"37th mayor of Cleveland" Newton Baker Hand Written Page COA For Sale

Up for sale is a hand signed page by Newton Baker. 

ES - 3052

Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an government

official. He served as the 37th mayor of Cleveland,

Ohio from 1912

to 1915. As U.S. Secretary of War from 1916

to 1921, Baker presided over the United States Army during World War I.

Born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Baker

established a legal practice in Cleveland after graduating from Washington and Lee University School

of Law. He became progressive Democratic ally of Mayor Tom L.

Johnson. Baker served as city solicitor of Cleveland from 1901 to

1909 before taking office as mayor in 1912. As mayor, he sought public transit

reform, hospital improvement, and city beautification. Baker supported Woodrow

Wilson at the 1912 Democratic National Convention,

helping Wilson win the votes of the Ohio delegation. After leaving office,

Baker accepted appointment as Secretary of War under President Wilson. He was

one of several prominent Georgists appointed to positions in the Wilson

Cabinet. Baker presided over the U.S. military's participation in World War I.

He selected General John J. Pershing to command the American Expeditionary Forces, which he

insisted act as an independent unit. He left office in 1921 and returned to BakerHostetler,

the legal practice he co-founded. He served as an attorney in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty

Co., a landmark case that established the constitutionality of

zoning laws. He was a strong supporter of the League of

Nations and continued to advocate American participation in the

League during the 1920s. Beginning in 1928, he served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

He was a candidate for the presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic National Convention,

but the convention chose Franklin D. Roosevelt.