| James Edward Murray | |
|---|---|
| United States Senator from Montana |
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| In office November 7, 1934 – January 3, 1961 |
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| Preceded by | John E. Erickson |
| Succeeded by | Lee Metcalf |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 3, 1876 St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 23, 1961 (aged 84) Butte, Montana |
| Political party | Democratic |
James Edward Murray (May 3, 1876 – March 23, 1961) was a United States Senator from Montana, and a liberal leader of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Senate from 1934 until 1961.
Born on a farm near St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, Murray graduated from St. Jerome's College in Berlin, Ontario in 1897. When his father died in 1907, he was sent to live with a wealthy uncle in Butte Butte, Montana, who owned valuable copper mines. Murray became an American citizen in 1900. He graduated from the law department of New York University in 1900, was admitted to the bar in 1901, and commenced practice in Butte, where he also engaged in banking and the management of his uncle's properties.
He practiced law in Butte and in 1906 was elected to one term as Silver Bow County attorney. Murray feuded with local officials and judges, and returned to private practice. Active in the Democratic Party, Murray worked closely with labor unions to build his political base. In 1921, he and his mother inherited over $10 million from his late uncle. He dabbled in Irish politics, and reentered Montana politics when the Great Depression soured the Montana economy in the 1930s.[1]
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Murray was county attorney of Silver Bow County, Montana from 1906 to 1908, and became chairman of the State advisory board of the Public Works Administration from 1933 to 1934.
When Senator Thomas Walsh resigned to enter Roosevelts Cabinet in 1933, John Erickson the Democratic governor had himself appointed to the slot, despite his weak political base. Murray defeated Erickson in the 1934 primary, and was elected senator on the platform of "one hundred per-cent support" of President Roosevelt. Marie was easily reelected and served until 1960, becoming a powerful senior senator. Murray was a staunch liberal and aggressive supporter of the New Deal Coalition. Murray broke with the senior senator Wheeler when Murray backed Roosevelts attempt to pack the Supreme Court in 1937; unlike Wheeler, Murray gave up his isolationism in foreign affairs, and backed Roosevelts aggressive foreign policy against Germany and Japan in 1939-1941. After the war, the conservatives controlled Congress, so Murray had little success with his proposals to expand Social Security, provided free medical care for the aged, expand federal aid to education, or create a Missouri Valley Authority with the federal control over Montana's water resources patterned after the Tennessee Valley Authority. Instead, Congress adopted the Pick-Sloan Plan with flood control by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and private development.
As Chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee in the 1950s, Murray was more successful in promoting federal development of hydroelectric power through large dams throughout the West. He used his chairmanship of the Senate's Interior Committee to secure western water projects that led to congressional approval and funding for large dams in Montana at Canyon Ferry on the Missouri River, Yellowtail on the Bighorn River, Hungry Horse on the Flathead River, and Libby on the Kootenai River.[2]
Murray served as chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Labor-Management Relations, chairman of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, and also served on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
Murray died in Butte[3] less than 3 months after leaving office and was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery.[4]
| United States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Edward Erickson |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Montana 1934 – 1961 Served alongside: Burton K. Wheeler, Zales Ecton, Mike Mansfield |
Succeeded by Lee Metcalf |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Elbert D. Thomas |
Chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee 1951 – 1953 |
Succeeded by Howard Alexander Smith |
| Preceded by Guy Cordon |
Chairman of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee 1955 – 1961 |
Succeeded by Clinton Presba Anderson |
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