returned to his legal practice and again joined the state house of representatives in 1861. Elliott initially favored neutrality in the split between the Union and Confederacy after several southern states seceded, but his sympathies were clearly with the states just south of Kentucky. He occasionally purchased a slave, denounced the abolitionist movement, and was a member of Kentucky's Southern Rights party.

After the close of the fall session of the house of representatives, Elliott began organizing support for the Confederacy in eastern Kentucky. The activity did not go unnoticed, and the U.S. District Court returned an indictment charging him with treason for "directly or indirectly giving aid and comfort to the enemy." In December of 1861, Elliott was one of eight members of the Kentucky General Assembly expelled for the same cause. He joined the convention at Russellville organizing the Kentucky representatives to the Confederate government, and was elected to both the First and Second Confederate Congresses.

After the war, the Fourteenth Amendment barred anyone who had previously sworn an oath to the United States Constitution and joined an insurrection or rebellion against it from holding office unless there was a two-thirds vote allowing it. The provision effectively ended Elliott's political career, but he was able to return to a successful legal career. He settled in Owingsville, and later Catlettsburg. From 1868 to 1874, he served as a circuit court judge. Starting in 1876, he was a judge of the court of appeals.

This line of work would effectively seal Elliott's fate. The sister of one Col. Thomas Buford had purchased a farm from a Mr. Guthrie, but managed to pay off only one of three notes. Guthrie began foreclosure proceedings against her in 1871. He won the suit, but Buford argued that the title was defective and the ruling was reversed on a technicality in the appeals court. Guthrie pressed the foreclosure and won again, meaning Buford's sister lost both her property and her $20,000 investment. In 1878, Elliott affirmed the decision after Buford again appealed.

By the time the final decision was made, Buford's sister had died. He directly blamed the court for her death, and bore a grudge against both Judge Pryor, who had made the initial decision against him, and Elliott. Buford later said he bore no personal grudge against Elliott, but rather had been enraged when the judge came over after Pryor's decision and said, "Colonel, I did the best I could for you." Buford considered this to be an insincere statement. "He had given the original decision against me; he had concurred in this one and although he did not pronounce it, I had means of knowing that he was the moving spirit and engineer of it all through," Buford accused. He frequently stopped by the Capitol Hotel, where both Pryor and Elliott boarded, to shout threats up to them. At one point, the sheriff tried to serve eviction papers on Buford but quickly withdrew when he found that the farm had been heavily fortified to ward off such attempts.

In March of 1879, Buford sought his revenge. His primary target was Pryor, but he said he decided against killing the judge because he had children. He would not have been able to find Pryor in any case, since he had accepted a friend's drink invitation and was not at the hotel; doubtful about Buford's proclamation that he had decided against killing him, Pryor would tell people for years afterward that the drink had saved his life. Buford went after another judge as well, but couldn't persuade him to leave his breakfast to see him.

Finally, Buford found Elliott in front of the Capitol Hotel with another judge. Buford had been wandering through the town carrying a shotgun loaded with buckshot, but this did not raise any concerns. In fact, Buford was wearing his hunting gear and asked Elliott if he wanted to go snipe hunting. Elliott declined, and Buford persisted by asking Elliott to go out for a drink with him. Elliott refused this offer as well. The other judge turned away for a moment and heard a gunshot. When he turned back, he saw that Elliott had collapsed. He died soon after.

Buford readily confessed that the shooting was no accident and showed no remorse, calling Elliott "the most ignominious game my gun ever killed." He added that he killed Elliott "to try my case, to show that they could not rob and assassinate with impunity." The murder itself shocked the state. Governor James B. McCreary declared that state offices would be closed at noon the day after Elliott's death as a token of respect, and ordered all state officers and clerks to attend the funeral. The New York Times wrote, "No man among all the popular elements of his district enjoyed such real and universal esteem." Later, Elliott would have a statue dedicated to his memory at the Boyd County Courthouse in Calettsburg.

Elliott went to trial in July of 1879. There was little chance of disproving that Buford had shot Elliott, and there was no attempt to do so by the defense. Rather, 45 witnesses took the stand to testify that Elliott was insane. The jury found Buford guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. A second trial took place on appeal in 1881, and on this occasion he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Buford was sent to an asylum, although he soon escaped and made his way to Indiana. He stayed there for two years before voluntarily returning to the asylum, dying there in February of 1885.

Elliott's murder also helped contribute to the death of General Abe Buford II, Thomas's brother. Renowned as a horse breeder and veteran of the Mexican War and Civil War (on the Confederate side), Abe bankrupted himself paying for Thomas's defense. In 1884, he committed suicide, leaving behind a note that said in part, "My financial troubles have driven me to despair. Have lost my only chance to relieve my unfortunate brother and self, and the future is too dark for me to struggle against any further."

Sources: The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, The Political Graveyard, "Members of the Legislature Expelled" in the New York Times on Dec. 24 1861, "The Record of Murder" in the New York Times on March 27 1879, "A Chivalrous Murderer" in the New York Times on Jul. 20 1879, "Abe Buford's Suicide" in the Reading Eagle on Jun. 10 1884, Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky edited by H. Levin, American Law Review Vol. 54, Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials by Lewis Franklin Johnson, A New History of Kentucky by Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter, The Kentucky Encyclopedia edited by John E. Kleber

John Edward Addicks: not for sale

Image from Wikipedia.org

John Edward Addicks' persistent effort to win a seat in the Senate ultimately had some positive results for politics on both the state and national level. A constitutional amendment would take the appointment of senators out of the hands of state legislators and make the decision one made by the state's electorate as a whole, and black voters would become a more influential part of Delaware's democracy. Yet Addicks' contribution to these advances was ultimately an unintended side effect of a corrupt campaign which frequently paralyzed the state's legislature and forced Delaware to go without representation on the national scene.

Addicks was born in Philadelphia in November of 1841. He worked as a clerk and errand boy before becoming a partner in a flour business. Addicks suffered a setback in the Panic of 1873, but managed to recover. He further diversified his business dealings by becoming involved in wheat and railroad markets, but he would become a millionaire mainly by investment in the illuminating gas industry. Boston was his key market, and he did extensive business in other cities as well; in 1883, he was one of the financial backers for the new gas works in Chicago.

Addicks' first association with Delaware came in 1877. He bought a residence in Claymont, a community on the border with Pennsylvania that allowed him to commute easily to Philadelphia. Addicks later moved to Boston after his business dealings as the president of the Bay State Gas Company required him to spend more time there. He continued to hold the Claymont house as a summer residence, but for all intents and purposes it seemed he was a Massachusetts citizen. So it came as quite a surprise when Addicks announced in 1889 that he was a Republican candidate to represent Delaware in the Senate.

He joined three candidates in the race for the nomination, declaring that his opponents would compromise the Republican Party. "It is a sort of Kilkenny cat fight, and the election of any one of them would imperil Republican supremacy in the state," he said. "A new man is needed to hold the state, which I regard as the first step toward breaking the solid South. I am greatly interested in the success of the Republican Party and I feel that by my election Delaware can be kept a Republican state, while the election of any one of my opponents would make its retention very uncertain on account of their relation to the factional interests in the party."

Addicks was unsuccessful in this attempt, but it was only the first in a series of Senate bids where he would use his wealth and influence to try to buy his way to Washington. One of his most common tactics was paying the delinquent taxes of voters or else covering the poll tax in exchange for political support. With the state legislature the ultimate power behind choosing the Senate representation for Delaware, however, Addicks focused much of his attention on buying the support of legislators with thinly-veiled bribes. In 1892, it was alleged that he funded the campaign purses of several legislators to support his latest Senate bid. Many received $8,000 sums, four times the amount allowed for political campaigning, with the implication that they could max out their campaigns and keep the balance for themselves. Yet ultimately these efforts fell short of the majority needed to win the legislature's favor.

One of the most turbulent years occurred in 1895. Governor Joshua H. Marvil died in April, less than three months after he was sworn into office. The state senate's president, William T. Watson, replaced Marvil as governor. By this point, Addicks had gained a significant following of "Union Republican" followers to counterbalance the "Regular Republicans" uncorrupted by his influence. Watson's departure from the state senate left the Regulars with a single vote majority in support of their candidate: Henry du Pont, a businessman who had won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. Yet Watson was persuaded to return to the senate to cast his vote for Addicks, deadlocking the decision 15-15. Ultimately, du Pont would travel to Washington to try to take his seat on the argument that Watson's vote was null and void, but the Senate didn't accept him; one of Delaware's two seats would remain vacant.

It wouldn't be the last time that Addicks' efforts would stymie the state's representation. For over a decade, Addicks' machinations would occupy much of the legislature's business. Deadlock in the legislature meant that Delaware failed to appoint a senator in 1899, 1901, 1903, and 1905; between 1901 and 1903, neither Senate seat from Delaware was filled.

The strength of the Regular Republicans was enough to prevent every effort to appoint Addicks, but he came close on some occasions. In 1899, he received 21 of the 27 votes needed for the seat. Two years later, he had 22 votes. One article charged that Addicks tried to solidify his support in the legislature by covering the poll taxes of 130 of 134 registered black voters in Kent County and 258 out of 260 in Sussex County in 1902. "Other men have bought votes now and then on a small scale, and other parties have resorted, occasionally, to tricky or dishonest methods; but no systematic attempt was ever made to corrupt the whole population and buy up the whole State until J. Edward Addicks and the Union Republican party took the field," George Kennan wrote in an account of Addicks' activities for Outlook Magazine. "'Addicks or nobody' for their war-cry, they began a campaign of corruption which has no parallel, I believe, in the history of the United States."

Kennan said Addicks was displeased enough about spending large amounts of money with no result that he sent a telegram to William Washburn, a former Republican senator from Minnesota, that showed he had little loyalty to the party. "The Republican Party will carry Delaware next year pledged to Addicks for Senator. I made Delaware Republican," Addicks ranted. "If the Republican Party is the party of treachery, I will bury it ten thousand fathoms deep."

Overall, Addicks spent about $3 million on his unsuccessful campaigns. Shortly after the start of the 20th century, his political aspirations were waning. The New York Times reported in September of 1905 that he was becoming a political obscurity, with supporters deserting him. Addicks still had some fight left, however. He said in 1907 that he was considering running for mayor of Wilmington, and four years later announced that he would try to challenge the legislature's election of his old rival, Henry du Pont. He quickly withdrew when it became clear that the deadlock over du Pont was not as serious as he thought. The vacant seat left in 1905 had prompted the legislature to elect du Pont to the Senate in 1906, and he was re-elected in 1911.

State reforms aimed at addressing the corruption included the establishment of a secret ballot and elimination of the poll tax. Both had the secondary effect of scoring a victory for civil rights and empowering black voters. In 1901, the the first black candidate was elected to the Wilmington City Council. Cases like that of Addicks and William Lorimer of Chicago also made it clear that state legislatures were far more vulnerable to corrupt bargaining than the general electorate. In April of 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified and Senate elections went to a popular vote.

Addicks fell on hard times in his waning years. Once worth between $10 and $15 million, he lost much of his fortune when his investments in the copper market didn't pan out. No stranger to lawsuits, Addicks ignored a summons to appear in court for further proceedings after Hiram H. Burton of Boston won a $20,000 judgment against him. Subsequently, Addicks was arrested in New York City for contempt of court. Two years later, he was again jailed for contempt after prolonged efforts to elude the authorities by only going to the city on Sundays, when he could not be served with papers.

Addicks died in August of 1919.

Sources: The Political Graveyard, The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "New Gas-Works in Chicago" in the New York Times on Jun. 1 1883, "Wants to Save Delaware" in the New York Times on Jan. 5 1889, "Absolute Divorce Asked" in the New York Times on Nov. 27 1894, "The Addicks Divorce Case" in the Philadelphia Record on Jan. 8 1895, "Higgins and Addicks Both Out" in the New York Times on May 9 1895, "Addicks for Senator" in the New York Times on Jan. 19 1897, "Delaware Bribery Case" in the New York Times on May 3 1899, "Political Obscurity Creeps Upon Addicks" in the New York Times on Sep. 3 1905, "Addicks Would Be Mayor" in the New York Times on Dec. 15 1907, "Addicks Out For U.S. Senate" in the Gettysburg Times on Jan. 24 1911, "Concede Du Pont Election" in the New York Times on Jan. 25 1911, "Deputies Arrest J. Edward Addicks" in the New York Times on Apr. 2 1913, "J. Edward Addicks in Jail Over Sunday" in the New York Times on May 18 1915, "J. Edward Addicks, of Gas Fame, Dead" in the New York Times on Aug. 8 1919, "Addicks, Daring and Unscrupulous Political Adventurer, Deserted by the Leeches Who Clung to Him While Wealthy, Passes Away In Obscurity" in the Sunday Morning Star on Aug. 10 1919, Delaware Politics and Government by William W. Boyer and Edward C. Ratledge, Pirates and Patriots: Tales of the Delaware Coast by Michael Morgan

Theodore G. Bilbo: race to the end

Image from bioguide.congress.gov

Theodore Gilbert Bilbo's earlier career has been virtually overshadowed by the hateful rhetoric he embraced during his time as a United States Senator. Long before his race baiting ways started to eat away at his political strength, however, Bilbo had run afoul of bribery accusations in state level positions. In each bribery matter, he took a dubious but effective defense: admitting to taking a bribe, but maintaining that he only did so to expose corruption by his foes.

The first incident happened in 1909, a year after Bilbo started serving in the Mississippi state senate. Senators for Congress were still chosen by the state legislature, and with the death of Senator A.J. McLaurin in December of 1909 it was up to Bilbo and his compatriots to choose a replacement. The choices came down to former Governor James K. Vardaman and planter Leroy Percy, and after a protracted battle Percy was finally chosen. In March of 1910, a grand jury indicted planter L.C. Dulaney with the charge of tendering a bribe to Bilbo. It declined to indict Bilbo for receiving the bribe, but a resolution still appeared in the the senate to expel Bilbo.

Bilbo went on a swift offensive, explaining that Dulaney gave him $645 to support Percy over Vardaman. Bilbo said he took the money, but gave it to a local minister with a statement of facts as a way of obtaining proof of irregular methods in the election. He said the transaction was supposed to occur in a hotel room where a witness would be handy, but it ended up happening in another room instead.

Bilbo's innocence depended almost entirely on his word, and even this did not carry much weight considering that the minister denied having advance notice of the bribery or taking part in a stakeout in the hotel. The state senator maintained his innocence, but added the caveat asking voters to wait until all the evidence was in. "At this juncture of the greatest fight in the history of the state for a clean government, I feel that I ought to say to the people of Mississippi that the efforts of the politicians and corporate interests in attacking my reputation will prove a miserable failure, for the truth will prevail," he said.

On April 14, the senate took a vote to expel Bilbo. It fell along party lines and was 28 to 15 in favor - one short of the three-fourths majority needed to carry the action out. The Vardaman supporters left the chambers in protest after the vote, leading to a lopsided 25-1 vote favoring a resolution urging Bilbo to resign and criticizing the decision to not reveal the evidence of bribery until after the nomination as "utterly unexplainable and absolutely incredible." However, another resolution unanimously adopted the idea that the election was free from undue influence. Bilbo remained in the senate for the rest of his term, and Dulaney was acquitted at trial in November. The fallout from the matter continued into the next year. In July of 1911, former prison warden J.J. Henry hit Bilbo in the face with the butt of a pistol after Bilbo refused to apologize for remarks about Henry's character; Henry had been one of the witnesses before the committee investigating the bribery allegation.

The second accusation of bribery arose in December of 1913, when Bilbo was the lieutenant governor of Mississippi. He and state senator G.A. Hobbs were indicted on the charge of soliciting a bribe from Belzoni resident Steve Castleman to influence a bill in 1912 to create a new county out of parts of Yazoo, Holmes, and Washington counties. At the trial, Chicago attorney Ira M. Sample testified that Bilbo and Hobbs approached him with the idea of getting legal action against a certain Illinois lumber corporation dismissed in exchange for $50,000 for Bilbo and $5,000 each for the Mississippi attorney general and two special attorneys. Castleman said he agreed to pay $2,000 to Bilbo and Hobbs to support the county bill, and gave $200 to Hobbs in a Vicksburg hotel. The circumstances of the bribe were curiously similar to those a few years earlier, and the outcome was nearly identical. Hobbs claimed that he accepted the bribe to entrap Castlman and was acquitted at trial. Bilbo was also exonerated in July of 1914.

Bilbo was born on a Poplarville farm in October of 1877. He attended Peabody College in Nashville as well as the law department of Vanderbilt University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He made a living as a high school teacher for five years and started practicing law in 1912, four years after he was admitted to the bar. If his later crusade was all about race, Bilbo's early work was more related to class. He often defended hill country farmers against the wealthier farmers from the Mississippi River Delta region.

The first political bid Bilbo made was in 1903, when he unsuccessfully ran for circuit court judge. Five years later, he started work in the state senate as a Democrat. He stayed there through 1912, when he became the lieutenant governor. Bilbo not only weathered the two bribery scandals, but won the gubernatorial election at the end of his time as lieutenant governor in 1916. During his first term, the state established a tuberculosis sanatorium; eliminated public hangings; founded a state board of embalming, state tax commission, and fish and game commission; and advanced the construction of highways. In another violent incident, the state's assistant attorney general, Walter Dent, knocked Bilbo down during a fistfight in August of 1919; the scuffle was a result of remarks in a newspaper attributed to Bilbo. At the end of his first term in 1920, he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives.

Bilbo hit a rough patch after this term. In 1922, a woman named Frances Birkhead accused Bilbo's successor, Lee Russell, of seduction. It was akin to sexual harassment, and Bilbo's name came up as the person whom Governor Russell allegedly asked to settle the matter involving his stenographer. Bilbo had no desire to appear as a witness, and ignored the summons to court. Russell was ultimately acquitted, but Bilbo was arrested for contempt of court in February of 1923. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 30 days in jail and pay a $100 fine, although the term was later reduced to 10 days and the fine remitted. From his cell, Bilbo announced his candidacy for a renewed gubernatorial term.

This effort, naturally, was not very successful. Bilbo was again elected governor for a term starting in 1928, but met with considerably more difficulty the second time around as the Mississippi treasury was hit by financial setbacks. In April of 1932, a judge declared 217 pardons issued during Bilbo's term null and void since they had been issued without proper notice, but prison trustees refused to rearrest the newly freed men. Economic policies benefiting white farmers became common. These were one of the more subtle forms of racism Bilbo embraced. In October of 1928, he criticized Republican presidential candidate Herbert Hoover for allegedly dancing with a black woman during a flood relief visit to the state the previous year. Hoover replied by saying that it was mere rumor, and that if the voters made a decision based solely on the accusation it would "forever be a most infamous blot on the record of the state of Mississippi." Despite the law against public hanging passed in his first term, Bilbo took a rather more relaxed attitude toward lynchings. After a mob took Charley Shepherd, a black man accused of raping and murdering an 18-year-old girl, and burned him at the stake in 1929, Bilbo publicly declared his opposition to an investigation into the culprits. "I have neither the time nor the money to investigate 2,000 people," he said. Bilbo said no National Guard protection had been requested, or it would have been afforded for Shepherd. To his credit, Bilbo did order such a guard for a black man accused of murdering a white planter in 1931. However, this was likely done with reluctance; only a few months later, the North American Review quoted him as saying, "No colored man is worth calling out the National Guard to protect."

After leaving the governor's office for a second time, Bilbo made another unsuccessful run at the House. In a bizarre development, he managed to get a job with the Farm Adjustment Administration "assembling current information records for the Adjustment Administration from news, magazines, and other published sources." Translated, this meant that Bilbo would be paid to take clippings from newspapers and other published sources. He left the $6,000 post - a salary only $2,500 less than that of a senator - to start a campaign for Senate in February of 1934. In a surprise upset, he took the Democratic nomination from 22-year incumbent Hubert D. Stephens. The party dominated politics in the South to such a degree that a primary victory was a foregone conclusion for the general election; sure enough, Bilbo easily won victory in November of 1934.

Bilbo would stay in the Senate for two terms, chairing both the Committee on the District of Columbia and the Committee on Pensions. He became a strong supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives, seeing them as a good way to relieve poverty in Mississippi. Midway through his term, he and his bride of 34 years went through a messy breakup. In 1937, a divorce was granted and his ex-wife vowed to use some of the $20,750 she received in the deal to fund a Senate campaign opposing him. In his second term, Bilbo spoke against the idea of having the draft brought down to the ages of 18 and 19. The conflict would be a prolonged one, he felt, and it would be more prudent to call up men with more experience. "I am not opposed to taking 18 and 19 year old boys and training them, but I could never give my consent to putting them into combat service at this tender age," he said.

More than anything, however, Bilbo would become known for his vile, single-minded, and backward attitude on racial relationships. In one of his most shocking proclamations, he said the white race was doomed to decadence if it was to live alongside the black race; he said he would attach an amendment to a federal emergency relief bill to provide $250 million for the transportation of the country's black residents to new homes in Liberia. Worst of all, Bilbo turned to the Nazi regime in Germany as a model. "It will be recalled that Hitler, in his speech on April 9 in Vienna, gave as the basis of his program to unite Austria with Germany, 'German blood ties,'" he said. "Germans appreciate the importance of race values. They understand that racial improvement is the greatest asset that any country can have." Bilbo claimed that he had two million signatures from blacks who were willing to make the move and thought millions more would join in. Bilbo's relocation ideas extended to the nation's capital, with a proposal that 10,000 people be removed from alley homes. "We predict he will be a curse to his party and to his capital. Indeed he is one already," one newspaper commented. "He is one of the worst blights ever to strike our town, and we hold his party and this administration responsible for inflicting this socially benighted man on the people of Washington."

In 1938, Bilbo filibustered a proposed anti-lynching bill. He said violence and race riots would accompany the passage of such a measure, and referred to its supporters as "mulattoes, octoroons, and quadroons." In May of 1943, he said he was prepared to repeat the effort on a bill that would make it unlawful to require a poll tax to vote in a federal election. Such a tax, common in several southern states, was designed to exclude black voters but Bilbo saw the matter as one of states' rights. "I will feel that I am just as much a soldier as a marine on Guadalcanal or a private on Attu Island," he said, admitting that he would yield if essential war issues needed discussion.

In June of 1945, Bilbo filibustered the Fair Employment Practices Commission, saying he felt it was an attempt to fuse races and garner the black vote. By this point, with the war in Europe concluded and the Pacific conflict drawing to a close, the patience for Bilbo's hateful outbursts was growing thin. The Veterans Committee for Equal Rights demanded his impeachment due to his frequent statements against religious and racial equality. The Jewish War Veterans of the United States accused him of promoting divisiveness and violating the Constitution. The Committee of Catholics for Human Rights declared his conduct "a chilling deterrent to the worldwide belief that America is the symbol of democratic freedom and human rights."

Bilbo's conduct signaled the end of his career in Washington. In April of 1946, the Senate established a special committee to investigate election practices. In July, Bilbo won the Democratic nomination for a third term in the Senate. Two months later, a group of black voters charged that Bilbo "conducted an aggressive and ruthless campaign...with the purpose...to effectively deprive and deny the duly qualified Negro electors...of their constitutional rights...to register and vote." Glen H. Taylor, a liberal Democrat from Idaho, had already requested the committee to look into Bilbo's inflammatory speeches in June.

In August of 1946, Bilbo admitted that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, although he said he had not attended any meetings since his inaugural one since he was "not in sympathy with some things in it." He disputed a quote attributed to him in which he allegedly said that "the way to stop Negroes from voting was to start from the night before" with a clarified, perhaps more horrible statement that kept the intent intact: "The best time to keep a nigger away from a white primary in Mississippi was to see him the night before."

There was little question that Bilbo had urged intimidation and other unsavory practices in the 1946 primary. In a radio campaign, he had called upon "every red-blooded Anglo-Saxon man in Mississippi to resort to any means to keep hundreds of Negroes from the polls in the July 2 primary. And if you don't know what that means, you are just not up to your persuasive measures." In one well-publicized incident, a black war veteran was beaten for trying to register to vote in Mississippi. The National Negro Council denounced Bilbo's requests as "more diabolical than Hitler in his heyday."

In December of 1946, the committee convened for four days of hearings on Bilbo's exhortations prior to the primary. Over 100 witnesses, about two-thirds of them black, told about the restrictions on registration and voting. It wasn't enough to knock Bilbo from his perch. On January 3, 1947, the majority report of the Campaign Expenditures Committee determined that Bilbo's financial conduct was not an issue, finding instead that his anti-black crusade had been a response to "outside agitation" such as the national press, and determined that he was eligible for a seat in Congress. The minority report took a decidedly different tack. It charged Bilbo with violating the Constitution, federal criminal code, and Hatch Act, and with vigorously encouraging state officials to do the same.

It may have marked another close call for Bilbo, but the civil rights violations were not the only matters he was under investigation for. In November of 1946, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program launched a probe into his relationship with war contractors. This committee was less sympathetic toward the senator, and uncovered a wealth of unscrupulous activity. Over the course of the war, Bilbo had accepted from war contractors a new Cadillac, a swimming pool, the excavation of a lake around his "dream house," the painting of this mansion, furnishings for a second home, and overall a total benefit of between $57,000 and $88,000. The day before the determination that Bilbo had not violated civil rights laws, six of nine members of the defense committee agreed that his connections with war contractors were questionable.

Along with the first Republican majority in 14 years, it was enough to stall Bilbo's seating in Congress. Taylor asked the legislature to bar Bilbo from holding a seat until the Committee on Rules of Administration could review his conduct. The Senate voted 38-20 to table the resolution, but the matter turned out to be something of an anticlimax. Though Bilbo would continue to receive his government salary, he returned to his home state for an emergency surgery.

Somewhere along the way, Bilbo found time to put together a hateful treatise entitled Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization, which continued to embrace the notion of deporting the nation's black population. Ironically, the man who had spewed so much hatred died in August of 1947 following three surgeries for mouth cancer, although the official cause of death was given as heart failure following a surgery to tie off a blood clot. A life size bronze statute of Bilbo was dedicated in the Mississippi Capitol rotunda in 1954, but proved an embarrassment as the civil rights movement progressed. In 1982, Governor William Winter quietly ordered that the statue be removed to an out of the way meeting room. This room is now frequently used by the Legislative Black Caucus, and some members cheekily hang their coats or hats on the statue's outstretched arm.

Sources: The Political Graveyard, The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, National Governors Association, Mississippi History Now, U.S. Senate Art and History Home Page, "Bribery Charged in Mississippi" in the Spartanburg Herald on March 29 1910, "Preacher Didn't Confirm Bilbo" in The Day on April 2 1910, "Look Into Bilbo's Record" in the News and Courier on April 2 1910, "Bilbo is Forced to Resign From the Mississippi Senate" in the Spartanburg Herald on April 15 1910, "Senatorial Primary Called" in the New York Times on April 17 1910, "Real Money in Bribe Trial" in the Boston Evening Transcript on Nov. 30 1910, "Senator Bilbo is Severely Beaten" in the Spartanburg Herald on Jul. 7 1911, "Indict State Officials" in the New York Times on Dec. 3 1913, "Attempted Bribery Alleged in Big Case" in the Pittsburgh Press on Jul. 8 1914, "Bilbo Acquitted By Jury" in the News and Courier on Jul. 10 1914, "Mississippi Governor Knocked Down in Fight" in the Evening Independent on Aug. 9 1919, "Suit Against a Governor is On" in the Lawrence Journal-World on Dec. 7 1922, "Russell Acquitted of Woman's Charge" in the New York Times on Dec. 12 1922, "Ex.-Gov. Bilbo Arrested For Contempt" in the New York Times on Feb. 7 1923, "Bilbo to Run Again" in the Palm Beach Post on Apr. 17 1923, "Reduces Bilbo Sentence" in the Evening Independent on Apr. 20 1923, "Hoover Denies Charge Made by Governor Bilbo" in the Washington Reporter on Oct. 20 1928, "Governor Refuses to Order Inquiry into Negro Lynching" in the Meriden Record on Jan. 2 1929, "National Affairs: People vs. Shepherd" in Time on Jan. 14 1929, "Troops to Guard Mississippi Negro Being Held as Killer" in the St. Joseph Gazette on Oct. 23 1931, "Prison Trustees Refuse to Carry Out Their Orders" in the Herald-Journal on Apr. 14 1932, "Bilbo to Gauge Farm Act Foes by the Shape of Their Heads" in the Gettysburg Times on Jun. 23 1933, "Ex-Governor Quits Post; Eyes Senate" in the Pittsburgh Press on Feb. 23 1934, "Bilbo Rockets Into U.S. Senate" in the Herald-Journal on Sep. 20 1934, "Wife Contests Divorce of Sen. Bilbo of Miss." in the Lewiston Daily Sun on May 19 1937, "Ted Bilbo is a Coward" in the Afro American on Jan. 29 1938, "Bilbo Sees Decadence of Pure Anglo-Saxon Race" in the Lewiston Daily Sun on Mar. 2 1938, "News Behind the News" in the Miami News on May 30 1938, "Sen. Bilbo, Ex-Wife to be Campaign Foes" in the Tuscaloosa News on Jul. 28 1938, "18-19 Draft Bill is Introduced" in the Mt. Airy News on Sep. 11 1942, "Bilbo Ready to Talk 18 Months" in the Tuscaloosa News on May 30 1943, "A Curse on Washington" in the Afro-American on Mar. 25 1944, "Sen. Bilbo Starts Filibuster Against FEPC" in the Lewiston Daily Sun on Jun. 28 1945, "Catholic Group Assails Bilbo" in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on Aug. 8 1945, "Vet Group Asks Bilbo Impeachment" in the Evening Independent on Sep. 25 1945, "Jewish War Veterans Would Impeach Bilbo" in the Deseret News on Nov. 26 1945, "Senate to Investigate Bilbo's Efforts to Keep Negroes from Primary Polls" in the St. Petersburg Times on Jun. 27 1946, "Senator Says He is Klansman" in the Kentucky New Era on Aug. 10 1946, "The Washington Merry Go Round" in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on Oct. 26 1946, "Deny Bilbo a Seat" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Nov. 16 1946, "Senator Bilbo's Case" in the Indian Express on Jan. 5 1947, "Bilbo Succumbs After Operation in New Orleans" in the St. Petersburg Times on Aug. 22 1947, "Governor Fights to Educate Poor, Backward Mississippi" in the Ottawa Citizen on Dec. 11 1982, "South in New Disputes Over Heritage" in the Washington Times on Feb. 10 2009, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938-1947" in the Journal of Mississippi History, Historical Dictionary of the 1940s by James Gilbert Ryan and Leonard C. Schlup, The Governors of Mississippi by Cecil L. Summers

Nelson G. Gross: regular contributor

Image from the Evening News

Nelson G. Gross was the type of politician who, though deeply influential in government, worked more out of the public eye than as an official. The closest he came to being an elected member of the national government was a failed Senate bid, and he undertook that effort with experience limited mostly to campaigns and party positions. Though he drew some controversy during his work in politics, the incident which would garner more attention was the senseless manner in which his life ended. 

Born in Saddle River, New Jersey in 1932, Gross went from being a lawyer to a close involvement with the state's Republican Party. He was a member of the state house of assembly in 1962, but his major breakthrough came six years later as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Among the New Jersey Republicans, the hope was that the presidential nod could go to "favorite son" candidate Clifford P. Case, who had been in the Senate since 1955. 

To the chagrin of some party members, however, Gross led an effort to support former Vice President Richard Nixon and persuaded 18 of the state's 40 delegates to change their vote. When Nixon captured the nomination, Gross led his campaign in New Jersey, where Nixon triumphed by about 60,000 votes on his way to the White House in the 1968 election. Despite the breakaway from Case, Gross's relationship with the state Republicans were still strong enough that he chaired the state party in 1969. 

In April of the next year, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Frederick Lacey announced that Gross was under investigation for ties to a labor union allegedly dominated by the Mafia. No charges came out of the matter, and only a week after the announcement Gross announced that he was resigning as chairman to enter the 1970 Senate race. He easily won the GOP primary against two opponents. 

A month before the election, he was pummeled by political columnist Jack Anderson. "Nelson Gross, the Republican candidate for the Senate in New Jersey, has made a big show of opening up his records for public inspection. But apparently we are the only ones who have bothered to inspect them. What we found may make Gross wish he had kept his records hidden." Anderson claimed that Gross had charged numerous personal expenses to failing companies he controlled, including bouquets for his wife, vacations, and tickets to the Moscow Circus visit to Madison Square Garden. 

Anderson said that when confronted with the charges, Gross claimed that the court had thrown the suit out. Anderson countered that a $25,000 settlement had been involved in the resolution. Gross failed to dislodge the incumbent Democratic, Senator Harrison A. Williams, in the general election. Williams, who had served in the Senate since 1959, earned about 250,000 more votes than Gross. Case got in a dig at Gross, commenting that his close ties to the Nixon Administration may have hurt him. "Nelson had some excellent position papers. It is a real tragedy that he and his media people did not choose to emphasize them--that his media campaign chose to emphasize the negative side." 

The ties to the President did help him to secure employment after the loss, however. In August of 1971, he began working for the State Department as a senior adviser and coordinator on international narcotics matters. Then in May of 1973, Gross was indicted on fraud charges. The charges said Gross issued false invoices to the Stop and Save Stamp Corporation, a subsidiary of Grand Union Co., in order to make a $5,000 contribution to the 1969 campaign of New Jersey Governor William T. Cahill and make it appear to be tax deductible. Gross was also accused of encouraging William H. Preis, president of the Stop and Save Stamp Corporation, to make false statements to the grand jury; Preis pleaded guilty the same month to perjury. 

U.S. Attorney Herbert Stern said there was no evidence to suggest that Cahill knew about the illegality of the contribution, but the damage was done. The scandal was one factor playing into Cahill's defeat in the 1973 Republican primary, where the gubernatorial nomination went to Representative Charles Sandman. To the charges, Gross said, "I am astounded that anyone could conceivably believe that I would be in a position to counsel or did counsel one of the largest retailing supermarket chains in the country as to the manner in which it should complete and file federal income tax returns." 

 The trial happened in March of 1974. Among the 28 witnesses to testify over the course of five weeks was Bernard Striar, owner of a Maine textile company. Striar said Gross arranged for him to make a $2,000 contribution to Gross's Senate campaign and illegally deduct it. Gross took the stand in his own defense, not only claiming innocence but accusing the U.S. Attorney's Office of trying to topple his law firm. Gross's father also took the stand, testifying that Gross actually advised Preis to tell the truth to the grand jury rather than lie. When the jury returned a verdict, it found Gross guilty of tax evasion and perjury. 

Gross's lawyers made a curious argument for a new trial, arguing that wealthy people were excluded from the jury. In June of 1974, Gross was sentenced to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine; a week later, Preis received the same sentence, but with the jail term suspended. Gross remained a free man while he ground his way through the appeals process. In December of 1974, he asked the three-judge Federal Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to overturn his conviction; they upheld the verdict in February of 1975. In November of that year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the conviction as well. Finally, in June of 1976, Gross began serving his sentence after first trying to turn himself in at the federal prison in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He ended up serving six months. 

 In a surprising turn of events, it was revealed a couple of years later that the marshals at the trial had taken a far more active role at the trial than was allowed. Leon Harvey Stacey said he and his fellow officers seduced some of the female jurors, persuading them that the prosecution's case was sound and capitalizing on the increasing dissatisfaction with Nixon. "We all knew Nelson Gross was part of the Nixon administration. It was therefore easy to allude to a general disenchantment with politicians," Stacey said. "In other words, as part of the romancing of the jurors, my reference to politicians was always in a negative attitude." 

With this revelation, Gross tried to reopen the case and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in New York granted a hearing in November of 1978. It is unclear how this turned out, but if subsequent developments are any indication it was not very successful. In June of 1981, he was disbarred from practicing law in federal courts due to his conviction and his failure to show up at a hearing. An ethical board later disbarred him from the state courts for three years after finding that he had committed "unethical conduct." 

Despite his legal troubles, Gross was still financially successful through his investments in real estate development and restaurants. He was a millionaire in September of 1997, stopping in at a floating restaurant he owned in Edgewater, New Jersey every day for a meal. Then he disappeared. Gross was last seen taking $20,000 from a bank near the restaurant, a transaction not unusual due to his frequent large withdrawals. His wife and son reportedly saw him getting into his BMW with two men, and his son called his cell phone to see if everything was all right. "It's business. It's just business," Gross replied before hanging up. 

A search for Gross began, and first found his car abandoned about 15 blocks south of the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan. His family offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his return. Gross's body was finally found on the wooded bank of the Hudson River; he had been stabbed to death. 

It didn't take long for police to implicate three youths in the crime. Arrested were 18-year-old Anthony "Alex" Esteves and 17-year-olds Christian Velez and Miguel "Papo" Grullon. They had used the money to buy two used cars, a motorcycle, and jewelry and a bystander reported them to the authorities after overhearing them openly talking about the murder. Velez, who had worked as a busboy at the floating restaurant, was arrested and implicated his two friends. It seemed they had conspired to rob the wealthy businessman, but had not thought the plan through; when they realized that Gross would report the robbery to the police, they took his life as well. 

A death notice taken out by Gross's family in the New York Times did not mince words. It said Gross had died after "succumbing to an unprovoked vicious attack by three thugs who inflicted multiple stab wounds to his chest and back." 

Ultimately, Estevez entered an agreement to testify against his co-defendants if the cases went to trial and Velez and Grullon pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder. Describing the crime as "cruel and heinous" and a "truly senseless thing," Estevez was sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in prison without parole. His two co-defendants received 30 years in prison, also without parole. 

Sources: The Political Graveyard, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "Lacey Says Ties of Gross to Union Are Under Inquiry" in the New York Times on Apr. 2 1970, "Gross Quits as GOP Chairman in Jersey to Run for the Senate" in the New York Times Apr. 9 1970, "Wallace Triumphs in Alabama Run-Off" in the Schenectady Gazette on Jun. 3 1970, "Williams Recovering From Bad Start in N.J." in the Park City Daily News on Oct. 25 1970, "Gross Squeezes Companies" in the Free Lance Star on Oct. 24 1970, "Says Nixon Campaign Wrong" in the Virgin Island Daily News on Nov. 7 1970, "Coordinator" in the Evening News on Aug. 13 1971, "N.J. Republican Pleads Innocent In Funds Case" in The Journal on May 23 1973, "Gov. Cahill Defeated in N.J. GOP Primary" in the Los Angeles Times on Jun. 6 1973, "Illegally Deducted Gift, Magnate Says" in the Bangor Daily News on Mar. 3 1974, "Father Supports Gross Testimony" in the New York Times on Mar. 21 1974, "Gross Accuses U.S. of Harrying Firm" in the New York Times on Mar. 23 1974, "Federal Jury Begins Its Deliberations in Campaign Fraud Case Against Gross" in the New York Times on Mar. 29 1974, "Gross, Citing Jury, Seeks a New Trial" in the New York Times on Apr. 20 1974, "Gross is Sentenced to 2 Years in Jail" in the New York Times on Jun. 15 1974, "Preis is Fined, Term Suspended" in the New York Times on Jun. 22 1974, "New Jersey Briefs" in the New York Times on Dec. 11 1974, "New Jersey Briefs" in the New York Times on Feb. 20 1975, "Supreme Court Upholds 2 Convictions of Gross" in the New York Times on Nov. 4 1975, "Gross Wins Stay of Sentence" in the Argus-Press on Dec. 5 1975, "Nelson Gross Off To Prison" in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Jun. 3 1976, "Candidate's Husband to Try to Reopen Old Case" in the Lakeland Ledger on Feb. 3 1978, "Marshals, Jurors May Have Tainted N.J. Verdict" in the Deseret News on Feb. 10 1978, "New Hearing OK'd in Tax Fraud Case" in the Milwaukee Journal on Nov. 10 1978, "Ex-Jersey GOP Chief is Barred by U.S. Judge" in the New York Times on Jun. 28 1981, "Car of Missing New Jersey Developer is Found" in the New York Times on Sep. 21 1997, "Youths Accused of Killing New Jersey Millionaire" in the New York Times on Sep. 25 1997, "Police: Slain Millionaire Victim of Botched Plot" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sep. 26 1997, "Gross, Nelson Gerard" in the New York Times on Sept. 27 1997, "Prison For Tycoon Slay" in the New York Daily News on Oct. 8 1998, "2 Are Given up to 30 Years in Murder of Millionaire" in the New York Times on Oct. 8 1998.