Harry Micajah Daugherty (; January 26, 1860 – October 12, 1941) was an American politician. A key Republican political insider from Ohio, he is best remembered for his service as Attorney General of the United States under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, as well as for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal during Harding's presidency.
Despite his status as a key political leader of the Ohio Republican Party from the 1880s to the first decade of the 20th century, Daugherty was only briefly a statewide elected politician by serving just two terms in the Ohio General Assembly, working closely during the last two years with state governor William McKinley. Although he sought national office several times, Daugherty was thwarted in his effort to obtain the nomination of his party and was never elected to office again.
Daugherty remained an influential figure behind the election of several U.S. representatives and senators. He was Harding's campaign manager at the 1920 Republican National Convention. Following Harding's successful election, Daugherty was named attorney general. In that capacity, he was instrumental in winning presidential pardons for jailed anti-war dissidents such as Eugene V. Debs. Twice the subject of federal corruption investigations, Daugherty was forced in 1924 to resign his post as attorney general by Coolidge.
Biography
Early years Harry M. Daugherty was born on January 26, 1860, in the small town of Washington Court House, Ohio. Daugherty's father, John H. Daugherty, was the Pennsylvania-born son of Irish immigrants and worked as a farmer and tailor.James N. Giglio, H.M. Daughterty and the Politics of Expediency. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1978; pg. 2. His mother, Jane Draper Daugherty, was from a prominent Ohio family with Virginia roots dating back to the time of the American Revolution. Daugherty was a first cousin of actress Majel Coleman.Shadow of Blooming Grove, Francis Russell, McGraw Hill, 1968
Daugherty's father died of diphtheria when Harry was just four years old, as did one of his brothers, leaving his mother as the sole provider for the household.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 3. Harry and his older brother, Mally, were forced by economic necessity to take a variety of jobs from a relatively early age to help with the family's living expenses. Daugherty's mother later recalled that he was so young when he worked in a local grocery store that he had to stand on a wooden crate to reach the cash register.
Daugherty's mother wanted him to become a Methodist minister, but the prospect of life as a clergyman held no appeal for him. Instead, after graduating from high school in Washington Court House, Daugherty studied medicine for a year before taking a position as a cub reporter for The Cincinnati Enquirer.
In 1878 Daugherty entered the University of Michigan Law School, accepted there despite not having first obtained an undergraduate education. He supplemented his insufficient income by gambling, winning a significant sum betting on the election of James Garfield in the 1880 presidential election. Sports betting was also an area of some interest to Daugherty and his brother, who went so far as to tap telegraph wires so that they could obtain game information in advance.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pp. 3-4. Initially successful, this ethically shady activity was ultimately discovered and exposed by local gamblers puzzled by the brothers' uncanny success.
Daugherty graduated from law school in 1881 and returned home to Ohio, where he accepted a job in the office of a Washington Court House attorney, spending his spare time preparing to take the Ohio state bar examination.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 4.
Factional soldier
In 1882 Daugherty was elected by the Fayette County Republican Central Committee as the recording secretary of the organization. He ran for political office in the election of 1882, winning election as the clerk of nearby Union Township. In this capacity Daugherty served a single two-year term, earning a salary of $1500 per year.
The following year Daugherty was elected secretary of the Fayette County Executive Committee, where he earned a reputation as an intense and astute young political activist. He was selected as one of five delegates from the Fayette Country Republican Party as a delegate to the Ohio State Republican Convention in 1883, held in Columbus. There Daugherty helped select an aggressive young Cincinnati judge named Joseph B. Foraker as the party's 1883 gubernatorial nominee.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 5.
A close political relationship developed between Foraker and Daugherty, with Daugherty exerting himself in support of Foraker's unsuccessful 1883 campaign. When Foraker was elected as Governor of Ohio in 1885, he was able to return the favor, boosting his protégé Daugherty's career. The connection between the two was tightened further in September 1884, when Daugherty married Lucille Walker of Wellston, Ohio – a cousin of Foraker's wife.
Daugherty was elected to a two-year term on the city council in the election of 1885, serving from 1886 to 1887.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 6. He was elected as chairman of the Fayette County Republican Central Committee in 1886 but spent most of his time helping to establish a law practice. After practicing alone for three years, Daugherty formed a partnership with Horatio B. Maynard, a prominent local lawyer, and the new practice soon emerged as a leading law firm in the county.
In 1889 Republican David Worthington decided not to seek reelection to the Ohio General Assembly and Daugherty threw his hat into the ring. After eking out a narrow victory in the Republican primary election, Daugherty emerged victorious in November, winning election to the Ohio House of Representatives by slightly more than 800 votes out of 5,100 ballots cast. Although Daugherty won his race, his close political ally Joseph Foraker lost his bid for a third term as Governor and the Democratic Party won control of the Assembly as well, forcing Daugherty to participate as a member of the minority party.
Daugherty won reelection to the Ohio House of Representatives in the fall of 1891, beating his Democratic opponent by more than 750 votes out of about 4,900 cast.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 10. This time Ohio Republicans recaptured not only the Governor's mansion – electing William McKinley to the state's chief executive office – but also the majority of the state assembly. Since in this era United States Senators were elected by state legislatures rather than by direct vote of the people, this meant that a Republican would be sent to Washington, DC to fill the expiring term of Senator John Sherman when the assembly reconvened in January 1892.
Change of alliances
The Ohio Republican Party had for several years been deeply split along factional lines, with Senator Sherman and former Governor Foraker leading rival groups of party activists and political functionaries. Foraker was determined to challenge Sherman for his Senate seat and sought assurances from Daugherty that he would continue to support him when the matter came before the legislature.
This placed Daugherty in a difficult position, since his native Fayette County was solidly behind the Sherman faction, which included Governor McKinley and the significant financial clout of Cleveland businessman Mark Hanna.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pp. 8-10. Forced by the logic of the situation to switch alliances rather than risk being cast into political oblivion, Daugherty abandoned Foraker in the final contest of the Ohio Republican caucus on January 2, 1892, joining 52 others in voting for Sherman, against 38 for the insurgent campaign of Foraker.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 11.
In the aftermath of the caucus that would determine Ohio's U.S. Senator, editorials of the Democratic Columbus Post charged that Daugherty and fourteen other Ohio legislators had changed their support from Foraker to Sherman based upon "intimidation, threats, promises, and actual purchase" and accused Daugherty by name of having accepted cash payments. A formal investigation of this charge by a bi-partisan four member committee of the Ohio State Senate followed, with Daugherty being unanimously cleared of all charges in a report issued in April 1892.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 12.
The 1892 Senatorial campaign marked the formal attachment of Daugherty to the dominant Sherman-Hanna faction of the Ohio Republican Party after the better part of a decade as a trusted adherent of the rival Foraker faction.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 13. The move broadened Daugherty's political possibilities, and he was made chairman of the powerful Corporations Committee and named a member of the Judiciary Committee. In 1893 Daugherty was chosen as chairman of the Ohio Republican State Convention which nominated McKinley as the party's candidate for Governor."Harry M. Daugherty," in Joseph Patterson Smith (ed.), History of the Republican Party of Ohio: Volume 2. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1898; pp. 411-412.
Governor McKinley also named Daugherty as his floor leader in the House of Representatives, keeping party members in line behind the governor's legislative agenda. Over the next two years McKinley and Daugherty forged a close political friendship, working together closely and frequently sharing meals at breakfast and in the evening. With the Foraker faction, however, Daugherty became persona non grata due to what was perceived as his duplicitous political disloyalty.
Daugherty attempted to gain nomination as a Republican candidate for Congress in 1892, but the 7th District Republican Convention which put forward the party's nominee was irreconcilably split between Daugherty and his former law partner, A.R. Creamer, and wound up backing a dark horse candidate as a compromise, George W. Wilson.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pp. 14-15. Wilson won his race in the November 1892 general election and wound up serving four years in Congress on behalf of the 7th District.
In the aftermath of his failure to win a seat in Congress, Sherman offered Daugherty a political appointment as Assistant District Attorney in Columbus.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 15. Daugherty ultimately decided to decline this position, instead opening a new law office in that city, while still remaining a resident and practicing attorney in his hometown of Washington Court House.
The Washington Court House riot
On October 9, 1894, a black man named William Dolby was accused of assaulting a white woman named Mary C. Boyd in her home at Parrett's Station, a small settlement near Washington Court House.Howard Burba, "A Wild Night at Washington C.H.," Dayton Daily News, June 26, 1932. Dolby fled but was soon arrested and taken back to the jail at Washington Court House, where signs quickly pointed to an outburst of mob violence.Giglio, H.M. Daugherty and the Politics of Expediency, pg. 16. Dolby supposedly confessed to the crime "upon being apprehended". The Fayette County sheriff called upon Governor McKinley to send out the militia to defend the prisoner from a prospective lynch mob following his sentencing to twenty years in prison at a hearing held on October 16.