U.S. Senator. He was born on a Thursday to Elbridge Thomas Gerry and Louise Matilda Livingston. He is the great-grandson of Elbridge Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts, and the 5th United States Vice President. Along with Robert, his brother, William Lyon Mackenzie King who would later become Prime Minister of Canada tutored him. After attending public schools, he studied law at Harvard University and graduated in 1901. He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1906. In 1910, he married wealthy Washington socialite Mathilda Townsend. Elected in 1912 to the 63rd Congress, as a Democrat from Rhode Island's 2nd district. Was not reelected in 1914. However, in 1916, he was elected as a Senator from Rhode Island and served till 1929. He served as Democratic Whip from 1919 till 1929. He was defeated in his reelection bid in 1928 by Felix Herbert. In 1934, he defeated Felix Herbert and served until 1947 when he was not a candidate for reelection. In 1925, he married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser Vanderbilt, the widow of George Washington Vanderbilt II, owner of Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Was a staunch opponent of the New Deal and helped organize opposition to FDR's attempt to pack the Supreme Court in 1937 but being an internationalist he was in favor of the New Deal's foreign policy. After his political career he returned to his law practice in Providence, Rhode Island where he died on a Thursday a few hours before his elder brother Robert who did not know of his brothers passing.
U.S. Senator. He was born on a Thursday to Elbridge Thomas Gerry and Louise Matilda Livingston. He is the great-grandson of Elbridge Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Governor of Massachusetts, and the 5th United States Vice President. Along with Robert, his brother, William Lyon Mackenzie King who would later become Prime Minister of Canada tutored him. After attending public schools, he studied law at Harvard University and graduated in 1901. He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1906. In 1910, he married wealthy Washington socialite Mathilda Townsend. Elected in 1912 to the 63rd Congress, as a Democrat from Rhode Island's 2nd district. Was not reelected in 1914. However, in 1916, he was elected as a Senator from Rhode Island and served till 1929. He served as Democratic Whip from 1919 till 1929. He was defeated in his reelection bid in 1928 by Felix Herbert. In 1934, he defeated Felix Herbert and served until 1947 when he was not a candidate for reelection. In 1925, he married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser Vanderbilt, the widow of George Washington Vanderbilt II, owner of Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Was a staunch opponent of the New Deal and helped organize opposition to FDR's attempt to pack the Supreme Court in 1937 but being an internationalist he was in favor of the New Deal's foreign policy. After his political career he returned to his law practice in Providence, Rhode Island where he died on a Thursday a few hours before his elder brother Robert who did not know of his brothers passing.
Bio by: Matthew Fatale
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