View source for James M. Mead

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{redirect|Senator Mead}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = James Michael Mead 
|image =JamesMMead.jpg
|caption = Mead in 1937
|jr/sr1 = United States Senator
|state1 = [[New York (state)|New York]]
|term_start1 = December 3, 1938
|term_end1 = January 3, 1947
|predecessor1 = [[Royal S. Copeland]]
|successor1 = [[Irving M. Ives]]
|office2 = [[List of chairs of the Federal Trade Commission|Chair of the Federal Trade Commission]]
|term_start2 = May 24, 1950
|term_end2 = March 31, 1953
|predecessor2 = Lowell Mason
|successor2 = Edward F. Howrey
|office3 = Member of the [[Federal Trade Commission]]
|term_start3 = November 15, 1949
|term_end3 = September 25, 1955
|predecessor3 = Garland S. Ferguson
|successor3 = William C. Kern
|office4 = Chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads]]
|term_start4 = 1931
|term_end4 = 1938
|predecessor4 = [[Archie D. Sanders]]
|successor4 = [[Milton A. Romjue]]
|state5 = [[New York (state)|New York]]
|district5 = [[New York's 42nd congressional district|42nd]]
|term_start5 = March 4, 1919
|term_end5 = December 2, 1938
|predecessor5 = [[William F. Waldow]]
|successor5 = [[Pius Schwert]]
|state_assembly6 = New York
|district6 = Erie County, 4th
|term_start6 = January 1, 1915
|term_end6 = December 31, 1918
|preceded6 = [[Patrick W. Quigley]]
|succeeded6 = [[Andrew T. Beasley]]
|birth_date = {{birth date|1885|12|27}}
|birth_place = [[Mount Morris (town), New York|Mount Morris]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|1964|3|15|1885|12|27}}
|death_place = [[Lakeland, Florida|Lakeland]], [[Florida]], U.S.
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse = {{Marriage|Alice M. Dillon|1915|1964|end=died}}
|children = 1
}}

'''James Michael Mead''' (December 27, 1885{{spaced ndash}}March 15, 1964) was an American politician from [[New York (state)|New York]]. A [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], among the offices in which he served was member of the [[Erie County, New York|Erie County]] Board of Supervisors (1914–1915), [[New York State Assembly]] (1915–1918), [[United States House of Representatives]] (1919–1938), and [[United States Senate]] (1938–1947).

A native of [[Mount Morris (town), New York|Mount Morris, New York]], Mead was raised in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]. He attended the public schools of Buffalo and began working for railroads at age 12. He rose through the Switchmen's Union's ranks to become president of the Buffalo [[Local union|local]].  From 1911 to 1914 he was employed as an officer with the [[United States Capitol Police]]. While working in Washington, Mead attended courses at the [[Georgetown University Law Center]].

Mead began a political career in 1914 with election to Erie County's Board of Supervisors. He subsequently served in the state Assembly from 1915 to 1918. In 1918 he won election to the U.S. House, where he served from 1919 to 1938. In 1938 he was elected to the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of [[Royal S. Copeland]]. He served in the Senate until 1947. In 1946, he was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for [[governor of New York]]. He was then appointed to the [[Federal Trade Commission]], on which he served from 1949 to 1955.

In retirement, Mead was a resident of Florida. He died in [[Lakeland, Florida|Lakeland]] on March 15, 1964. Mead was buried at Oakhill Cemetery in [[Clermont, Florida]].

==Early life==
James M. Mead was born in [[Mount Morris (town), New York|Mount Morris, New York]] on December 27, 1885,<ref name="McCarthy">{{cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Max |date=May 31, 1992 |title=Jim Mead's Story Began in a Hut by Side of Tracks |url=http://buffalonews.com/1992/05/31/jim-meads-story-began-in-a-hut-by-side-of-tracks/ |newspaper=Buffalo News |location=Buffalo, NY}}</ref> a son of Thomas and Jane (Kelly) Mead.<ref name="Times">{{cite news |date=March 16, 1964 |title=Ex-Senator Mead Of New York Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/16/archives/exsenator-mead-of-new-york-dies-exsenator-mead-of-new-york-dies.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York, NY |page=1 |via=[[TimesMachine]]}}</ref> Mead moved to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] with his family at the age of five.<ref name="McCarthy"/> He attended Buffalo's grammar schools and began working at age 12.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Malcolm |editor-first1=James |date=1918 |title=The New York Red Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CXJIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA162 |location=Albany, NY |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |page=162 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He was employed by the [[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad]]; his career included jobs as a water boy, lamp lighter, section hand, spike mauler, shop mechanic and switchman.<ref name="McCarthy"/>

Mead later worked for the [[Pullman Company]] as a mechanic on sleep car [[dynamo]]s.<ref name="Dulski">{{cite book |last=Dulski |first=Thaddeus J. |author-link=Thaddeus J. Dulski |date=March 17, 1964 |title=Congressional Record |volume=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QuTMput8qfgC&pg=PA5468 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=5468 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>  He was subsequently employed as a switchman on the [[Erie Railroad]], and was eventually elected president of the Switchmen's Union's Buffalo [[Local union|local]].<ref name="McCarthy"/> From 1911 to 1914 he was employed as an officer with the [[United States Capitol Police]].<ref name="McCarthy"/>

==Start of career==
Mead also continued his education during his railroad and police careers; he attended Buffalo's Caton School of Engineering and completed an engineering course of instruction at the Buffalo Institute of Technology.<ref>{{cite book |date=1944 |title=Current Biography: Who's News and Why |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvEpAQAAMAAJ&q=%22james+m.+mead%22+%22caton%22+%22school%22 |location=New York, NY |publisher=H. W. Wilson Company |page=458}}</ref> He also took courses at [[Canisius College]] and [[Catholic University of America|Catholic University]].<ref>{{cite book |date=1948 |title=World Biography |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfwZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22+educated+at+Buffalo+schools%22 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Institute for Research in Biography |page=3174}}</ref>  While working nights for the Capitol Police, Mead attended the [[Georgetown University Law Center]] during the day.<ref>{{cite book |date=1938 |title=American Law School Review |volume=9-10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AN8MAQAAMAAJ&q=%22james+m.+mead%22+%22georgetown%22 |location=St. Paul, MN |publisher=West Publishing Company |page=333}}</ref>

As a well-known semiprofessional football and baseball player in the Buffalo area, Mead developed a following that aided his entry into politics.<ref name="Times"/> In 1913, Mead was a successful candidate for a seat on the [[Erie County, New York]] Board of Supervisors and he served in 1914.<ref name="McCarthy"/> In 1914 he ran for the [[New York State Assembly]].<ref name="McCarthy"/> He won the Erie County 4th District seat and won reelection in 1916.<ref name="McCarthy"/> Mead served in the sessions of [[138th New York State Legislature|1915]], [[139th New York State Legislature|1916]], [[140th New York State Legislature|1917]], and [[141st New York State Legislature|1918]].<ref name="McCarthy"/> In the Assembly, Mead won a reputation as a champion of worker's rights, including passage of a "full crew" law for freight trains, a law requiring workers to be paid every two weeks instead of every month, and an act mandating improved safety measures in train engine [[Cab (locomotive)|cabs]].<ref name="Levin">{{cite magazine |last=Levin |first=Ruben |date=July 1, 1950 |title=Uncle Sam's Chief Cop: From Water Boy on Lackawanna to Chairman of Federal Trade Commission: "Jim" Mead's Great Record |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97tEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA286 |magazine=The Train Dispatcher |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=American Train Dispatchers Association |pages=286–289}}</ref> Among his successes were laws to improve the conditions of women and children in factories and enhancements to the state's worker's compensation laws.<ref name="Times"/> Mead's affability and power of persuasion marked him as an effective legislator despite the fact that he was a Democrat in a body controlled by [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]].<ref name="Levin"/>

==U.S. House==
In 1918, Mead defeated incumbent Republican congressman [[William Frederick Waldow]] for New York's 42nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Sweeney |editor-first1=Daniel J. |date=1919 |title=History of Buffalo and Erie County, 1914-1919 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXw_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA15 |location=Buffalo, NY |publisher=Committee of One Hundred |page=15 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He was reelected nine times, and served from 1919 to 1938.<ref name="Times"/> From 1931 to 1938, Mead served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads|Committee on Post Office and Post Roads]].<ref name="Times"/> In Congress, Mead was a strong advocate for worker's rights, and received credit for aiding the passage of several labor measures, including the [[Railway Labor Act]], [[Railroad Retirement Act]], and [[Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act]].<ref name="Levin"/> Mead was the author of a law mandating a reduction in work hours for post office department employees to 44 hours per week, and later to 40 hours.<ref name="Times"/>

While supplementing his education by taking college courses during his Congressional service, Mead was well known for staying in good physical condition by trotting from campus to campus.<ref name="Times"/> At 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds, he maintained the athletic build of his youth, and was known as the House's best baseball and softball player.<ref name="Times"/><ref name="Dulski"/> After 28 of his colleagues died during one session, Mead recognized the need for a Congressional gym and took the lead in organizing it and bringing it into operation.<ref name="Times"/>

According to [[John W. McCormack]], who served as [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] from 1961 to 1971, the House's Democratic leaders were grooming Mead to become Speaker.<ref name="McCarthy"/> McCormack went on to say that the only reason he (McCormack) was placed on the path that enabled him to become majority leader and then Speaker was that Mead left the House when he was elected to the U.S. Senate.<ref name="McCarthy"/>

==U.S. Senate==
[[1938 United States Senate special election in New York|In 1938]], Mead defeated Republican Edward F. Corsi to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant after [[Royal S. Copeland]] died.<ref name="McCarthy"/> He was re-elected [[1940 United States Senate election in New York|in 1940]], defeating Republican Congressman [[Bruce Barton]].<ref name="McCarthy"/>

In the Senate, Mead succeeded to the chairmanship of the [[Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program]] (the Truman Committee) after [[Harry S. Truman]] was elected [[Vice president of the United States|vice president]] in 1944.<ref name="McCarthy"/> Under his leadership the committee continued Truman's effort to weed out wartime waste, corruption and inefficiency.<ref name="McCarthy"/>

The committee's investigations under Mead's leadership resulted in Representative [[Andrew J. May]]'s imprisonment for bribery and an extended debate on whether Senator [[Theodore G. Bilbo]] would be permitted to take his seat after winning reelection in 1946.<ref name="McCarthy"/> The committee uncovered evidence that the racist Bilbo had sanctioned violence against [[African American]] veterans who attempted to vote in Mississippi's 1946 elections.<ref name="McCarthy"/> In addition, there was evidence that Bilbo had accepted bribes from defense contractors in exchange for actions on their behalf during the war.<ref name="McCarthy"/> The issue was resolved when Bilbo's credentials were [[Table (parliamentary procedure)|tabled]] so he could return to [[Mississippi]] and seek treatment for oral cancer, an illness which proved fatal.<ref name="McCarthy"/>

In 1946, Mead spoke at a rally of 20,000 participants in [[Madison Square Garden]], protesting against Britain's reversal of its pro-Zionist policies in [[Mandatory Palestine]]. Mead claimed that "the conduct of the mandatory power and its administration in Palestine is in sharp contrast to the endless chain of commitments by the United States and the United Kingdom."<ref>{{Cite web |title=20,000 at Madison Square Garden Meeting Protest British Policy in Palestine |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/20000-at-madison-square-garden-meeting-protest-british-policy-in-palestine |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Later career==
Mead was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor [[New York state election, 1942|in 1942]].<ref name="Times"/> He was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate for [[Governor of New York]] [[New York state election, 1946|in 1946]], losing to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] incumbent [[Thomas Dewey]].<ref name="McCarthy"/>

After Mead's defeat, he served on the [[Federal Trade Commission]].<ref name="Times"/> Appointed in 1949, he became chairman six months later.<ref name="Times"/> He remained on the commission until 1955.<ref name="McCarthy"/> From 1955 to 1956, he was the director of the Washington office of the New York Department of Commerce.<ref name="Times"/> Mead was also a New York delegate to the Democratic National Convention every four years from 1936 to 1952.<ref>{{cite news |title=Index to Politicians: Mead, James Michael |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mead.html#295.62.58 |work=[[The Political Graveyard]] |publisher=[[Lawrence Kestenbaum]] |location=Chicago, IL |access-date=June 21, 2020}}</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1937, the [[Works Progress Administration]] built a Buffalo public library that was later named the James Mead Branch Library.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 17, 2005 |title=Shoebox Libraries Are Well-Loved But Have Problems |url=https://buffalonews.com/2005/07/17/shoebox-libraries-are-well-loved-but-have-problems/ |work=[[The Buffalo News]] |location=Buffalo, NY}}</ref>

Buffalo-area mail carriers recognized Mead's accomplishments on behalf of postal workers by naming their [[Local union|union local]] in his honor.<ref name="Times"/>

==Later life==
After retiring from New York's Department of Commerce, Mead moved to [[Florida]].<ref name="Times"/> He settled in [[Clermont, Florida|Clermont]], where he owned and operated an orange grove.<ref name="Times"/>

==Retirement and death==
Mead died in [[Lakeland, Florida]] on March 15, 1964.<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=March 19, 1964 |title=Ex-Senator Mead Dies in Florida |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53873978/senator-mead/ |work=[[Tallahassee Democrat]] |location=Tallahassee, FL |page=18 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He was buried at Oakhill Cemetery in Clermont.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 18, 1964 |title=Funeral Service Set for Senator |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53873745/funeral-service/ |work=[[Orlando Sentinel|Lake Sentinel]] |location=Orlando, FL |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Family==
In 1915, Mead married Alice M. Dillon (1885–1964).<ref>{{cite news |date=August 25, 1915 |title=Mead-Dillon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53880185/mead-dillon/ |work=Buffalo Times |location=Buffalo, NY |page=7 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> They were the parents of a son, James Michael Mead Jr. (1918–1997).<ref name="Times"/> Alice Mead was the sponsor of [[USS Leyte (CV-32)|USS ''Leyte'' (CV-32)]] upon its launch in 1945.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-press-dedicated-symbol-of-mutual-u/157586026/ |title=Dedicated Symbol Of Mutual Understanding, USS Leyte Launched At Shipyard Here |newspaper=[[The Newport Daily News]] |location=[[Newport News, Virginia]] |page=2 |date=August 24, 1945 |accessdate=October 21, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Congbio|M000615}}
*{{Find a Grave|7088731}}
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.95781|description="Longines Chronoscope with James M. Mead (September 3, 1952)"}}

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{{succession box | title = [[New York State Assembly]] <br>Erie County, 4th District | before = Patrick W. Quigley | years = 1915–1918 | after = Andrew Beasley}}
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{{US House succession box | state = New York | district = 42 | before = [[William F. Waldow]] | after = [[Pius L. Schwert]] | years = 1919–1938}}
{{U.S. Senator box | before = [[Royal S. Copeland]] | state = New York | class = 1 | years = 1938–1947 | after = [[Irving M. Ives]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of United States senators from New York|U.S. Senator]] from [[New York (state)|New York]]<br />([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 1]])|years=[[1938 United States Senate special election in New York|1938]], [[1940 United States Senate election in New York|1940]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Herbert H. Lehman]]}}
{{succession box | title = Democratic Nominee for [[Governor of New York]] | before = [[John J. Bennett Jr.]] | after = [[Walter A. Lynch]] | years = [[1946 New York state election|1946]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mead, James M}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:American Christian Zionists]]
[[Category:Politicians from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state)]]
[[Category:People from Mount Morris, New York]]
[[Category:Federal Trade Commission personnel]]
[[Category:Truman administration personnel]]
[[Category:Eisenhower administration personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the New York State Legislature]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]