User:SounderBruce/Sandbox/John F. Dore

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John Francis Dore
Mayor of Seattle
In office
June 1, 1936 – April 13, 1938
Preceded byCharles L. Smith
Succeeded byJames Scavotto (Acting)
In office
June 4, 1932 – June 4, 1934
Preceded byRobert H. Harlin
Succeeded byCharles L. Smith
Personal details
Born(1881-12-11)December 11, 1881
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedApril 18, 1938(1938-04-18) (aged 56)
Seattle, Washington
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMarian Neal
Children4
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationLawyer, journalist

John Francis Dore (December 11, 1881 – April 18, 1938) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Seattle from 1932 to 1934 and 1936 to 1938. Dore was trained as a journalist and later became a successful criminal defense attorney prior to entering politics. He initially ran as a fiscal conservative, looking to reform the city's government during the Great Depression, but later switched to a labor platform after losing his re-election bid.

Early life[edit]

Dore was born on December 11, 1881, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of lawyer John Fairfield Dore.[1] His father was arrested in 1888 for an alleged forgery and fled Boston after posting bail, traveling to Miles City, Montana, and later Seattle.[2] Dore, going by his middle name and practicing in Seattle, was extradited to Boston and faced indictment for his crimes. He was set free by a hung jury and returned to Seattle with his family, including the younger Dore, in 1895.[3][4]

The younger Dore was sent to Phillips Exeter Academy and later Harvard University, where he studied journalism.[1][4] He participated in competitive debating while at Exeter and Harvard, winning national honors in 1905 on a Harvard team alongside future San Francisco mayor Roger Lapham.[5] He returned to Seattle in 1903 after the sudden death of his father, and became a newspaper reporter for the Seattle Times, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Seattle Star.[1][6]

Law career[edit]

Dore studied law in his spare time while covering the police beat at the Post-Intelligencer and was admitted to the bar in 1911, having never attended law school.[1][7] He became one of the most successful criminal defense attorneys in the Pacific Northwest, during a ten-year career that saw him defend hundreds of clients.[1][5] His aggressive style in the courtroom, which was popular with judges and juries alike, led to two unsuccessful appeals to the State Supreme Court to disbar Dore.[1]

In 1924, he was appointed by Mayor Edwin J. Brown to the Board of Park Commissioners, convincing Dore to enter politics.[1][8] Dore ran for the office of prosecuting attorney in 1930, promising to serve in the office without pay.[1] Although he lost to the Republican nominee, his campaign prompted a third attempt to disbar Dore, arguing that his no-pay platform was a form of vote bribery.[9] The State Law Examiners Board ruled in 1931 that the promise was unethical and recommended that Dore be suspended from practicing law for a full year.[10] The State Supreme Court denied the recommendation and three other counts of professional misconduct, allowing Dore to continue practicing law.[11][12]

Political career[edit]

Dore rose to prominence in 1931 as a leader in the movement to recall mayor Frank E. Edwards after he fired City Light superintendent James D. Ross. Edwards was recalled and Dore was named as an early contender in the following year's mayoral election, running against appointed mayor Robert H. Harlin.[13][14] He officially filed to run for mayor on December 26 and began a populist campaign with promises of reforming the city government, particularly the police department, and supported public works programs to create new jobs in the wake of the ongoing depression.[15] Dore ran as a Democrat and won the support of local labor unions after they were shunned by Harlin, as well as The Seattle Times, who described his campaign as having "produc[ed] some of the greatest mass meetings ever seen in this state".[7][16]

In the primary election on February 23, 1932, Dore advanced with a margin of 45,000 votes alongside Harlin, who only earned 22,600 votes and narrowly qualified for the run-off.[17] Dore was elected mayor on March 8, 1932, defeating Harlin by a margin of 72,614 votes to 41,279 in the general election, which set records for the largest voter turnout and margin of victory in Seattle electoral history.[7][18] The large turnout, attributed to Dore's campaign, also elected three reformist city councilmembers who ousted incumbent members.[19]

Mayor-elect Dore immediately called on Harlin to resign, asserting that his appointment to the vacant mayor's office was only until a vote of the people rather than the rest of Edwards's term, which expired on June 6.[20] While the issue was left to the courts to decide, Dore announced several reform measures, including the appointment of new police and fire chiefs, a new city engineer, and the abolition of the police department's detective division.[20] He also proposed a new contract with Stone & Webster to settle $1 million debts on the city streetcar system, pending approval from the city council.[21] The case against Harlin was appealed to the State Supreme Court, who ruled in the incumbent mayor's favor.[16]

  • Republican City Council disliked proposal to rebuild streetcars[22]
  • Scandal-plagued career
  • 1934: Considered run for U.S. Senate seat after defeat in re-election, but backed out after unfavorable reception in Port Angeles[5]
  • Comeback in 1936 with new alliances

Illness and death[edit]

Dore died on April 18, 1938, from complications of influenza and pneumonia.[16]

Personal life[edit]

Dore married Marian Neal in 1912. They had four children, including John F. Dore, Jr., who became an attorney.[1][5] His nephew, Fred Dore, served as a state representative, state senator, and Washington Supreme Court justice.[23]

Dore was well-liked by the public and described as a "flamboyant" man, due in part to his oratory skills.[4] He wrote much of his own campaign material and gave political opponents nicknames and monikers, including to the equally-flamboyant Vic Meyers.[5] Dore would routinely visit the city's Hooverville to stump for votes and tolerated homeless squatters in the City-County Building.[5] Dore was a fan of legal dramas and wrote his own scripts from his home; in 1933, he was cast as an extra in the film Tugboat Annie, filmed in Seattle by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Dore's Funeral to Be Thursday". The Seattle Times. April 19, 1938. p. 4.
  2. ^ "For A Forgery Nine Years Ago". The New York Times. November 18, 1894. p. 12.
  3. ^ Ketcherside, Robert (June 14, 2015). "Bribes, bootlegging, indictments and the second Mayor of Capitol Hill". Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.
  4. ^ a b c "Early Training As Reporter And To Mayor-Elect". The Seattle Times. March 9, 1932. p. 9.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Duncan, Don (November 5, 1967). "'I Remember Daddy,' with John F. Dore". The Seattle Times. pp. 4–5.
  6. ^ "John F. Dore, 56, Seattle, Wash., Mayor, Is Dead". The Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. April 19, 1938. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "John F. Dore Named Park Board Member". The Seattle Times. September 30, 1924. p. 20.
  8. ^ "New Charges on John Dore Will Delay Old Case". The Seattle Times. December 27, 1930. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Dore Suspension For Year Asked; Attorney to Ask Highest Court For Vindication". The Seattle Times. March 27, 1931. p. 1.
  10. ^ "Dore is Cleared of Bar Charges By State Court". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. November 13, 1931. p. 2.
  11. ^ In the Matter of the Proceedings for the Disbarment of John Francis Dore, 165 Wash. 225, 4 P. 2d 1107 (Washington Supreme Court, Nov. 1931).
  12. ^ "Candidates Line Up For Primary in City Campaign". The Seattle Times. December 6, 1931. p. 3.
  13. ^ Curry, William H. (October 18, 1931). "Eight Rivals May Face Harlin When City Fight Opens". The Seattle Times. p. 5.
  14. ^ "Harlin and Dore File; Utilities To Be Issue". The Seattle Times. December 27, 1931. p. 1.
  15. ^ Curry, William H. (February 24, 1932). "Contest of Bitterness, Fun Brings Out 116,010". The Seattle Times. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Dore Promises Shake-Up; Demands Office At Once". The Seattle Times. March 9, 1932. p. 1.
  17. ^ "Dore Popularity Wave Aids Other City Candidates". The Seattle Times. March 9, 1932. p. 8.
  18. ^ a b "Candidates Swept In By Record Vote; Stickers Confuse". The Seattle Times. March 9, 1932. p. 1.
  19. ^ "Dore Delayed in Car Default And Harlin Ouster Action". The Seattle Times. March 10, 1932. p. 1.
  20. ^ http://old.seattletimes.com/news/local/seattle_history/articles/citys_50_mayors.html
  21. ^ Matassa, Mark (January 17, 1991). "New chief justice wants to sit on 'little guy's' bench". The Seattle Times. p. D1.
  22. ^ Carter, Glen (May 16, 1981). "Tugboat gets top billing". The Seattle Times. p. B11.
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