Bert Henry Miller (December 15, 1876 – October 8, 1949) was an American politician from Idaho and a member of the Democratic Party.[1][2]
Bert H. Miller | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Idaho | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – October 8, 1949 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Dworshak |
| Succeeded by | Henry Dworshak |
| Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court | |
| In office 1945–1948 | |
| Preceded by | S. Ben Dunlap |
| Succeeded by | C.J. Taylor |
| Attorney General of Idaho | |
| In office January 2, 1933 – January 3, 1937 | |
| Governor | C. Ben Ross |
| Preceded by | Fred J. Babcock |
| Succeeded by | J. W. Taylor |
| In office January 6, 1941 – January 3, 1945 | |
| Governor | Chase A. Clark C. A. Bottolfsen |
| Preceded by | J. W. Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Frank Langley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 15, 1876 St. George, Utah Territory |
| Died | October 8, 1949 (aged 72) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Morris Hill Cemetery Boise, Idaho |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Carolyn Hopkins Miller (1887–1984) (m. 1916–1949, his death) |
| Children | Lee Francis Miller Patricia Ann Miller Hawley |
| Residence | Boise |
| Alma mater | Brigham Young University Cumberland Law School |
| Profession | Attorney |
Biography
editBorn in St. George, Utah Territory, Miller graduated from Brigham Young University in 1901 and from Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1902. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in St. Anthony, Idaho in 1903, and was prosecuting attorney of Fremont County from 1912 to 1914.
Miller ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1914. He was elected state attorney general in 1932, and reelected in 1934. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1936, and served for two months in 1938 as Idaho's labor commissioner. Miller was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1938 in the second district to the Seventy-sixth Congress, then was an attorney in the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Labor Department at Seattle, Washington in 1939 and 1940.
He again became state attorney general from 1940 to 1944, during which time he was an advocate for Japanese-American internment camps. Miller "expressed an even more extreme view, advocating that they be put into concentration camps for the remainder of the war and that no attempt be made to provide work for them. Their labor was not needed, he said, and after the war they should be sent back to California: 'We want to keep this a white man's country.' [3] He was elected a justice of the state's supreme court in 1944.
Miller was elected to the United States Senate in 1948, defeating Republican incumbent Henry Dworshak, but died of a heart attack after only nine months in office.[1][2] Governor C. A. Robins appointed Dworshak to succeed him.[4][5] As of 2024, Miller remains the last Democrat to hold the Class II U.S. Senate seat from Idaho.
Miller's funeral was in Idaho at the state capitol, with burial at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.[6][7][8]
Congressional elections
editHouse
edit| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Bert H. Miller | 47,199 | 46.4% | Henry Dworshak | 54,527 | 53.6% |
Senate
edit| Year | Democrat | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Bert H. Miller | 107,000 | 50.7% | Henry Dworshak (inc.) | 103,868 | 49.3% |
Source:[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Bert Miller, Gem State Senator, dies". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. October 8, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ a b "Heart attack ends long career of U.S. Senator Bert H. Miller". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 9, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ Fiset, Louis (Summer 1999). "Thinning, Topping, and Loading: Japanese Americans and Beet Sugar in World War II". Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 90 (3). University of Washington: 123–139. JSTOR 40492494 – via JSTOR.
- ^ "Dworshak, bitter foe of CVA, given U.S. Senate appointment". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 15, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ "Dworshak is selected as new Idaho Senator". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. October 14, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ "Miller service set for today at Statehouse". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 13, 1949. p. 1.
- ^ "Simple services mark Idaho's final homage to Sen. Miller". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 14, 1949. p. 7.
- ^ "Morris Hill Cemetery walking tour". City of Boise. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- ^ "Office of the Clerk: Election statistics". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
External links
edit- United States Congress. "Bert H. Miller (id: M000716)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Bert H. Miller at Find a Grave