Newton D. Baker | |
---|---|
47th United States Secretary of War | |
In office March 9, 1916 – March 4, 1921 |
|
President | Woodrow Wilson |
Preceded by | Lindley M. Garrison |
Succeeded by | John W. Weeks |
37th Mayor of Cleveland | |
In office 1912–1915 |
|
Preceded by | Herman C. Baehr |
Succeeded by | Harry L. Davis |
Personal details | |
Born |
Newton Diehl Baker, Jr. December 3, 1871 Martinsburg, West Virginia, U.S. |
Died | December 25, 1937 Shaker Heights, Ohio, U.S. |
(aged 66)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Wells Leopold |
Alma mater |
Johns Hopkins University Washington and Lee University |
Profession | Politician, lawyer |
Newton Diehl Baker, Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,politician and government official. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1912 to 1915. As U.S. Secretary of War from 1916 to 1921, Baker was one of several prominent Georgists appointed to positions in the Wilson Cabinet.
Newton Diehl Baker was born on December 3, 1871, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the son of Newton Diehl Baker, Sr. and Mary Ann (Dukehart) Baker. Baker's grandfather, Elias Baker, was a staunch unionist, his father, on the contrary, joined the Confederate Army, served as a cavalryman, was wounded and became a northern prisoner of war. After returning home in 1865, he obtained a medical degree from the University of Maryland Medical School and worked as a physician in Martinsburg until his death in 1906.
Baker attended the village schools in Martinsburg through his second year in high school and finished his preparatory training at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.
In 1892, Baker graduated with bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He attended lectures of Woodrow Wilson, who was a visiting professor at the time. After receiving his law degree from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1894, he tried for a year to establish law practice in Martinsburg, and then became private secretary to Postmaster General William L. Wilson, who served in the Confederate cavalry with Baker's father. He stayed in Washington, D.C. until June 1897, then took a vacation in Europe, and returned to Martinsburg. In January 1899, he became a junior partner at Foran, McTigne and Baker in Cleveland.