Robert Morss Lovett
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Robert Morss Lovett (December 25, 1870 - February 8, 1956) was an American academic, writer, editor, political activist, and government official.
He was born in Boston, and came to Chicago in 1893 to teach writing and English literature at the University of Chicago. He was associate editor of The New Republic magazine in 1921-40, and a signer of the Humanist Manifesto I in 1933.
As Government Secretary of the Virgin Islands in 1939-43, he served as acting Governor from December 14, 1940 until February 3, 1941.
In 1943, the Dies Committee charged him as a Communist subversive, over his association with left-wing individuals and groups; through a bill passed by both houses of the U.S. Congress, he was forced out of the Secretary position and barred from federal employment. Lovett, who denied he was a Communist, challenged this action through the courts as an unconstitutional bill of attainder, and though he did not get the job back, he won a 1946 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court (United States v. Lovett, 328 U.S. 303), and received back pay.
He died in St. Joseph's Hospital in Chicago in 1956.
[edit] References
- "Liberal to a Fault," Time, June 21, 1948
- "Robert M. Lovett, Educator, Is Dead", New York Times, February 9, 1956
[edit] External links
- Robert Morss Lovett papers (University of Chicago Library)
- United States v. Lovett, 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
| Preceded by Lawrence William Cramer |
Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands 1940–1941 (Acting Governor) |
Succeeded by Charles Harwood |
| Governors of U.S. Virgin Islands |  |
|---|---|
| Pollock • Oliver • Oman • Kittelle • Hough • Williams • Trench • Evans • Pearson • Herrick • Cramer • Lovett • Harwood • Hastie • de Castro • Alexander • Claunch • Gordon • Merwin • Paiewonsky • King • Evans • King • Luis • Farrelly • Schneider • Turnbull • de Jongh |
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