William R. Green

William R. Green
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 9th district
In office June 5, 1911 – March 31, 1928
Preceded by	Walter I. Smith
Succeeded by	Earl W. Vincent
Personal details
Born	November 7, 1856 Colchester, Connecticut, United States
Died	June 11, 1947(1947-06-11) (aged 90) Bellport, New York
Political party	Republican
Profession	Attorney, Judge

William Raymond Green (November 7, 1856 – June 11, 1947) was a longtime Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district, and chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, until he resigned to accept appointment as an associate judge on the United States Court of Claims.

Born in Colchester, Connecticut, Green attended the public schools in Malden, Illinois, and Princeton High School in Princeton, Illinois. He was graduated from Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1879. Rather than graduating from a law school, he studied law with the firm McCoy and Pratt. He was admitted to the bar in 1882 and commenced practice in Dow City, Iowa. Two years later, he moved his office to Audubon, Iowa. He served as judge of the district court in the fifteenth judicial district of Iowa from 1894 until 1911, when he resigned to run in a special election for Congress. In 1911, Representative Walter I. Smith of Iowa's 9th congressional district resigned, forcing a special election for his permanent replacement. Green ran as a Republican, and was sworn in on June 5, 1911 as a member of the Sixty-second Congress.

Green was reelected eight times, serving in the Sixty-third Congress and to the seven succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means from the Sixty-eighth through the Seventieth Congresses.

Green was considered a moderate Republican who worked well as Ways and Means Committee chair with President Calvin Coolidge's Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew W. Mellon.^[1] Mellon's primary legislative objectives during Green's tenure involved tax reductions.^[1]

Green resigned from Congress after his eighth re-election, when President Calvin Coolidge nominated him on February 20, 1928 as a judge of the United States Court of Claims.^[2] In all, Green served in Congress from June 5, 1911, to March 31, 1928. His seat was filled through a special election that coincided with the 1928 primary election, in which Republican Earl W. Vincent was elected. Green was the third consecutive Representative of Iowa's ninth congressional district who resigned in the middle of their term to accept appointment to the federal bench.

At the time of his judicial appointment, Green was over 71 years old. He served twelve years as a judge with the Court of Claims from April 1, 1928, until May 29, 1940, when he resigned. He was later recalled and served until June 1942.

Green retired from active pursuits and resided at Bellport, New York, until his death there on June 11, 1947. He was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Green belonged to the Cosmos Club, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Masons.

References

Notes

Bibliography

• William R. Green at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

• The United States Court of Claims : a history / pt. 1. The judges, 1855-1976 / by Marion T. Bennett / pt. 2. Origin, development, jurisdiction, 1855-1978 / W. Cowen, P. Nichols, M.T. Bennett. Washington, D.C.: Committee on the Bicentennial of Independence and the Constitution of the Judicial Conference of the United States. 1976. 

Chairmen of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means Fitzsimons W. Smith Harper Griswold Randolph Clay G. Campbell Eppes Bacon Cheves Eppes Lowndes S. Smith McLane Randolph McDuffie Verplanck Polk Cambreleng J. W. Jones Fillmore McKay Vinton Bayly Houston L. Campbell J. G. Jones Phelps Sherman Stevens Morrill Schenck Hooper Dawes Morrison Wood Tucker Kelley Morrison R. Mills McKinley Springer Wilson Dingley Payne Underwood Kitchin Fordney Green Hawley Collier Doughton Knutson Doughton Reed Cooper W. Mills Ullman Rostenkowski Gibbons Archer Thomas Rangel Levin Camp Ryan

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa 1st W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum 2nd Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack 3rd Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young 4th Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle Le Compte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King 5th Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thruston Le Compte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King 6th A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy 7th Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle 8th McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven 9th Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey 10th Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist 11th Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell AL Hastings and Leffler Terr Chapman A. Dodge

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.