Robert E. Quinn

Robert Emmet Quinn (April 2, 1894 – May 19, 1975) was an American attorney and politician from Rhode Island. He served as the 58th governor of Rhode Island and judge for the Rhode Island Superior Court.

Early life Quinn was born in 1894 in Phenix, Rhode Island, the son of Charles Quinn and Mary Ann (McCabe) Quinn. He graduated from Brown University in 1915, and completed his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1918. He served in the United States Foreign Service during World War I as a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Intelligence Service in England and France. After he left the Foreign Service in 1919, he practiced law with his uncle in Rhode Island.

Political career He began his political career as a Democrat in the Rhode Island Senate serving from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1929 to 1933. In 1932 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island and served from 1933 to 1937. He served as governor from 1937 to 1939.

State Senate Quinn entered the Rhode Island Senate in 1923 as one of a trio of young progressive politicians, a group which included Governor William S. Flynn and Lt. Governor Felix A. Toupin. Their agenda of reform included a 48-hour work week and an end to property qualifications for voting in city council elections. The Republican-controlled state senate blocked these reforms, and the 1923 and 1924 sessions were spent mostly in deadlock. From the first incident on September 2, the "War" would not be resolved until October 16. The National Guard was called out and men with machine guns blocked the front entrance to the track. Time Magazine reported the story nationwide in October 1937. Quinn won in the short-term, as Walter O'Hara was removed from his post as president and manager of the Narragansett Racing Association, and Judge James E. Dooley officially took control of the track. Quinn was unsuccessful in his re-election bid in 1938 when he lost to millionaire William Henry Vanderbilt III, a brother to Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. who was a major figure in Thoroughbred racing. Ultimately, the "Race Track War" was considered a national embarrassment.

Superior Court Quinn returned to his law practice after leaving the governor's office. He won appointment to a Superior Court judgeship in 1941, serving as judge for the Rhode Island Superior Court. During World War II, he entered the military as a commander in the navy's legal branch. He served for four years, rising to the rank of captain. he was nominated by President Truman as Chief Judge of a new United States Court of Military Appeals. He was confirmed by the Senate June 19, and was sworn the next day, June 20 of 1951. He was reappointed to his position as Chief Justice by President Johnson for another 15-year term, but he retired from that in 5 years in 1971. He fully retired from the court in 1975, shortly before his death.

In 1964 he was awarded the first honorary life membership by the Federal Bar Association, and in 1966 he was elected to the Rhode Island Hall of Fame.

Death Quinn died on May 19, 1975, at age 81 in a Kent nursing home in Warwick. He is interred at Quinn Family Cemetery in West Warwick.

Family life In 1923, Quinn married Mary Carter. They had five children including Norma Marie, Robert Carter, Pauline, Cameron Peter and Penelope Dorr.