John W. Bricker

John William Bricker
54th Governor of Ohio
In office January 9, 1939 – January 8, 1945
Lieutenant	Paul M. Herbert
Preceded by	Martin L. Davey
Succeeded by	Frank J. Lausche
United States Senator from Ohio
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1959
Preceded by	Kingsley A. Taft
Succeeded by	Stephen M. Young
Personal details
Born	September 6, 1893 Mount Sterling, Ohio
Died	March 22, 1986(1986-03-22) (aged 92) Columbus, Ohio
Political party	Republican

John William Bricker (September 6, 1893 – March 22, 1986) was a United States Senator and the 54th Governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, he was the Republican nominee for Vice President in 1944.

Early life

Bricker was born on a farm near Mount Sterling, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University at Columbus, where he divided his time between the debating team and the varsity baseball team. After graduating with a B.A. from Ohio State in 1916 and from its law department in 1920, he was admitted to the bar in 1917 and commenced practice in Columbus in 1920.

He was married to the former Harriet Day.

Public service

During World War I, Bricker served as first lieutenant and chaplain in the United States Army in 1917 and 1918. He subsequently served as solicitor for Grandview Heights, Ohio from 1920 to 1928, Assistant Attorney General of Ohio from 1923 to 1927, a member of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio from 1929 to 1932 and Attorney General of Ohio from 1933 to 1937.

He was elected Governor of Ohio for three two-year terms, serving from 1939 to 1945, each time winning with a greater margin of victory. Bricker espoused a stance against centralized government, preferring to increase involvement in state and local governments, and made this known in his inaugural address as Governor:

There must be a revitalization of state and local governments throughout the nation. The individual citizen must again be conscious of his responsibility to his government and alert to the preservation of his rights as a citizen under it. That cannot be done by taking government further away, but by keeping it at home.

— John W. Bricker, inaugural gubernatorial address, January 9, 1939.

Bricker was the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1944, sharing the unsuccessful ticket with Presidential nominee Thomas Dewey, which lost to Franklin Roosevelt. He was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1946 and re-elected in 1952, serving from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1959.

Dewey was again the Republican presidential nominee in 1948 but Bricker was not again his running mate. Dewey chose instead California Governor Earl Warren in the hope that the 1948 ticket would carry California which the Dewey-Bricker ticket had failed to do in 1944. In the event the Dewey-Warren ticket not only failed to carry California but the absence of Bricker on the ticket may have been a factor in Dewey not carrying Bricker's home state of Ohio again but Dewey carrying both California and Ohio would not have been enough to make him President.

His Senate service is best remembered for his attempts to amend the United States Constitution to limit the President's treaty-making powers (the Bricker Amendment). He was the chairman of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce during the 83rd Congress.

On July 12, 1947, a former Capitol police officer fired shots at Bricker as he boarded the underground trolley from the Senate office building to the Capitol. The two shots, fired as close range, narrowly missed Bricker.

In 1958, Stephen Young ran for the Senate against the incumbent Bricker. Bricker seemed invincible, but Young capitalized on widespread public opposition to the proposed "right to work" amendment to Ohio's constitution, which Bricker had endorsed. Few thought that Young, 70 at the time, could win; even members of his own party had doubts, particularly Ohio's other senator, Democrat Frank J. Lausche. In an upset, Young defeated Bricker by 52% to 48%, who then retired from public life.

Professional life

In 1945, Bricker founded the Columbus, Ohio law firm now known as Bricker & Eckler. The firm now has additional offices in Cleveland, Ohio and West Chester, Ohio. The West Chester office serves the cities of Cincinnati and Dayton. "Bricker" is now one of the ten largest firms in the state of Ohio.

After leaving the Senate, John Bricker resumed the practice of law. He died in Columbus at the age of ninety-two and is interred there at Green Lawn Cemetery.

Miscellaneous

• On The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, the Bricker Hall building was named after Bricker. The building currently serves as the home of many of the University's administrative units, including the Office of the Board of Trustees and President Gordon Gee. Bricker was a member of the OSU Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1969.

• In Philip K. Dick's 1962 novel The Man in the High Castle, set in an alternate timeline, Bricker succeeded John Nance Garner as the President of the United States in 1940.

See also

Conservatism portal

External links

• John Bricker Oral History finding aid, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• John W. Bricker at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Legal offices
Preceded by Gilbert Bettman	Ohio Attorney General 1933 – 1937	Succeeded by Herbert S. Duffy
Political offices
Preceded by Martin L. Davey	Governor of Ohio 1939 – 1945	Succeeded by Frank J. Lausche
United States Senate
Preceded by Kingsley A. Taft	United States Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 1947 – 1959 Served alongside: Robert A. Taft I, Thomas A. Burke, George H. Bender, Frank J. Lausche	Succeeded by Stephen M. Young
Party political offices
Preceded by Charles L. McNary	Republican Party Vice Presidential candidate 1944	Succeeded by Earl Warren