Homer Stille Cummings
Encyclopedia
Homer Stille Cummings was a U.S. political figure who was United States Attorney General
from 1933 to 1939. He also was elected mayor of Stamford, Connecticut
, three times before, founding the legal firm of Cummings & Lockwood in 1909. He later served as chairman of Democratic National Committee
between 1919 and 1920.
, and earned a Ph.B. degree from the Sheffield School of Yale University
in 1891, he then graduated from Yale Law School
two years later. Practicing law in Stamford, he joined with Charles D. Lockwood in 1909 to form Cummings & Lockwood, remaining a partner in the firm until 1933.
Just three years after entering private practice, Cummings supported William Jennings Bryan
's 1896 presidential bid, with Connecticut Democrats then nominating him for secretary of state. As a Progressive whose oratorical skills made him a dramatic trial lawyer, Cummings seemed a natural for the political arena.
In 1900, 1901, and 1904, Cummings was elected mayor of Stamford. At the time of his first election, he began a quarter-century of service as a committeeman from Connecticut with the national Democratic party. As mayor, he helped construct and improve streets and sewers, reorganized the police and fire departments, and secured a shorefront park that later named for him.
Nominated for congressman-at-large in 1902 and for U.S. Senator in 1910 and 1916, he lost all three races by narrow margins. During the 1912 campaign, he directed the Democratic speaker's bureau from Washington, D.C., then served as vice-chairman of the national committee from 1913 to 1919 before becoming chairman for the next two years.
During the period from 1914 to 1924, Cummings served as the state attorney for Connecticut in Fairfield County
and during Cummings' last year as county prosecutor, a vagrant and discharged army soldier, Harold Israel
, was indicted for the murder of Father Hubert Dahme, a popular parish priest, on a street corner in Bridgeport
. Despite evidence that included a confession and a .32 revolver in possession of the suspect from which a fired cartridge was consistent with the bullet in the deceased, Cummings conducted a thorough investigation and eventually found Israel innocent of the crime. In 1931, the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (the Wickersham Commission) praised this act, with a 1947 film Boomerang!
(directed by Elia Kazan
) dramatizing the affair.
During the bitterly divided 1924 Democratic National Convention
, Cummings made an attempt to calm the delegates by formulating a compromise plank on the controversial issue of the Ku Klux Klan
. Unlike most Northeasteners, however, he supported William G. McAdoo over Alfred E. Smith for the presidential nomination.
Cummings was married four times, the first two ending in divorce. In 1897, he wed Helen W. Smith, a union that lasted 10 years. The couple had one son, Dickinson Schuyler Cummings. His 1909 marriage to Marguerite T. Owings also ended in divorce in 1928. The following year, Mary Cecilia Waterbury became his bride, a marriage that lasted until her death in 1939, publishing a memoir. "The Tired Sea" (1939), as a tribute to her. In 1942, he married Julia Alter, who died in 1955.
After nearly a decade out of the spotlight, Cummings reentered politics. In 1932, he helped persuade twenty-four senators and numerous congressmen to announce their support for Franklin D. Roosevelt
, and at the Chicago convention
, planned strategy, operated as floor manager, and delivered a resounding seconding speech.
Following the election, Roosevelt chose Cummings as governor-general of the Philippines
, but two days before the inauguration, Thomas J. Walsh
, who had been designated attorney general, died. Roosevelt named Cummings to lead the Justice Department upon taking office on March 4, 1933. Cummings accepted the post on a temporary, emergency basis, before a few weeks later, permanently accepting the job. Serving almost six years as attorney general, only William Wirt (1817–1829) had a longer tenure in the position.
Cummings transformed the Department of Justice by establishing uniform rules of practice and procedure in federal courts. He secured the passage of twelve laws that buttressed the "Lindbergh Law" on kidnapping, made bank robbery a federal crime, cracked down on interstate transportation of stolen property, and extended federal regulations over firearms. He strengthened the Federal Bureau of Investigation
, called a national crime conference, supported the establishment of Alcatraz as a model prison for hardened offenders, and reorganized the internal administration of the department. In 1937, Cummings published "We Can Prevent Crime", and, with Carl McFarlan, an assistant attorney general, Federal Justice, a departmental history. The Selected Papers of Homer Cummings (1939), edited by Carl B. Swisher, supplemented the history.
Cummings served as the chief protector of New Deal
programs, and during his first week as attorney general, advised Roosevelt that the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 permitted the president to close banks and regulate gold hoarding and export. Cummings personally argued the right of the government to ban gold payments before the U.S. Supreme Court and won the "gold clause
" cases. However, during 1935-1936, the Court overthrew eight key statutes, including the National Industrial Recovery Act
(NIRA) and the Agricultural Adjustment Act
(AAA).
Frustration over the conservative nature of the Court, coupled with outrage over the proliferation of lawsuits and injunctions against the government, made Cummings eager to expand the judiciary. After the 1936 Presidential election
, Roosevelt instructed him to draft legislation for court reform, with neither man wishing to alter the Constitution.
Both were attracted by an idea proposed earlier by conservative Justice James McReynolds, to add a judge for every judge who refused to retire at age seventy at full pay. Such a measure might give the president the opportunity to appoint fifty new judges, including six to the Supreme Court. Roosevelt launched the proposal, prepared secretly by Cummings, on February 5, 1937, with the ensuing uproar over the “court-packing plan”
helping kill the bill after 168 days the Senate by returning it to committee. (Of the so called four horsemen of the US Supreme Court who consistently opposed the "New Deal":Van Devanter resigned May 18, 1937; Sutherland resigned January 17, 1938; Butler died November 16, 1939; McReynolds resigned January 31, 1941)
Cummings retired on January 2, 1939, entering private law practice in Washington while also beginning a spring golf tournament that annually brought executives, lawyers, and politicians together. He also retained his interest in the Connecticut Democratic party, along with a residence in Greenwich, Connecticut
, and served on the Greenwich Town Committee until 1951.
In 1961, character actor
Robert F. Simon
appeared as Cummings in an episode of ABC
's crime drama, The Untouchables
, starring Robert Stack
as Eliot Ness
.
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
from 1933 to 1939. He also was elected mayor of Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, three times before, founding the legal firm of Cummings & Lockwood in 1909. He later served as chairman of Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
between 1919 and 1920.
Biography
He was born on April 30, 1870 and graduated from the Heathcote School in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, and earned a Ph.B. degree from the Sheffield School of Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1891, he then graduated from Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
two years later. Practicing law in Stamford, he joined with Charles D. Lockwood in 1909 to form Cummings & Lockwood, remaining a partner in the firm until 1933.
Just three years after entering private practice, Cummings supported William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
's 1896 presidential bid, with Connecticut Democrats then nominating him for secretary of state. As a Progressive whose oratorical skills made him a dramatic trial lawyer, Cummings seemed a natural for the political arena.
In 1900, 1901, and 1904, Cummings was elected mayor of Stamford. At the time of his first election, he began a quarter-century of service as a committeeman from Connecticut with the national Democratic party. As mayor, he helped construct and improve streets and sewers, reorganized the police and fire departments, and secured a shorefront park that later named for him.
Nominated for congressman-at-large in 1902 and for U.S. Senator in 1910 and 1916, he lost all three races by narrow margins. During the 1912 campaign, he directed the Democratic speaker's bureau from Washington, D.C., then served as vice-chairman of the national committee from 1913 to 1919 before becoming chairman for the next two years.
During the period from 1914 to 1924, Cummings served as the state attorney for Connecticut in Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
and during Cummings' last year as county prosecutor, a vagrant and discharged army soldier, Harold Israel
Harold Israel
Harold Israel was a defendant wrongly accused of murdering a priest in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1924. The charges against Israel were dismissed by the prosecutor, Homer Stille Cummings, who later became Attorney General of the United States....
, was indicted for the murder of Father Hubert Dahme, a popular parish priest, on a street corner in Bridgeport
Bridgeport
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut.Bridgeport may also refer to:-Places:In Canada:* Bridgeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States:* Bridgeport, Alabama* Bridgeport, California, in Mono County...
. Despite evidence that included a confession and a .32 revolver in possession of the suspect from which a fired cartridge was consistent with the bullet in the deceased, Cummings conducted a thorough investigation and eventually found Israel innocent of the crime. In 1931, the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (the Wickersham Commission) praised this act, with a 1947 film Boomerang!
Boomerang (1947 film)
Boomerang! is a 1947 film based on the true story of a vagrant who was accused of murder, only to be found innocent through the efforts of the prosecutor...
(directed by Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
) dramatizing the affair.
During the bitterly divided 1924 Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
, Cummings made an attempt to calm the delegates by formulating a compromise plank on the controversial issue of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. Unlike most Northeasteners, however, he supported William G. McAdoo over Alfred E. Smith for the presidential nomination.
Cummings was married four times, the first two ending in divorce. In 1897, he wed Helen W. Smith, a union that lasted 10 years. The couple had one son, Dickinson Schuyler Cummings. His 1909 marriage to Marguerite T. Owings also ended in divorce in 1928. The following year, Mary Cecilia Waterbury became his bride, a marriage that lasted until her death in 1939, publishing a memoir. "The Tired Sea" (1939), as a tribute to her. In 1942, he married Julia Alter, who died in 1955.
After nearly a decade out of the spotlight, Cummings reentered politics. In 1932, he helped persuade twenty-four senators and numerous congressmen to announce their support for Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, and at the Chicago convention
1932 Democratic National Convention
The 1932 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois from June 27 - July 2, 1932. The convention resulted in the nomination of Governor Franklin Roosevelt of New York for President and Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas for Vice-President...
, planned strategy, operated as floor manager, and delivered a resounding seconding speech.
Following the election, Roosevelt chose Cummings as governor-general of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, but two days before the inauguration, Thomas J. Walsh
Thomas J. Walsh
Thomas James Walsh was a lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Helena, Montana, in the United States.-Background:...
, who had been designated attorney general, died. Roosevelt named Cummings to lead the Justice Department upon taking office on March 4, 1933. Cummings accepted the post on a temporary, emergency basis, before a few weeks later, permanently accepting the job. Serving almost six years as attorney general, only William Wirt (1817–1829) had a longer tenure in the position.
Cummings transformed the Department of Justice by establishing uniform rules of practice and procedure in federal courts. He secured the passage of twelve laws that buttressed the "Lindbergh Law" on kidnapping, made bank robbery a federal crime, cracked down on interstate transportation of stolen property, and extended federal regulations over firearms. He strengthened the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, called a national crime conference, supported the establishment of Alcatraz as a model prison for hardened offenders, and reorganized the internal administration of the department. In 1937, Cummings published "We Can Prevent Crime", and, with Carl McFarlan, an assistant attorney general, Federal Justice, a departmental history. The Selected Papers of Homer Cummings (1939), edited by Carl B. Swisher, supplemented the history.
Cummings served as the chief protector of New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
programs, and during his first week as attorney general, advised Roosevelt that the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 permitted the president to close banks and regulate gold hoarding and export. Cummings personally argued the right of the government to ban gold payments before the U.S. Supreme Court and won the "gold clause
Gold clause
Gold clauses specified within business contracts allow the creditor the option to receive payment in gold or gold equivalent. A gold clause may prove valuable to the creditor in long term contracts, wherein questions may arise as to whether a currency in use at the time the contract was entered...
" cases. However, during 1935-1936, the Court overthrew eight key statutes, including the National Industrial Recovery Act
National Industrial Recovery Act
The National Industrial Recovery Act , officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), officially known as the Act of June 16, 1933 (Ch. 90, 48 Stat. 195, formerly...
(NIRA) and the Agricultural Adjustment Act
Agricultural Adjustment Act
The Agricultural Adjustment Act was a United States federal law of the New Deal era which restricted agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant part of their land and to kill off excess livestock...
(AAA).
Frustration over the conservative nature of the Court, coupled with outrage over the proliferation of lawsuits and injunctions against the government, made Cummings eager to expand the judiciary. After the 1936 Presidential election
United States presidential election, 1936
The United States presidential election of 1936 was the most lopsided presidential election in the history of the United States in terms of electoral votes. In terms of the popular vote, it was the third biggest victory since the election of 1820, which was not seriously contested.The election took...
, Roosevelt instructed him to draft legislation for court reform, with neither man wishing to alter the Constitution.
Both were attracted by an idea proposed earlier by conservative Justice James McReynolds, to add a judge for every judge who refused to retire at age seventy at full pay. Such a measure might give the president the opportunity to appoint fifty new judges, including six to the Supreme Court. Roosevelt launched the proposal, prepared secretly by Cummings, on February 5, 1937, with the ensuing uproar over the “court-packing plan”
Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937
The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the court-packing plan, was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Roosevelt's purpose was to obtain favorable rulings regarding New Deal legislation that...
helping kill the bill after 168 days the Senate by returning it to committee. (Of the so called four horsemen of the US Supreme Court who consistently opposed the "New Deal":Van Devanter resigned May 18, 1937; Sutherland resigned January 17, 1938; Butler died November 16, 1939; McReynolds resigned January 31, 1941)
Cummings retired on January 2, 1939, entering private law practice in Washington while also beginning a spring golf tournament that annually brought executives, lawyers, and politicians together. He also retained his interest in the Connecticut Democratic party, along with a residence in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, and served on the Greenwich Town Committee until 1951.
In 1961, character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Robert F. Simon
Robert F. Simon
Robert F. Simon was an American character actor, often portraying military or authority figure roles. Though his face was recognized by audiences, he was mostly unknown by name...
appeared as Cummings in an episode of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's crime drama, The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
, starring Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
as Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, and the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.- Early life :...
.