| Harold Giles Hoffman | |
|---|---|
| 41st Governor of New Jersey | |
| In office January 15, 1935 – January 18, 1938 |
|
| Preceded by | A. Harry Moore |
| Succeeded by | A. Harry Moore |
| New Jersey's 3rd congressional district | |
| In office March 4, 1927 – March 3, 1931 |
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| Preceded by | Stewart H. Appleby |
| Succeeded by | William H. Sutphin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 7, 1896 South Amboy, New Jersey |
| Died | June 4, 1954 (aged 58) New York City, New York |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lillie Moss |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Signature | |
Harold Giles Hoffman (February 7, 1896 – June 4, 1954) was an American politician, a Republican who served as the 41st Governor of New Jersey, from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing New Jersey's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, from 1927 to 1931.
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Hoffman was born in South Amboy, New Jersey to Frank Hoffman and Ada Crawford Thom. His mother was the daughter of the painter James Crawford Thom and the granddaughter of Scottish sculptor James Thom. Hoffman also had two ancestors who were soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. His father's side of the family were among some of the early settlers in New Amsterdam, now known as New York, and they originated in Sweden; Hoffman's father's family were the descendents of Dutch nobility.[1]
He attended public schools and graduated from South Amboy High School in 1913. He worked with a local newspaper until enlisting on July 25, 1917 as a private in the Third Regiment of the New Jersey Infantry, where he was subsequently promoted to the rank of captain. After World War I, Hoffman returned to South Amboy and became an executive with the South Amboy Trust Company. He would later became the bank's president, a position he would hold until 1942.
Due to World War II, Hoffman was granted military leave as director of the Unemployment Commission on June 15, 1942. He reentered the army as a major in the Transportation Corps and served until June 24, 1946 when he was discharged with the rank of colonel. Upon discharge, Hoffman resumed his position as director of the Unemployment Commission.
As governor, Hoffman secretly visited convicted Lindbergh kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann in his death row cell on the evening of October 16, 1935 with Anna Bading, a stenographer and fluent speaker of German. Hoffman urged the other members of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, then the state's highest court, to visit Hauptmann. Despite Governor Hoffman's doubt regarding Hauptmann's guilt, Hoffman was unable to convince the other members of the court to re-examine the case, and Hauptmann was executed on April 3, 1936.
Hoffman was a delegate to the 1936 Republican National Convention.
As governor, Harold Hoffman got into at least two separate fist-fights with reporters. Hoffman's advocacy of a state sales tax cost him the support of his own party, and he was not renominated for a second term as governor.
In 1948 he appeared on the short-lived ABC network program That Reminds Me.
On February 2, 1950, Hoffman was one of four panelists on the debut presentation of the game show What's My Line?.
On March 18, 1954, Governor Robert B. Meyner uncovered a significant embezzlement scheme perpetrated by Hoffman, and suspended him from his position of Employment Security Division Director. Three months later, in June 1954, Hoffman died in a New York City hotel room of a heart attack. Just before dying, the disgraced former governor wrote a confession and admitted that he had embezzled over $300,000 from the state. Hoffman is buried in Christ Church Cemetery in South Amboy.
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stewart H. Appleby |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1927 – March 3, 1931 |
Succeeded by William H. Sutphin |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by A. Harry Moore |
Governor of New Jersey January 15, 1935 – January 18, 1938 |
Succeeded by A. Harry Moore |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by David Baird, Jr. |
Republican Nominee for Governor of New Jersey 1934 |
Succeeded by Lester H. Clee |
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