Boies Penrose

Boies Penrose
United States Senator
from Pennsylvania
In office
March 4, 1897 – December 31, 1921
Preceded byJ. Donald Cameron
Succeeded byGeorge Pepper
Member of the
Republican National Committee
from Pennsylvania
In office
May 18, 1916 – December 31, 1921
Preceded byHenry Wasson
Succeeded byGeorge Pepper
In office
June 9, 1904 – May 1, 1912
Preceded byMatthew Quay
Succeeded byHenry Wasson
Chairman of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania
In office
May 27, 1903 – April 26, 1905
Preceded byMatthew Quay
Succeeded byWesley Andrews
President pro tempore
of the Pennsylvania Senate
In office
May 9, 1889 – May 28, 1891
Preceded byJohn Grady
Succeeded byJohn P. S. Gobin
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 4, 1887 – January 27, 1897[1]
Preceded byRobert Adams, Jr.
Succeeded byIsrael Wilson Durham
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the Philadelphia County district
In office
January 6, 1885[2] – June 12, 1885
Personal details
Born(1860-11-01)November 1, 1860
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedDecember 31, 1921(1921-12-31) (aged 61)
Washington D.C., U.S.
Resting placeLaurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who served as a Republican member of the United States Senate for Pennsylvania from 1897 to 1921. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the Philadelphia County district in 1885. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 6th district in 1897 and as President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate from 1889 to 1891.

Penrose was the fourth political boss of the Pennsylvania Republican political machine (known under his bossism as the Penrose machine), following Simon Cameron, Donald Cameron, and Matthew Quay.[3] He was the most powerful political operative in Pennsylvania for 17 years, supported Warren Harding in his nomination for U.S. president, and added the oil depletion allowance into the Revenue Act of 1913 to benefit oil producers. Penrose was the longest-serving U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania until Arlen Specter surpassed his record in 2005.[4]

  1. ^ Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1897-1898" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. ^ Sharon Trostle, ed. (2009). The Pennsylvania Manual (PDF). Vol. 119. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Department of General Services. ISBN 978-0-8182-0334-3.
  3. ^ Beers 1980, p. 53.
  4. ^ Goldstein, Steve (November 1, 2005). "Specter is Pa.'s longest-serving U.S. senator/ He breaks Boies Penrose's record". Philly.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2014.