Vare, William Scott

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William Scott Vare, 1867–1934, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. He engaged in machine politics and became (1898) a member of the select council of Philadelphia. He was recorder of deeds (1902–12) and—with his brothers Edward and George—came to control the Republican machine in Philadelphia. He later succeeded Boies Penrose as political boss of Pennsylvania. Vare served (1912–27) in Congress but, elected (1926) to the U.S. Senate, was barred from his seat on the grounds of excessive campaign expenditures. He wrote My Forty Years in Politics (1933).

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