Wheeler, Burton K.

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WHEELER, BURTON K.

Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882– January 7, 1975) was a United States senator from Montana (1923–1947) best known for opposing U.S. entry into World War II. The youngest of ten children of Asa Wheeler, a Quaker shoemaker, and Mary Tyler, Wheeler was born in Hudson, Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1905. He practiced law in Butte, Montana, and served one term as a Democrat in the Montana House of Representatives. President Woodrow Wilson in 1913 appointed him United States district attorney general for Montana.

In 1922, Wheeler was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate. In 1924 he charged Attorney General Harry Daugherty with failing to prosecute those involved in the Teapot Dome scandal and directed a Senate inquiry into the scandal, causing President Calvin Coolidge to force Daugherty's resignation. In 1924, he ran unsuccessfully for vice president on the Progressive Party ticket headed by Senator Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin.

During President Franklin Roosevelt's first term, Wheeler backed most New Deal legislation. As Interstate Commerce Committee chairman, he led the successful floor battle in 1935 for the Public Utilities Holding Company Act. Wheeler considered the measure his toughest Senate battle because of resistance by the powerful utilities lobby.

In 1937 Wheeler protested Roosevelt's "courtpacking" plan to enlarge the U.S. Supreme Court as an unconstitutional attempt to seize power. Roosevelt, hoping to give the Supreme Court a New Deal majority, personally sought to dissuade Wheeler, who rallied conservative Democrats to bury the president's proposal by fifty votes. The setback marked Roosevelt's worst legislative defeat to that point and sparked a resurgence of congressional power.

Wheeler helped lead isolationist resistance to Roosevelt's internationalist policies until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The powerful, sharp-tongued orator spoke at numerous America First Committee rallies in 1941 opposing U.S. aid to the Allies. In January 1941 he infuriated Roosevelt by denouncing the lend-lease bill aiding Great Britain as "the New Deal's triple-A foreign policy" and warning "it will plow under every fourth American boy." Wheeler ultimately supported the U.S. military effort during World War II, but his influence declined dramatically. He lost his re-election bid in 1946 and spent the rest of his career practicing corporate law in Washington, D.C., in support of right-wing causes.

An adept legislative infighter, Wheeler usually criticized government programs rather than initiating or building them. The independent, fiesty politician seemed happiest in the opposition or on the offensive. His legislative skills, deal-making, armtwisting abilities, and proficiency at stroking egos made him a leading Senate figure.