James Howard McGRATH, Congress, RI (1903-1966)

McGRATH, James Howard, a Senator from Rhode Island; born in Woonsocket, Providence County, R.I., November 28, 1903; attended parochial schools; graduated from La Salle Academy, Providence, R.I., in 1922, from Providence (R.I.) College in 1926, and from the law department of Boston University, Boston, Mass., in 1929; admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Providence; city solicitor of Central Falls, R.I., 1930-1934; engaged in the real estate and insurance business and was also interested in banking; chairman of the Democratic National Committee 1947-1949; United States district attorney for Rhode Island from 1934 until his resignation in 1940, having been elected Governor; elected Governor of Rhode Island in 1940, 1942, and 1944 and served until his resignation in October 1945, having been appointed solicitor general of the United States; solicitor general until his resignation in October 1946 to become a candidate for United States Senator; elected as a Democrat in 1946 to the United States Senate for the term commencing January 3, 1947, and served until his resignation on August 23, 1949; chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia (Eighty-first Congress); Attorney General of the United States 1949-1952; resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C., and Providence, R.I.; unsuccessful candidate for nomination as United States Senator in 1960; died in Narragansett, R.I., September 2, 1966; interment in St. Francis Cemetery, Pawtucket, R.I.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; American National Biography; McGrath, J. Howard. The Power of the People. New York: Julian Messner, 1948.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present