Joseph William Martin, Jr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph William Martin, Jr.
49th & 51st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955
President	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Sam Rayburn (twice)
Succeeded by	Sam Rayburn (twice)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 15th district
In office March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1933
Preceded by	Robert M. Leach
Succeeded by	Charles L. Gifford
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 14th district
In office March 3, 1933 – January 3, 1963
Preceded by	Richard B. Wigglesworth
Succeeded by	District eliminated
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 10th district
In office January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1967
Preceded by	Laurence Curtis
Succeeded by	Margaret Heckler
Born	November 3, 1884 North Attleborough, Massachusetts
Died	March 6, 1968 (aged 83) Hollywood, Florida
Political party	Republican

Joseph William Martin, Jr. (November 3, 1884 - March 6, 1968) was a Republican Congressman and Speaker of the House from North Attleborough, Massachusetts.

[edit] Career

Martin served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1912-1914), Massachusetts Senate (1914-1917) and the United States House of Representatives (1925-1967). He was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1940 to 1942. During the New Deal, he stood out as a major opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's policies and opposed his internationalist outlook on foreign affairs. However, he supported a few New Deal measures, like the establishment of the minimum wage. After 1952, Martin joined the moderate wing of the Republican Party and supported Dwight D. Eisenhower's internationalist outlook (through support of foreign aid), supporting federal aid for school construction, and supporting Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

In 1960 McGraw-Hill published My First Fifty Years in Politics, by Joe Martin as told to Robert J. Donovan.

Martin was the longtime publisher of The Evening Chronicle newspaper in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. Soon after his death it merged with a nearby rival and became The Sun Chronicle newspaper.

[edit] Leadership

He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives on two separate occasions from 1947 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1955. These terms represented two Republican short-term majorities in the House, and Martin's two terms were bookended by Sam Rayburn (D-TX).

Following dramatic Republican losses in the 1958 election cycle, which placed a return to majority status out of reach (for 36 more years, as it turned out, until the 1994 Republican Revolution), Martin was ousted from the leadership by Charles A. Halleck of Indiana. In spite of this defeat, Martin chose to remain as a backbench member of the House. Eight years later, in 1966, he was ousted from his seat in the Republican primary by Margaret Heckler.

[edit] After Congress

He lost renomination in 1966. He died in Hollywood, Florida on March 6, 1968.

[edit] Legacy

Joseph W. Martin with Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in Jerusalem, 1951

Today in his hometown of North Attleborough, Massachusetts Martin is remembered in the name of one of six local elementary schools. The Joseph W. Martin, Jr. Elementary School bears his name. As well as the Joseph L. Martin Institute for Law and Society, which houses his personal archives. The Martin Institute is located at Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts.

[edit] External links

• Joseph William Martin, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

v • d • e Speakers of the United States House of Representatives Muhlenberg • Trumbull • Muhlenberg • Dayton • Sedgwick • Macon • Varnum • Clay • Cheves • Clay • Taylor • Barbour • Clay • Taylor • Stevenson • Bell • Polk • Hunter • White • Jones • Davis • Winthrop • Cobb • Boyd • Banks • Orr • Pennington • Grow • Colfax • Pomeroy • Blaine • Kerr • Randall • Keifer • Carlisle • Reed • Crisp • Reed • Henderson • Cannon • Clark • Gillett • Longworth • Garner • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • McCormack • Albert • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gingrich • Hastert • Pelosi