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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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1924-01-01 |
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| Name | Burton K. Wheeler |
| Address |
Butte, Montana , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
February 27, 1882
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| Died | January 06, 1975
(92 years)
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| Contributor | 411 Name Removed |
| Last Modifed | Chronicler
Mar 24, 2019 05:41am |
| Tags |
Caucasian - Married - Straight -
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| Info | Burton Kendall Wheeler was born in Hudson, Massachusetts on 27th February, 1882. He was admitted to the bar after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1905 and worked as a lawyer in Silver Bow County, Montana.
A member of the Democratic Party, Wheeler was elected to the Montana house of representatives (1910-1912) and was district attorney for Montana (1913-1918). Wheeler was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Montana in 1920 but was elected to the Senate two years later.
In 1924 Wheeler and Robert LaFollette became the candidates of the Progressive Party in the 1924 presidential election. Although they gained support from trade unions, the Socialist Party and the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, La Follette and Wheeler, only won one-sixth of the votes.
Returning to the Democratic Party Wheeler was elected to to the Senate in 1928, 1934 and 1940. In September 1940, Wheeler helped Charles A. Lindbergh and Norman Thomas to form the America First Committee (AFC). I t soon became the most powerful isolationist group in the United States. The AFC had four main principles: (1) The United States must build an impregnable defense for America; (2) No foreign power, nor group of powers, can successfully attack a prepared America; (3) American democracy can be preserved only by keeping out of the European War; (4) "Aid short of war" weakens national defense at home and threatens to involve America in war abroad.
The AFC influenced public opinion through publications and speeches and within a year had over 800,000 members. The AFC was dissolved four days after the Japanese Air Force attacked Pearl Harbor on 7th December, 1941.
Burton Kendall Wheeler died in Washington, on 6th January, 1975.
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