Oscar L. Chapman

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Oscar L. Chapman
34th United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
December 1, 1949  January 20, 1953
President Harry S. Truman
Preceded by Julius A. Krug
Succeeded by Douglas McKay
Acting United States Secretary of the Interior
In office
February 15, 1946  March 18, 1946
Preceded by Harold L. Ickes
Succeeded by Julius A. Krug
Personal details
Born Oscar Littleton Chapman
(1896-10-22)October 22, 1896
Omega, Virginia, U.S.
Died February 8, 1978(1978-02-08) (aged 81)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Resting place Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Olga Pauline Edholm
(1920 - 1932, her death)
Ann Kendrick Chapman
(1905 - 2003)
Alma mater University of Denver
Religion Methodist

Oscar Littleton Chapman (October 22, 1896  February 8, 1978) was the United States Secretary of the Interior during the last four years of the Truman's administration.

Biography

Early years

Chapman was born on October 22, 1896 in Omega, Virginia, to son of Rosa Archer (Blount) and James Jackson Chapman. He attended the University of Denver, where he earned his LL.D. at Westminster Law School, and the University of Denver, Colorado. From 1918 to 1920, Chapman served in the United States Navy Medical Corps.

Marriages and children

He is married to Olga Pauline Edholm on December 21, 1920; they we're had no children. She died in 1932.

Chapman married to second wife, the former Ann Kendrick (March 1, 1905 - April 4, 2003). They adopted of the father to James Climbs "Jimmy" Chapman.

Roosevelt and Truman Administration

Chapman was the manager of Edward P. Costigan's U.S. Senate campaign in 1930, and the Alva B. Adams Senate campaign in 1932. After Roosevelt's election in 1932, he was appointed as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Interior.

Oscar L. Chapman and his wife, Ann Chapman with a Fred Crawford, Irving Silverman, Jesus T. Pinero and the Isrin A. Fernus, with the President Harry S. Truman signing bill to governorship of Puerto Rico, from an elected the office in August, 1947)

In 1939, Chapman was an early victim of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, as then-chairman Martin Dies Jr. published a list of government employees who were members of a Communist-controlled organization (Chapman was considered a member because there was a record that he had contributed two dollars to the American League for Peace and Democracy which was raising money for the loyalists during the Spanish Civil War).

Oscar L. Chapman (right), C. Girard Davidson (center) and the President Harry S. Truman in December 1950.

At the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Chapman impressed Truman by sticking to his early agreement to support the current vice-president Henry A. Wallace. He was promoted to under secretary by Harry S. Truman in 1946. Chapman was one of Truman's advisers supporting the decision to recognize the state of Israel in May 1948, over the objections of the State Department.

Chapman worked to promote Truman in the 1948 election, and in late 1949, it was promoted again to Secretary of the Interior, replacing Julius A. Krug who had not supported Truman's campaign.

In 1951, Chapman denied a government loan to an aluminum company being run by Lea M. Harvey, because of a scandal that Harvey had sold artillery shells to the Navy, during World War II that we're dangerously out of specification.

Later years and death

After the end of the Truman's administration in January 1953, Chapman was practiced law in the firm of Chapman, Duff, and the Paul.

Oscar Chapman died Denver, Colorado, and was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery from the Section 11, Lot 775-2 and the Map Grid P 15, in Arlington, Virginia.

Political offices
Preceded by
Julius A. Krug
U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Served under: Harry S. Truman

19501953
Succeeded by
Douglas McKay
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