Atlee Pomerene

Atlee Pomerene (December 6, 1863 – November 12, 1937) was an American Democratic Party politician and lawyer from Ohio. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Ohio for a few months in 1911 and then represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 1911 until 1923.

Early life Atlee Pomerene was born on December 6, 1863, in Berlin, Holmes County, Ohio, to Elizabeth and Peter P. Pomerene. He graduated with high honors from Princeton University in 1884. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1886 and was admitted to the bar in Ohio.

Career In 1886, he began practicing law with Charles R. Miller in Canton, Ohio. He then entered a partnership with Judge Robert S. Shields in the firm Shields and Pomerene. He then organized the firm Pomerene, Ambler and Pomerene with Ralph Ambler and his brother Celsus Pomerene.

After serving in a variety of city, county, and state positions as solicitor and prosecutor, Pomerene was elected the 31st lieutenant governor of Ohio in 1910. He briefly served in the post until January 19, 1911, when he was elected by the State Legislature to the U.S. Senate, succeeding Charles W. F. Dick. In 1913, he was a member of the Senate Banking Currency Commission and assisted in developing the legislation to create the Federal Reserve. Pomerene was re-elected in 1916, defeating Myron T. Herrick. He narrowly lost a bid for a third term six years later to Simeon D. Fess. He ran again the following election, but lost to Frank B. Willis. In 1923, he joined the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey of Cleveland. In March 1923, President Warren Harding named him to the 5th Pan-American Conference held in Santiago, Chile. He was a Democrat.

Pomerene was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge alongside Owen Roberts to serve as a special prosecutor to deal with the Teapot Dome scandal. He ran unsuccessfully for the other U.S. Senate seat from Ohio in 1926 and for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. presidency in 1928. On August 1, 1932, President Herbert Hoover appointed Pomerene to succeed Charles G. Dawes as head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation after Dawes' sudden resignation on June 7. He served in that role until his retirement on March 4, 1933.

Pomerene then continued practicing law in Cleveland.

Personal life

Pomerene married Mary H. Bockius, daughter of L. V. Bockius, of Canton on June 29, 1892.

Pomerene died following pneumonia and a stroke in Cleveland on November 12, 1937, and was buried in Westlawn Cemetery in Canton.

Awards and legacy Pomerene received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Miami University, Wooster University and Mount Union College. He also received an honorary degree from Kenyon College.