Gilbert Hitchcock

Gilbert Hitchcock
Acting Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office November 12, 1919 – April 27, 1920
Deputy	Peter G. Gerry
Preceded by	Thomas S. Martin
Succeeded by	Oscar Underwood (Senate Democratic Leader)
United States Senator from Nebraska
In office March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1923
Preceded by	Elmer Burkett
Succeeded by	Robert B. Howell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1911
Preceded by	John L. Kennedy
Succeeded by	Charles O. Lobeck
In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905
Preceded by	David Henry Mercer
Succeeded by	John L. Kennedy
Personal details
Born	Gilbert Monell Hitchcock (1859-09-18)September 18, 1859 Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Died	February 3, 1934(1934-02-03) (aged 74) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Jessie Crounse ​ ​ (m. 1883; died 1925)​ Martha Harris ​ ​ (m. 1927)​
Relatives	Lorenzo Crounse (Father-in-law)
Education	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (LLB)

Gilbert Monell Hitchcock (September 18, 1859 – February 3, 1934) was an American congressman and U.S. Senator from Nebraska, and the founder of the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.

Life and career

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hitchcock was the son of U.S. Senator Phineas Warren Hitchcock of Nebraska. He attended the public schools of Omaha and the gymnasium at Baden-Baden, Germany. He graduated in 1881 from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity; he was then admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Omaha in 1882. He continued the practice of law until 1885, when he established and edited the Omaha Evening World; four years later, he purchased the Nebraska Morning Herald and consolidated the two into the morning and evening editions of the Omaha World-Herald.

On August 30, 1883, he married Jessie Crounse, the daughter of Nebraska Supreme Court justice and future governor Lorenzo Crounse.

His first wife died on May 8, 1925, and on June 1, 1927, he married Martha Harris, of Memphis, TN.

His family had traditionally been Republicans, but Gilbert broke tradition and became a Democrat in response to agricultural issues and the leadership of fellow Nebraskan William Jennings Bryan.

Hitchcock was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1898. Four years later, he ran again, and this time was successful, serving from 1903 to 1905. He lost reelection after one term in 1904, but returned to Congress in 1906, serving two more terms from 1907 to 1911.

Hitchcock did not seek reelection to the House in 1910, instead choosing to run for the United States Senate. He was elected to the Senate by the legislature on January 18, 1911. His election made him the first Democrat to ever be elected or serve as a Senator from Nebraska. He was reelected in 1916, making him the first person popularly-elected to the Senate from Nebraska after the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment. During his two terms, he was the chairman of the Committee on the Philippines from 1913 to 1918, the Committee on Foreign Relations from 1918 to 1919, and the Committee on Forest Reservations and Game Protection from 1919 to 1921. As Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he was a leading advocate of the League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles.

Hitchcock lost his bid for a third Senate term to Republican Robert B. Howell in 1922. After the end of his Senate service, he resumed newspaper work in Omaha. In 1930, he ran to return to the Senate, but was soundly defeated by incumbent Republican George W. Norris. Hitchcock retired from active business in 1933 and moved to Washington, D.C., where he died on February 3, 1934. He was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Omaha. Gilbert M. Hitchcock Elementary School and Hitchcock Park in Omaha were named in his honor.

The newspaper was then led by his son-in-law Henry Doorly, husband of Hitchcock's daughter Margaret.

Collections of Senator Hitchcock's papers are housed at the Library of Congress and Nebraska State Historical Society.

In 1984 Hitchcock was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

See also

• Hitchcock Park
• Omaha World Herald
• Henry Doorly

Further reading

• Ryley, Thomas W. Gilbert Hitchcock of Nebraska — Wilson's Floor Leader in the Fight for the Versailles Treaty. New York: The Edward *Mellen Press, 1998
• Patterson, Robert. “Gilbert M. Hitchcock: A Story of Two Careers.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Colorado, 1940
• Wimer, Kurt. “Senator Hitchcock and the League of Nations.” Nebraska History 44 (September 1963): 189–204.

External links

• United States Congress. "Gilbert Hitchcock (id: H000645)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Gilbert Hitchcock at Find a Grave