Theodore F. Green
Encyclopedia
Theodore Francis Green was an American politician
from the U.S. state
of Rhode Island
. A Democrat
, Green served as the 57th Governor of Rhode Island (1933–1937) and in the United States Senate
(1937–1961). He was the grandnephew of Samuel G. Arnold
, another Rhode Island Senator.
to Arnold Green, a lawyer, and Cornelia Abby Burges, Green was the eldest child in a family descended from colonists who arrived in Rhode Island with Roger Williams
in 1636. He graduated from Providence High School in 1883 and Brown University
in 1887, receiving an Master of Arts
degree
from Brown in 1888. He attended Harvard Law School
from 1888 to 1890 and studied at the University of Bonn
and University of Berlin from 1890 to 1892. A lifelong bachelor, Green devoted himself to the law, politics, and civic, business, and cultural activities. Admitted to the Rhode Island Bar
in 1892, he long practiced law, taking time during the Spanish-American War
to serve as a first lieutenant
in the infantry
. He served as president of J. P. Coats Company from 1912 to 1923 and Morris Plan Banker's Association from 1900 to 1929.
, displaying early a zeal to reform state politics and government, which he considered ethnically divided and antiquated. Active in Democratic Party politics as chairman of state committees and a delegate to Democratic National Convention
s, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor (1912, 1928, 1930) and the U.S. House of Representatives
(1920). Party loyalty, perseverance, and the Great Depression
won him election as governor in 1932. He served two terms (1933–1937).
On New Years' Day 1935, Green broke the hold of the Republican Party
over Rhode Island. By 1936 the Republicans, who were from the most rural areas of the state, held on to power only in the Rhode Island Senate
, where they blocked legislation supported by progressive Republicans and Democrats. The state Senate had been skewed in favor of rural towns that would vote for Republicans. Taking advantage of two contested seats, both held by Republicans, Green refused to seat them until there was a recount
. Green had the vaults where the ballots were kept opened and a recount was done. It turned out that both men were defeated and the Republicans (who had a two seat majority) lost power. These events led to the rise of the Democratic Party in Rhode Island. It became known as Rhode Island's "Bloodless Revolution".
Besides making the Democratic Party dominant in a traditionally Republican state, as governor he directed his energies to welfare and unemployment relief, forging a relief bill three weeks before the New Deal
began. He enlarged the importance of the governor's office, reorganized state government, won control of federal patronage, and cooperated with the New Deal to strive for economic recovery.
in the Democratic landslide of 1936 and served four terms, retiring in 1961.
Described as "the president's man", he was loyal to the Democratic presidents with whom he served and, to a larger extent than many other northern Democrats, to the Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower
. Green consistently displayed his faith in social measures, democracy, a strong national defense, and international cooperation.
Green vigorously supported domestic New Deal measures, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt
's controversial Supreme Court retirement bill, braving the wrath of his constituents. He voted for the wages and hours and low-cost housing bills in 1937, and advocating farm and work relief, he sustained continuing appropriations for New Deal relief measures.
In view of the deteriorating international scene, Green advocated expansion of navy and army forces, revision of the neutrality laws despite isolationist opposition, and passage of the Lend-Lease
Bill, which in one of his many radio talks he called "Aid to America". At times Green in his zeal outran both his constituents and the President, but vindicated by the Attack on Pearl Harbor
, he won re-election in 1942.
During World War II
Green vigorously objected to a proposal to exempt farm workers from the draft as a means to increase agricultural production and secured passage of a law releasing government-owned silver for war purposes. He supported a law providing for absentee voting for servicemen stationed in the United States and headed a Senate committee investigating violation of the Hatch Act
that reported in favor of repealing the law.
Throughout his senatorial career Green supported civil rights legislation. He struggled to enact laws to ban the poll tax, to make lynching a federal crime, and to change Senate rules to make it easier to end filibusters. Consistently working closely with Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson
, he helped secure eastern liberal support for the Civil Rights Act of 1957
. As the nation moved to the right at mid-century, Green retained his liberal faith, voting to uphold President Harry Truman's vetoes of the restrictive McCarran-Walter Immigration Bill of 1952 and the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950. During the McCarthy controversy, he voted for censure of his Republican colleague Senator Joseph McCarthy
.
For twenty of his twenty-four years in the Senate, Green served on the Foreign Relations Committee
, beginning in 1938 and interrupted from 1947 to 1949. An early and steadfast internationalist committed to the United Nations
, he stoutly sustained President Truman's bold initiatives, including the Truman Doctrine
, the Marshall Plan
, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and intervention in Korea
. At the 1952 meeting of the UN General Assembly, to which Truman appointed him as a delegate, Green expressed his faith in the world organization as the "last great hope of mankind." He stood with the minority of thirty-one senators who by one vote prevented the two-thirds majority necessary to pass an amendment
initiated by Senator John W. Bricker
to limit the president's powers in foreign policy.
Though wary of reductions in foreign aid programs with the coming of the Eisenhower administration, Green was one of the few northern Democrats to support administration measures in the Republican-dominated Senate of the Eighty-third Congress. In the Eighty-fifth Congress (1957-1958) Green served as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
In 1959, with his health failing, the 92-year-old Green resigned his chairmanship; he left the Senate at the conclusion of his term in 1961. Green died in Providence, Providence County, R.I., May 19, 1966. Interment at Swan Point Cemetery
, Providence, R.I.
Rhode Island's main airport, T. F. Green Airport
in Warwick
, is named for him. In 2010, activists in the Rhode Island Labor Movement began a drive to change the name of the airport to "Workers Memorial Airport" because of Green's involvement in the violent suppression of a textile workers strike in Saylesville, Rhode Island in 1934.
Politics of the United States
The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, Green served as the 57th Governor of Rhode Island (1933–1937) and in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
(1937–1961). He was the grandnephew of Samuel G. Arnold
Samuel G. Arnold
Samuel Greene Arnold, Jr. was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he received his early education under private tutors, and graduated from Brown University in 1841 and, in 1845, the law department of Harvard University, gaining admission to the bar that year...
, another Rhode Island Senator.
Early years
Born in Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
to Arnold Green, a lawyer, and Cornelia Abby Burges, Green was the eldest child in a family descended from colonists who arrived in Rhode Island with Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
in 1636. He graduated from Providence High School in 1883 and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1887, receiving an Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
from Brown in 1888. He attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
from 1888 to 1890 and studied at the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
and University of Berlin from 1890 to 1892. A lifelong bachelor, Green devoted himself to the law, politics, and civic, business, and cultural activities. Admitted to the Rhode Island Bar
Rhode Island Bar Association
The Rhode Island Bar Association is the integrated bar association of the U.S. state of Rhode Island.-Organization:...
in 1892, he long practiced law, taking time during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
to serve as a first lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
in the infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
. He served as president of J. P. Coats Company from 1912 to 1923 and Morris Plan Banker's Association from 1900 to 1929.
Public service
Green began his long career in public life in 1907 as a member of the Rhode Island House of RepresentativesRhode Island House of Representatives
The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Rhode Island. It is composed of 75 members, elected to two year terms from 75 districts of equal population. The Rhode Island General Assembly does not have...
, displaying early a zeal to reform state politics and government, which he considered ethnically divided and antiquated. Active in Democratic Party politics as chairman of state committees and a delegate to Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
s, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor (1912, 1928, 1930) and the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
(1920). Party loyalty, perseverance, and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
won him election as governor in 1932. He served two terms (1933–1937).
On New Years' Day 1935, Green broke the hold of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
over Rhode Island. By 1936 the Republicans, who were from the most rural areas of the state, held on to power only in the Rhode Island Senate
Rhode Island Senate
The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Rhode Island. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of whom is elected to a two-year term. Rhode Island is one of the 14 states where its upper house serves at a two-year...
, where they blocked legislation supported by progressive Republicans and Democrats. The state Senate had been skewed in favor of rural towns that would vote for Republicans. Taking advantage of two contested seats, both held by Republicans, Green refused to seat them until there was a recount
Election recount
An election recount is essentially a repeat tabulation of votes that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place in the event that the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close....
. Green had the vaults where the ballots were kept opened and a recount was done. It turned out that both men were defeated and the Republicans (who had a two seat majority) lost power. These events led to the rise of the Democratic Party in Rhode Island. It became known as Rhode Island's "Bloodless Revolution".
Besides making the Democratic Party dominant in a traditionally Republican state, as governor he directed his energies to welfare and unemployment relief, forging a relief bill three weeks before the 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...
began. He enlarged the importance of the governor's office, reorganized state government, won control of federal patronage, and cooperated with the New Deal to strive for economic recovery.
Senator
He was elected to the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in the Democratic landslide of 1936 and served four terms, retiring in 1961.
Described as "the president's man", he was loyal to the Democratic presidents with whom he served and, to a larger extent than many other northern Democrats, to the Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
. Green consistently displayed his faith in social measures, democracy, a strong national defense, and international cooperation.
Green vigorously supported domestic New Deal measures, including President 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...
's controversial Supreme Court retirement bill, braving the wrath of his constituents. He voted for the wages and hours and low-cost housing bills in 1937, and advocating farm and work relief, he sustained continuing appropriations for New Deal relief measures.
In view of the deteriorating international scene, Green advocated expansion of navy and army forces, revision of the neutrality laws despite isolationist opposition, and passage of the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
Bill, which in one of his many radio talks he called "Aid to America". At times Green in his zeal outran both his constituents and the President, but vindicated by the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, he won re-election in 1942.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Green vigorously objected to a proposal to exempt farm workers from the draft as a means to increase agricultural production and secured passage of a law releasing government-owned silver for war purposes. He supported a law providing for absentee voting for servicemen stationed in the United States and headed a Senate committee investigating violation of the Hatch Act
Hatch Act of 1939
The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the President and the Vice President, from engaging in partisan political activity...
that reported in favor of repealing the law.
Throughout his senatorial career Green supported civil rights legislation. He struggled to enact laws to ban the poll tax, to make lynching a federal crime, and to change Senate rules to make it easier to end filibusters. Consistently working closely with Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, he helped secure eastern liberal support for the Civil Rights Act of 1957
Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957, , primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Congress in the United States since Reconstruction following the American Civil War.Following the historic US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v...
. As the nation moved to the right at mid-century, Green retained his liberal faith, voting to uphold President Harry Truman's vetoes of the restrictive McCarran-Walter Immigration Bill of 1952 and the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950. During the McCarthy controversy, he voted for censure of his Republican colleague Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
.
For twenty of his twenty-four years in the Senate, Green served on the Foreign Relations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...
, beginning in 1938 and interrupted from 1947 to 1949. An early and steadfast internationalist committed to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, he stoutly sustained President Truman's bold initiatives, including the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
, the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and intervention in Korea
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. At the 1952 meeting of the UN General Assembly, to which Truman appointed him as a delegate, Green expressed his faith in the world organization as the "last great hope of mankind." He stood with the minority of thirty-one senators who by one vote prevented the two-thirds majority necessary to pass an amendment
Bricker Amendment
The Bricker Amendment is the collective name of a series of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution considered by the United States Senate in the 1950s. These amendments would have placed restrictions on the scope and ratification of treaties and executive agreements entered into by...
initiated by Senator John W. Bricker
John W. Bricker
John William Bricker 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:...
to limit the president's powers in foreign policy.
Though wary of reductions in foreign aid programs with the coming of the Eisenhower administration, Green was one of the few northern Democrats to support administration measures in the Republican-dominated Senate of the Eighty-third Congress. In the Eighty-fifth Congress (1957-1958) Green served as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
In 1959, with his health failing, the 92-year-old Green resigned his chairmanship; he left the Senate at the conclusion of his term in 1961. Green died in Providence, Providence County, R.I., May 19, 1966. Interment at Swan Point Cemetery
Swan Point Cemetery
Swan Point Cemetery is a cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Established in 1846 on a 60 acre plot of land. It has approximately 40,000 interments.- History :...
, Providence, R.I.
Rhode Island's main airport, T. F. Green Airport
T. F. Green Airport
T. F. Green Airport , also known as Theodore Francis Green State Airport, is a public airport located in Warwick, six miles south of Providence, in Kent County, Rhode Island, USA. Dedicated in 1931, the airport was named for former Rhode Island governor and longtime senator Theodore F. Green...
in Warwick
Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. It is the second largest city in the state, with a population of 82,672 at the 2010 census. Its mayor has been Scott Avedisian since 2000...
, is named for him. In 2010, activists in the Rhode Island Labor Movement began a drive to change the name of the airport to "Workers Memorial Airport" because of Green's involvement in the violent suppression of a textile workers strike in Saylesville, Rhode Island in 1934.