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Notable people · Politician · Lawyer

Harry M. Daugherty

A Washington Court House lawyer and Ohio Republican organizer who managed Warren G. Harding's 1920 campaign and served as U.S. Attorney General from 1921 to 1924. Scandals around his department forced his resignation; he was tried twice later and never convicted.

Harry M. Daugherty
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c18044, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
1860-01-26
Died
1941-10-12
Education
University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI, 1878-1881, LL.B.
Known as
Politician, Lawyer
Organizations
Ohio Republican Party, US Department of Justice

Life story

Harry Daugherty was born in Washington Court House in 1860; his father died of diphtheria when he was four. He went to local schools, briefly studied medicine, then worked as a reporter and earned a law degree at the University of Michigan in 1881.

He rose through county Republican politics, served two terms in the Ohio House between 1889 and 1894 and worked closely with William McKinley. He was a back-room organizer more than a candidate.

In 1920 he managed Warren G. Harding's drive for the presidential nomination, including the Blackstone Hotel meetings later called the smoke-filled room. Harding made him Attorney General in 1921.

Scandal followed: his aide Jess Smith killed himself in 1923, a Senate probe went after his brother's bank, and Coolidge forced his resignation in March 1924. A jury deadlocked in his first trial and a second jury acquitted him. He wrote a defense of Harding in 1932 and died in Columbus in 1941.

Timeline

  • 1860-01-26: Born (Washington Court House, OH) source
  • 1881: Earns law degree (Ann Arbor, MI) source
  • 1884-09: Marries Lucille Walker (Ohio) source
  • 1889: Begins two terms in the Ohio House (Columbus, OH) source
  • 1920: Manages Harding's nomination (Chicago, IL) source
  • 1921-03-04: Becomes US Attorney General (Washington, DC) source
  • 1924-03-28: Resigns at Coolidge's demand (Washington, DC) source
  • 1932: Publishes The Inside Story of the Harding Tragedy source
  • 1941-10-12: Dies (Columbus, OH) source

What Harry is known for

  • Managed Harding's 1920 nomination
  • US Attorney General, 1921-1924
  • The Inside Story of the Harding Tragedy (1932, with Thomas Dixon)

Honors and things named for them

  • Ohio historical marker honoring him in Washington Court House (listed by Remarkable Ohio)

Family

  • wife: Lucille Walker
  • brother: Mally S. Daugherty

Places in Ohio to see

Ohio places

Where Harry M. Daugherty was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • Teapot Dome: the special prosecutors found he knew nothing of the fraudulent oil contracts, although his department had other serious scandals.
  • Disputed: Supporters say two special prosecutors cleared Daugherty of the Teapot Dome oil fraud and a jury acquitted him at his second trial. Critics point to the Justice Department scandals under him, his aide's suicide in 1923 and his brother's bank fraud conviction.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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