| Joseph William Martin, Jr. | |
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49th and 51st Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
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| In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955 |
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| Preceded by | Sam Rayburn (1947) & (1953) |
| Succeeded by | Sam Rayburn (1949) & (1955) |
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| Born | November 3 1884 North Attleborough, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 6 1968 (aged 83) Hollywood, Florida |
| Political party | Republican |
Joseph William Martin, Jr. (November 3, 1884 - March 6, 1968) was an American politician from North Attleborough, Massachusetts.
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Career
Martin was a member of the Republican Party and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1912-1914), Massachusetts Senate (1914-1917) and the United States House of Representatives (1925-1967). He also was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1940 to 1942. During the New Deal era, he stood out as a major opponent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies and opposed his internationalist outlook on foreign affairs. However, he did support a few New Deal measures, like the establishment of the minimum wage. After 1952, Martin moderated his conservative stances significantly, and joined the moderate wing of the Republican Party. Such changes in his positions included support of Dwight D. Eisenhower's internationalist outlook (through support of foreign aid), supporting federal aid for school construction, and even supporting Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. In 1960 McGraw-Hill published My First Fifty Years in Politics, by Joe Martin as told to Robert J. Donovan. Martin was also the longtime publisher of The Evening Chronicle newspaper in North Attleborough, Massachusetts. Soon after his death it merged with a nearby rival and became The Sun Chronicle newspaper.
Leadership
He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives on two separate occasions from 1947 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1955. These terms represented two Republican short-term majorities in the House, and Martin's two terms were both bookended by Sam Rayburn (D-TX). Following dramatic Republican losses in the 1958 election cycle, which placed a return to majority status out of reach (for 36 more years, as it turned out, until the 1994 Republican Revolution), Martin was ousted from the leadership by Charles A. Halleck of Indiana. In spite of this defeat, Martin chose to remain as a backbench member of the House. Eight years later, in 1966, he was ousted from his seat in the Republican primary by Margaret Heckler.
After Congress
He lost renomination in 1966. He died in Hollywood, Florida on March 6, 1968.
Legacy
Today in his hometown of North Attleborough, Massachusetts Martin is remembered in the name of one of six local elementary schools. The Joseph W. Martin, Jr. Elementary School bears his name.
External links
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