William S. Vare
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William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867–August 7, 1934) was an American construction contractor and Republican Party politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S House and won a contested election to the United States Senate.
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[edit] Youth
Bill Vare was the youngest of three Vare brothers who were all contractors and politicians. George (1859-1908), Ed (1862-1922) and William were all born in the area of South Philadelphia known in local slang as "The Neck", or the area of South Philadelphia that calls the Wachovia Center, Lincoln Financial Field and Citizen's Bank Park home.
Bill, although not the product of a dysfunctional family, nevertheless had a rough childhood. At age six, he witnessed the death of his father, his mother died while in labor and with the exceptions of his two older brothers mentioned above he witnessed the deaths of all his brothers and sisters. This seems to have instilled in him a dark side, a bright side and a real drive to succeed. The renowned merchant of Philadelphia, John Wanamaker, took young Bill under his wing, by paying for his tuition at Philadelphia's famous Central Highschool, and a little later he worked at "Wanamaker's".
[edit] Early career
His political career began in 1884 when he observed the "Mummer's" on New Years Day and realized that this system of drill marches could be employed in political campaigns. In 1890 he started contracting with his two older brothers. By 1909, this contracting firm known simply as "Vare Brothers" had contracts with the City of Philadelphia whose aggregate worth was over $100,000,000.
Bill was elected to City Council in 1898. Four years later, he was elected as Recorder of Deeds. In 1911, he decided to try a run for mayor as a moderate Republican. The primary was won by George H. Earle Jr., which nevertheless split the Republican organization in Philadelphia three different ways, and it was these splits that accounted for Independent Rudolph Blankenburg's election in 1911.
[edit] United States House of Representatives
In 1912, Vare was elected to the first of seven terms in the House of Representatives upon the death of Henry H. Bingham. At this juncture, Vare's voting record took a much more pronounced turn to the left. He supported the abolition of child labor, the federal income tax, the rights of unions to bargain collectively, and voting rights for women and the ending of segregation on passenger rail cars. In 1921 Vare's rival, Senator Boies Penrose, died. The following year his older brother Ed also died. This left Bill Vare as the undisputed dictator of Philadelphia. "Dictator" is not too mild a word either, For he ran the economic world of Philadelphia, legal and illegal.
The Republican organization in Philadelphia received many bribes from the likes of Waxey Gordon and "Lucky" Luciano. But this was no ordinary arrangement, as Vare forced both Gordon and Luciano to agree that Vare would hold a veto power over any racket operating in Philadelphia. Not satisfied with this Vare decided to extract "loyalty oaths" from the entire Philadelphia Republican organization. Vare was also able to exert tremendous influence over Philadelphia's legal business. This was a form of extortion, because Vare had lots of influence with the unions.
[edit] Senate Scandals and End of Career
In 1926 Vare announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. Both the primaries and general election were scandals. After having apparently won the election, then Governor Gifford Pinchot, who had been drubbed by Vare in the primary, refused to certify the election. In January 1927, Pinchot testified before the Senate, producing several thousand illegal paper ballots. Nevertheless, the Senate informed Vare that they would contact him. In the interim Vare began smoking, drinking and eating to excess. This led in August of 1928 to a stroke that nearly killed him.
In December 1929, Vare was summoned before the Senate where he was informed that while he won the election, they could not agree to him being seated. However, Vare took it to mean that he was being denied the seat because of Pinchot's charges. As a result, in the 1930 Gubernatorial Primary, Vare supported the Democratic nominee John Hemphill, who lost to Pinchot. At this point a palace coup emerged at the Republican City Committee, where he was ousted, and replaced by Secretary of Labor James J. Davis.
Four years later, Vare was attempting a comeback as a Democrat. However, the symptoms of the 1928 stroke had become worse in the ensuing six years, and he died on the sixth anniversary of the stroke.
[edit] References
- Paul B. Beers, "Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation" 1980
- Peter McCaffery's "When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia", Penn State University Press 1993.
[edit] External link
| Preceded by Henry H. Bingham |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district 1812 - 1927 |
Succeeded by James M. Hazlett |
| Preceded by George W. Pepper |
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania 1927–1929 |
Succeeded by Joseph R. Grundy |
