James M. Beck

James Montgomery Beck (July 9, 1861 – April 12, 1936) was an American lawyer, politician, and author from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Republican Party, who served as U.S. Solicitor General and U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania.

This article is about the lawyer and politician. For other people of the same name, see James Beck (disambiguation).
James M. Beck
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania
In office
November 8, 1927 – September 30, 1934
Preceded byJames M. Hazlett
Succeeded byWilliam H. Wilson
Constituency1st district (1927–1933)
2nd district (1933–1934)
17th United States Solicitor General
In office
June 1, 1921 – May 11, 1925[1]
PresidentWarren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Preceded byWilliam L. Frierson
Succeeded byWilliam D. Mitchell
Personal details
Born
James Montgomery Beck

(1861-07-09)July 9, 1861
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 12, 1936(1936-04-12) (aged 74)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting placeRock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materMoravian College
ProfessionLawyer

Early life

Beck was born July 9, 1861, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Margaretta C. (née Darling) and James Nathan Beck.[2] He graduated from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1880. He was employed as clerk for a railway company in 1880 and studied law at night, was admitted to the bar in 1884 and commenced practice in Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar of New York City in 1903, and to the bar of England in 1922.

Career

Beck served as assistant United States attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892 and as United States attorney in Philadelphia from 1896 to 1900. In 1898, he ran for District Attorney of Philadelphia, but lost to P. Frederick Rothermel. He was appointed by President William McKinley as assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1900 and served until his resignation in 1903. He returned to the full-time practice of law, joining the firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York City. In 1917, he left that firm to become senior partner in Beck, Crawford & Harris, and retired from active practice in 1927 to run for Congress from Philadelphia.

At the outbreak of World War I, he took a strong stand against Germany and wrote much and delivered many addresses to show Germany's responsibility.[3] He was elected a bencher of Gray's Inn in 1914, being the first foreigner in 600 years to receive that distinction. He also received decorations from France and Belgium and authored several books and articles on the First World War and on the Constitution of the United States. Among his works were The Evidence in the Case (1914) and War and Humanity (1916).[3]

Solicitor General

He was appointed by President Warren G. Harding as Solicitor General of the United States in 1921 and served until his voluntary resignation in 1925, when he again resumed the practice of law. During his term as solicitor general, he had charge of more than 800 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He personally and successfully argued more than 100 of those cases, including Ozawa v. United States. The remainder were detailed to staff.

His conservative views were reflected in his 1924 book The Constitution of the United States. It was a best-seller, going through seven printings within ten months. A special edition of 10,000 copies, with a foreword by President-elect Calvin Coolidge, went to schools and libraries across the country.

U.S. Representative

After resigning as solicitor general, Beck became involved in the legal fight of William S. Vare, who had been elected to the U.S. Senate but was denied a seat because of irregularities in the election. In response, Beck wrote The Vanishing Rights of States in which he argued that the U.S. Constitution did not allow the Senate the ability to exclude a member chosen through an election. The debate that followed the book's publishing raised Beck's public profile and made him a prominent option to fill the House seat vacated by the resignation of James M. Hazlett.

Beck was elected as a Republican to the Seventieth Congress, was reelected to the Seventy-first, Seventy-second, and Seventy-third Congresses and served from November 8, 1927, until his resignation on September 30, 1934.

He was active in the movement to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, which he said had no place in the constitution. He also fended off legal questions about his official residence and thus eligibility to represent Philadelphia.

Beck resigned his seat in the House of Representatives because of strong objections to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In a statement released at the time of his resignation, he stated that Congress had become "merely a rubber stamp for the Executive."

He joined the lawsuit against the New Deal-created Tennessee Valley Authority and argued the case in the Supreme Court in December 1935, declaring the organization unconstitutional and Socialistic. In the final weeks before his death, he served as counsel in the case of an oil stock dealer accused of violating the Securities Act of 1933.

Personal life

Beck was married to Lilla Lawrence Mitchell (1861–1956), the daughter of James and Emeline Lawrence Mitchell of Philadelphia and, later, Baltimore, Maryland. Together, they were the parents of two children:[4]

Beck died April 12, 1936, in Washington, D.C., and is buried at Rock Creek Cemetery.[10] His widow died on August 1, 1956.[4]

References
  1. Jost, Kenneth (1993). The Supreme Court A to Z. CQ Press. p. 428. ISBN 9781608717446.
  2. "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Beck to Beckbissinger".
  3. Reynolds, Francis J., ed. (1921). "Beck, James Montgomery" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. New York: P. F. Collier & Son Company.
  4. Times, Special to The New York (2 August 1956). "MRS. JAMES M. BECK, 98; Widow of Onetime Solicitor General of U.S. Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  5. "JAMES M. BECK DIES; A SOCIETY FIGURE, 80". The New York Times. 6 December 1972. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  6. "Hon. Clarissa ('Clare') Tennant (Tennyson, later Beck)". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  7. "Mrs. James Beck, Founded Newport Music Carnival". The New York Times. 18 April 1974. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  8. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (26 October 1924). "MISS BEATRICE BECK. BRIDE OF S. P. TUCK JR.; President and Mrs. Coolidge at the Wedding of Daughter of Solicitor General". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  9. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (30 April 1936). "MRS. BEATRICE TUCK IS BRIDE AT CAPITAL; Daughter of Late James M. Beck Is Married to Col. Snowden Andrew Fahnestock". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (13 April 1936). "JAMES M. BECK, 74, NEW DEAL FOE, DIES; One of Foremost Authorities on the Constitution Stricken Suddenly in Capital". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
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