Winthrop More Daniels

Winthrop More Daniels (September 30, 1867 – January 3, 1944) was an American government official and university professor. A friend and onetime assistant of then-Professor Woodrow Wilson, President Wilson appointed Daniels, then a member of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1914, and stood by him through a bitter confirmation battle in the Senate. He was a longtime professor at Princeton University, where he was an assistant to Wilson before becoming a fellow professor, and at Yale University.

Early life He was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Mary and Edwin Daniels. He attended Princeton University where he secured his bachelor's degree in 1888 and his master's degree two years later. He studied at the University of Leipzig in 1890, and taught for a year as an instructor at Wesleyan University from 1891–92.

On May 1, 1911, Daniels became a member of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, replacing Frank H. Sommer of Newark, New Jersey. While on the Commission, Daniels authored a rate case opinion involving the Passaic Gas Company, in which he added intangible value for goodwill to the physical value of the corporation. because of the Passaic rate case, Daniels' nomination was bitterly opposed by progressives in the Senate led by Robert M. La Follette, Sr. and New Jersey Senator James Edgar Martine. Wilson refused to withdraw the nominations, stating that he would be personally responsible for Daniels' success as an ICC member. After a three-day battle, the Senate confirmed Daniels, with La Follette himself voting for confirmation. a personal friend of the President. The nomination had been believed to be in serious danger, with the Democrats "in despair" fearing a rejection by the Senate.

Later life In early 1923, nearly a year before the scheduled end of his term, Daniels resigned. He became a professor of transportation at Yale University, where he served until 1940 when he retired.

He died January 3, 1944, in Saybrook Point, Connecticut.