Clayton R. Lusk

Clayton Riley Lusk (December 26, 1872 Lisle, Broome County, New York - February 1959) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He is now mostly remembered as Chairman of the "Lusk Committee", and was Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1922.

Life

He graduated LL.B. from Cornell University Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1902.

A Republican from Cortland County, Lusk was elected to the New York State Senate in 1918. From 1919 to 1920, he chaired the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, which consisted of four senators and five assemblymen and was known popularly as the "Lusk Committee."

Lusk was chosen Majority Leader of the New York State Senate in 1921 and 1922. On September 26, 1922, upon the resignation of Lt. Gov. Jeremiah Wood, who was appointed a judge of the New York Court of Claims, Lusk became President pro tempore of the State Senate and Acting Lieutenant Governor until the end of the year. At the end of his third term, he came under scrutiny for allegedly having accepted gifts from various companies to support or oppose legislation.

A stadium at the State University of New York at Cortland is named in his honor.

Sources

• [1] Political Graveyard
• "Clayton R. Lusk, legislator, dies: Former Republican leader of State Senate acted as Governor in 1922" in NYT on February 15, 1959, p. 85.
• Mencken's America by Henry Louis Mencken and S. T. Joshi (Ohio University Press, 2004, ISBN 082141531X , ISBN 9780821415313 ; page 221)

New York State Senate
Preceded by Charles Hewitt	New York State Senate, 40th District 1919–1924	Succeeded by B. Roger Wales
Political offices
Preceded by J. Henry Walters	President pro tempore of the New York State Senate 1921 - 1922	Succeeded by Jimmy Walker
Preceded by Jeremiah Wood Lieutenant Governor	Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York 1922	Succeeded by George R. Lunn Lieutenant Governor
Preceded by Jimmy Walker	Minority Leader of the New York State Senate 1923 - 1924	Succeeded by Jimmy Walker