Wayne Wheeler
| Wayne Wheeler | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 10, 1869 Brookfield Township, Trumbull County, Ohio |
| Died | September 5, 1927 (aged 57) Little Point Sable, Michigan |
| Occupation | Lobbyist |
| Known for | Prohibition |
| Political party | Republican |
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler (November 10, 1869 – September 5, 1927) was an American attorney and prohibitionist. His most famous contribution to the prohibition movement was joining the Anti-Saloon League.
Wheeler was born in Brookfield Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, to Mary Ursula Hutchinson Wheeler and Joseph Wheeler. His anti-alcohol stance started while working on his family's farm, when he came across an intoxicated hired hand who was so drunk that he was unaware of what he was doing with his hayfork until it had been accidentally lodged into the leg of a young Wayne Wheeler. Having experienced this trauma at such an early age, Wheeler was able to exploit the event and turn it into effective anecdotal evidence supporting the forthcoming Anti-Saloon League.
Upon graduation from high school, he taught at a school for two years before enrolling in classes at Oberlin College in 1890. Upon arriving at Oberlin with very little money, Wheeler demonstrated his ability to work hard. In order to help fund his education at Oberlin and support himself financially, he worked as a waiter, a janitor for his dormitory, a teacher during summer vacation, and a salesman.
It was in the janitorial closet at Oberlin where Howard Russell Hyde first offered Wheeler a position in the Anti-Saloon League. Hyde offered Wheeler a job because he saw "a loving, spririted self-sacrificing soul who yearns to help the other fellow." After graduating from Oberlin in 1894, Wheeler accepted Hyde's job offer as an organizer for the recently established Anti-Saloon League.
He earned a law degree from Western Reserve University in 1898 while working full-time. During his years in college, Wheeler obtained the knowledge to become a skilled debater. This newly acquired skill and education would later help him in his career path as a temperance worker. While a student he engaged in temperance work, and after graduation joined the Anti-Saloon League as a field secretary.
Early on in his career in the ASL, Wheeler developed a distinct sense of power that was known by many of his supporters and followers as Wheelerism, best described as pressure politics, a political action that relies heavily on the use of mass media and mass communications to persuade politicians that the public wants or demands a particular action. It commonly includes intimidation, threats, and other covert techniques as well.
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