- Edward C. Eicher
Edward C. Eicher (
December 16 ,1878 -November 29 ,1944 ) was a three-term congressman, federal securities regulator, and federal district court judge during the presidency ofFranklin D. Roosevelt . He was considered a consummate "New Deal " liberal.Personal background
Eicher was born near the unincorporated town of
Noble, Iowa inWashington County, Iowa . His father Benjamin Eicher, was a Mennonite bishop."H.M. Eicher, 61, dies suddenly," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1919-07-29, at 3.] His older brother, H.M. Eicher, was an assistant district attorney in the administration of PresidentGrover Cleveland .Edward Eicher attended public schools, Washington Academy (in
Washington, Iowa ), andMorgan Park Academy (inMorgan Park, Illinois ).Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Edward C. Eicher, accessed 2008-06-06.] In 1904 he graduated from theUniversity of Chicago . He then studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1906 and briefly commenced practice in Washington, Iowa. He soon returned to the University of Chicago to serve as its assistant registrar until 1909, when he returned to Iowa (to Burlington). There, Eicher served as an assistant attorney for theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until 1918. Returning again to Washington, Iowa, in 1918, he resumed private practice as a partner in Livingston and Eicher.Congress
In 1932 Eicher was elected as a Democrat to the
United States House of Representatives fromIowa's 1st congressional district . Twice re-elected, he served from March 4, 1933 until December 2, 1938.He had withdrawn from the 1938 race for the Democratic nomination for his own seat. ["Gaffney Nominated to Run for Congress," Muscatine Journal, 1938-07-21, at 1.] When his congressional career ended, Time Magazine described him as "a wheelhorse in a pasture of mavericks," explaining that "he worked on the
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 , defended the Court Plan, was the most ardent New Dealer among theMonopoly Investigation Committee 's Congressmen." [" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760510,00.html Liberal Wheelhorse] ,' Time Magazine, 1938-12-12.]The Securities and Exchange Commission
As his final Congressional term ended, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . He was a member of the SEC from 1938-1942, serving as its chairman between 1941 and 1942.The Federal bench
New Dealers inside the Roosevelt Administration supported Eicher's wish to be chosen to fill one of two new seats the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit , but Iowa SenatorGuy M. Gillette , who resented Eicher and Roosevelt for their unsuccessful efforts to purge him from Congress in 1938, ["Eicher for Wearin," Waterloo Daily Courier, 1938-05-28, at 1.] stood in the way. [" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772715,00.html SEC seat warming] ," Time Magazine, 1941-04-21.] Instead, no Iowan received either judgeship.“History of the Eighth Circuit: a Bicentennial Project," 58-61 (Judicial Conference of the United States Bicentennial Committee 1976).] Eicher was eventually appointed as a federal trial court judge to fill a vacancy in Washington D.C. [" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932342,00.html Storm at SEC] , Time Magazine, 1942-01-26.] The official title of his position was "Chief Justice of the District of the District of Columbia." [ [http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/dc_courts Federal Judicial History -Federal Courts of the District of Columbia] .] He died inAlexandria, Virginia at age 65. At the time of his death, Eicher had presided for over seven months over a the "GreatSedition Trial," a mass trial of dozens of suspected Axis conspirators and sympathizers. Time Magazine characterized the trial as "biggest and noisiest sedition trial in U.S. history," and reported that "no one in Washington doubted that a ludicrously undignified trial had hastened the death of a scrupulously dignified judge."" [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883861,00.html Trial's End] ," Time Magazine, 1944-12-11.] Justice Eicher's death caused amistrial . After the war ended, JusticeBolitha Laws dismissed the charges against the defendants. [cite book|last=Stone|first=Geoffrey R.|title=Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime |publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|date=2004|pages=274|isbn= 0393058808]References
External links
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