William Borah | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| United States Senator from Idaho | |
| In office March 4, 1907 – January 19, 1940 | |
| Preceded by | Fred Dubois |
| Succeeded by | John Thomas |
| Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations | |
| In office December 1, 1924 – March 3, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Cabot Lodge |
| Succeeded by | Key Pittman |
| Dean of the United States Senate | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – January 19, 1940 | |
| Preceded by | Reed Smoot |
| Succeeded by | Ellison D. Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Edgar Borah June 29, 1865 near Fairfield, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 19, 1940 (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | Silver Republican (1896–1899) |
| Spouse |
Mary McConnell Borah
(m. 1895) |
| Children | 1 (with Alice Roosevelt Longworth) |
| Parent(s) | William Nathan Borah Elizabeth West Borah |
| Alma mater | University of Kansas (attended) |
| Profession |
|
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | The Lion of Idaho[1] |
William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah is often considered an isolationist,[a] because he led the Irreconcilables, senators who would not accept the Treaty of Versailles, Senate ratification of which would have made the U.S. part of the League of Nations.
Borah was born in rural Illinois to a large farming family. He studied at the University of Kansas and became a lawyer in that state before seeking greater opportunities in Idaho. He quickly rose in the law and in state politics, and after a failed run for the House of Representatives in 1896 and one for the United States Senate in 1903, was elected to the Senate in 1907. Before he took his seat in December of that year, he was involved in two prominent legal cases. One, the murder conspiracy trial of Big Bill Haywood, gained Borah fame though Haywood was found not guilty and the other, a prosecution of Borah for land fraud, made him appear a victim of political malice even before his acquittal.
In the Senate, Borah became one of the progressive insurgents who challenged President William Howard Taft's policies, though Borah refused to support former president Theodore Roosevelt's third-party bid against Taft in 1912. Borah reluctantly voted for war in 1917 and, once it concluded, he fought against the Versailles treaty, and the Senate did not ratify it. Remaining a maverick, Borah often fought with the Republican presidents in office between 1921 and 1933, though Calvin Coolidge offered to make Borah his running mate in 1924. Borah campaigned for Herbert Hoover in 1928, something he rarely did for presidential candidates and never did again.
Deprived of his post as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the Democrats took control of the Senate in 1933, Borah agreed with some of the New Deal legislation, but opposed other proposals. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1936, but party regulars were not inclined to allow a longtime maverick to head the ticket. In his final years, he felt he might be able to settle differences in Europe by meeting with Hitler; though he did not go, this has not enhanced his historical reputation. Borah died in 1940; his statue, presented by the state of Idaho in 1947, stands in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
- ^ "Idaho governor sets Borah day". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. November 23, 1957. p. 7.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).